Tag Archives: Nashville

The Parlor Sessions Profile: Eliot Bronson

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FB_profiles_Eliot-1Today we continue our series of profiles on the artists of the Parlor Sessions Tour with Eliot Bronson who was born in Baltimore where The Sun called him a “folk singing wunderkind.” The year after earning that praise he moved to Atlanta where he’s also earned similar praise from the press and built a sizable following.  He formed the duo The Brilliant Inventions which won a number of awards and built a sizable regional following until 2010 when his partner decided to pursue a career in photography.

For his part, Eliot continued his music career, releasing a solo album, Blackbirds in 2011, and an album called Milwaukee with his band the Yonder Orphans in 2012. He continues to receive accolades for his work, including first place in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest (http://www.merlefest.org), an award whose laureates include Gillian Welch, Johnny Williams, and Tift Merritt.
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Dean Fields Talks about “Any Minute Now,” Arriving Tuesday

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Cover artwork by Brian Thibodeau

Cover artwork by Brian Thibodeau

Any Minute Now is a new EP from Nashville-based singer-songwriter Dean Fields due to arrive… wait for it…. As much as I’d love to type “any minute now” at this point, there is a release date and it’s just days away, Tuesday August 13. The EP follows his 2011 EP Under A Searchlight Moon, a clever and wildly romantic selection of tunes that Fields wrote himself. On this collection all but one of the tracks were co-written with other artists, yet they are tracks that he felt strongly invested, and that he felt spoke for him as an artist. It was a big change for an songwriter who had always worked alone. It may seem odd to follow up an EP with another EP, and in fact, he had planned a full length album.  But a confluence of life circumstances and aesthetic considerations led to the decision to release this collection of songs now, saving the others for a later release. The songs seemed to belong together, and they were ready for release.

I learned about all of this and more in an August 1, 2013 interview with Fields in the Stratton Student Center at MIT, in the midst of a series of concerts in Cambridge, Boston and environs. Now based in Nashville, he grew up in Mechanicsville, VA, just outside of my hometown of Richmond, VA. I’ve been listening to his music for a while, but had not seen him perform. We talked the morning of his show at that institution of the Cambridge music scene, Club Passim. Of course the main topic of conversation was the new record Any Minute Now. Continue reading →

The Bluebird Cafe at the Country Throwdown

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My friends and family are worried. They’re constantly calling to check in on me and telling me I’ve changed. It’s true. My behavior has been out of character lately. Since adolescence I have generally despised country music, and yet yesterday I went to the Country Music Throwdown at the Meadowbrook Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of those concerned about this behavior are not concerned because they disapprove. Most of my family and friends back where I grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and even some of them up here in New England like Country Music. They worry because it’s so unlike me. Don’t worry folks, I’m fine.
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