Willy Mason @ Tangiers

10.21.05

It seems to me that there is a resurgence of folkie songwriters making waves right now.  Young troubadours such as Devendra Barnhart, Sam Beam of Iron and Wine fame (awesome by the way) and UK Mercury Prize winning weird dude Anthony and the Johnsons spring to mind.  Joining the ranks of new heart-on-sleeve crooners is Willy Mason.  After picking up his album, Where the Humans Eat in the UK, I imagined the Martha’s Vineyard singer/songwriter to be a scruffy little bearded bloke - a weathered bluesman with problems.  So, I was surprised as I entered a semi-empty Tangiers to see a tall geeky white boy all fresh faced and clean.  He reminded me of the over-shouty Ashton Kutcher.

Tonight, Willy is warming up before opening Bright Eyes’ fall tour.  The guy sings cute songs, which are short in length and light in depth and are sometimes about his pets and sometimes about bugs.  He has a cool delicate twang to his acoustic six string.  At one point, due to constant detuning it snaps it into a five string, which suits his warm voice well.  After borrowing the opener’s purple guitar, (Saddlecreek, just buy him a spare!) he realizes just how dumb he looks and cracks us all up at the sight of a guitar with a way too short strap.

Highlights of his set included the album’s title track, which has especially entertaining lyrics if you own a cat or two, and the song “Oxygen,” which coincidentally stands out on record too.  Apparently Willy tours with a band sometimes, which would certainly add some interest.  This solo show was intimate, sure, but things had a habit of becoming pretty similar, pretty quickly.  Still, I had a pretty entertaining (if mellow) hour, and I can think of a ton of less fun things to do on a rainy night.  -Glen

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