GREG BROWN at Hugh’s Room (2261 Dundas West), Saturday (September 5), 8:30 pm. $37.50-$40. hughsroom.com.
Will Greg Brown make another album?
“Oh no, I think I’m all done with that,” says the 66-year-old rumbly-voiced singer/songwriter from the Hacklebarney region of southeastern Iowa, who counts John Prine and his wife, Iris DeMent, as peers. But then, “Oh, you never know. I’ve made a lot of albums over the years.”
He sure has. The former Prairie Home Companion regular and founder of pioneering independent folk label Red House Records has made 30-plus in four decades, including two NAIRD Award winners (National Association of Independent Record Distributors), a children’s album and a collection of William Blake poetry set to music. There’s even a tribute album, Going Driftless, with contributions by Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco and Gillian Welch.
For those new to Brown’s treasure trove of songs, he walks us through notable entries in his discography.
One More Goodnight Kiss (1988), featuring the first recording of Brown’s hit Canned Goods.
“I’d been touring for a couple years at that point and I kind of took a lot of songs that I had written and not recorded and put them on that record. Actually, now that I think about it, that’s most of my records.”
One Big Town (1989), Brown’s first album with his long-time producer/guitarist Bo Ramsey.
“I had in mind this kind of sparse Euro-pop sound that was popular at the time. Bo had a band, I didn’t have a band, so I ended up recording it with his, although it did not sound like Euro-pop. It sounded like a Midwestern rhythm and blues band, which is exactly what it was.”
Dream Café (1992)
“I had a great engineer up in Minneapolis, Tom Tucker, who was Prince’s main engineer. We recorded out of Prince’s studio, which was very nice. We would see Prince every once in a while. You could always smell him before you saw him. He wore a lot of cologne or perfume…. You could smell him down the hall quite a ways.”
The Poet Game (1994), NAIRD winner.
“Music’s not a contest. Who can really say what is the best record of the year? Nobody can. If you ask a thousand different people, you get 900 different answers. I think those things are fun – everybody gets tinkered up and goes out, the open envelope and all that stuff. But I always thought that stuff was really silly.”
Over And Under (2000)
“One of my favourite records. The songs came all in a big bunch, like a bunch of big dudes knocking on my door and coming in the house saying, ‘Write us!’ So I did.”
Freak Flag (2011)
“We had completed a recording that evening, and a thunderstorm blew in. You’re supposed to back up what you’re doing on an external hard drive. We didn’t, and when the power went out, rather dramatically, our recording was not there any more. Other musicians were lamenting and tearing their hair out, but I thought it was pretty funny. I thought it was God telling me to shut up.”
Hymns To What Is Left (2012)
I would define a hymn as a song of reverence. It doesn’t necessarily have to be any certain religion at all, but it’s a song showing some kind of reverence for the mystery of life, or the mystery of love, or the mystery of death, or the mystery of whatever.
Greg Brown talks about starting up Red House Records:
Brown explains the term “Freak Flag” (the title of his 2011 album):
On The Poet Game and Further In, as well as his creative process:
Greg Brown talks about gospel music and how he got into the blues:
On finding a church he liked:
Greg Brown talks about fishing:
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