The Local Music Corner:  Late September/Welcome to Autumn – Perry Persoff.

I hate to see Summer go, but Autumn in New England certainly has its beauties.  Once the leaves hit their Van Gogh peak, that will once again be a huge understatement.

One of the beautiful things this end of summer teased us for in music…will actually be fully realized come Springtime.  Based on what I heard Sunday night Sept 17th, watch out for Jeffrey Foucault’s forthcoming album.  If it’s anything like his live solo performance that night, it could be a monster.  In musical terms, certainly.  Let’s hope the studio and production processes did not squeeze out the sparks.  Currently titled The Universal Fire, Jeffrey says the album probably won’t be released until “first quarter of 2024.”  My simplifying brain translates that to “sometime in the Spring.”  The album has been mixed and is already off to be mastered.  Between now and then, Jeffrey plans to tour the album with a 5 piece band in the winter.  So weren’t we lucky to see him play solo, and in a small venue?

Yes we were.  Perhaps the show was not publicized that much.  But for whatever reason,“we” were only about 42 people, treated to Jeffrey Foucault solo at the Rockwell Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville.   If you’ve never been to the Rockwell, it is a small, intimate space.  Capacity of 150 people.  Maybe this night will take its place among the legendary stories of 30 people seeing The Waterboys early in their career, etc.

It’s not just that we got to see a great artist in a small venue (and for what it’s worth, I think he should be playing the likes of the Somerville Theatre).  He started the show playing Side A of the forthcoming album.  Songs we’d never heard.  Songs we’d never heard that all got a great response.  Most of those songs felt pretty dynamic.  A couple struck me certainly as good, but somewhat “typical” by comparison.  But that’s because the others were so extraordinary.  Foucault’s “ordinary” is better than most.  He showed just how dynamic he “typically” is by the way he wrangled his National guitar.  Whether by subtle string bending, using a slide, or more viscerally attacking his guitar, Foucault coaxed sounds of varied intensity out of his instrument.  His vocal performance was similarly dynamic.  It passed the “did I buy it” test with flying colors.  Oh, he also played two songs he has never recorded…that left you shaking your head because they were so good.

Perhaps he will release a single or two before the full release come Spring?  Maybe keep an eye on www.JeffreyFoucault.com for that.  Until the full release, your homework assignment is to read up on the Universal fire of 2008.  Hint:  “The Universal Fire” is not a metaphor.  And “Universal” refers to Universal Studios.

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Meanwhile, one of the musicians who has worked with Jeffrey Foucault on many of his projects is bassist Jeremy Moses Curtis (like Jeffrey Foucault, Jeremy Moses Curtis was involved in this year’s Further On:  The Songs of Billy Conway).  Curtis – or “Moses,” as Foucault refers to him – has a new solo album coming out on October 6th.  With the intriguing title Mid Life Chrysler, the album was produced by Kris Delmhorst.  They started working on it in the spring of 2022.  It looks like one song is available now.  “Layover” is a little eerie, dreamlike, and atmospheric.  You can find it on Jeremy’s Bandcamp page: https://jeremymosescurtis.bandcamp.com/album/midlife-chrysler.

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What a way to end off the summer side of music festival season with FreshGrass out at Mass MOCA in beautiful North Adams, MA (Sept 22-24).  And what a diversified line up for FreshGrass 2023.  From the acoustic Dropkick Murphy’s to Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell, Lukas Nelson, Aoife O’Donovan, Mighty Poplar, Allison Brown, Buffalo Nichols, Sunny War, Melissa Carper, Bruce Molsky/Tony Trischka/Michael Daves, The Devil Makes Three, and many artists bubbling under.  Congratulations to performers from our area Hank Wonder and Jesse Ahern who were also on the performance docket.  If you were there…I think I’m jealous.

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And before Summer’s last gasp…even into early Fall…there is still…PORCHFEST!  Here’s what’s left:

Sept 23:  Natick, Swampscott, Melrose, Hull, Roslindale, West Concord, and North Falmouth.

Sept 30:  Brookline, Ashland & Hopkinton, Lexington.

Oct 1:  Maynard.

Oct 7:  Woburn.

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Th-Th-That’s all, Folks – until some very cool new bit of info comes my way.

Thanks for reading.  And if you saw the name of an artist you love who you discovered on commercial free WUMB, that’s a great reason to support the station.  The annual Fall Fund Drive is almost here.  But you can make a donation that is comfortable for your budget before then at wumb.org.

Thanks again.  And Happy almost Leaf Season.

-Perry Persoff.