Holding her own
Brennen Leigh gets under the skin at Coffee Gallery Backstage
By Bliss 06/17/2010
“Everybody has a box, whether it’s proverbial or literal,” says Austin-based artist Brennen Leigh, discussing her forthcoming album, “The Box,” and a friend whose story prompted her to write the title track. “Everybody’s got some kind of stowed-away trove of mementos, and things that they don’t care to remember or that they do. In [my friend’s] case, he had the box duct-taped shut so that he wouldn’t open it.”
Leigh’s no sucker for cheap sentiment — she laughs easily but gives the distinct impression she does not suffer fools gladly — but she has a knack for sketching emotionally bruised characters. “The Box” exemplifies how she can slip beneath a character’s skin and poignantly reveal their dilemmas with a compact phrase and melodic hook. “Sleeping With the Devil” is an unsettling confession delivered with sweet calm; “Travelin’ On,” co-written with Sunny Sweeney, expresses a woman’s determination to escape a dangerous lover (“I think now upon that river, about when I lost all the will to try/ But your black eyes will no longer have control over me because I want to get to heaven when I die”). “Set ’Em on Fire,” which would fit comfortably in Laurie Lewis’ bluegrass oeuvre, depicts a lover’s repressed frustration, while “Backslidin’ Blues” puts a humorous spin on a self-confessed sinner’s transgressions.
All are wrapped in strong melodies. Like the classic country and bluegrass artists she admires — including the Louvin Brothers and Jim Lauderdale, who sings tenor harmony on “The Box” — Leigh values relatable stories and inviting melodies.
“In other languages, like Spanish, they have several different words for the same thing,” she says. “Or Chinese — they have several different words for the same thing. In English, we usually only have one word. And I have a huge crush on the English language. I love words. But a melody can emphasize a word or a phrase one way or the other.”
She worked out songs for “The Box” at Evangeline Café, one of her weekly residencies in Austin. She’s independently released four solo albums since moving there from Minnesota at age 19, eight years ago. Her career received a substantial boost in 2007 when she recorded a country duets project with Jesse Dayton called “Holdin’ Our Own” that garnered enthusiastic reviews and spread Leigh’s name beyond Texas.
Now she’s promoting the yet-to-be-released “Box” with a quick but ambitious Southland tour that includes two shows Wednesday, at Coffee Gallery Backstage and the Redwood Bar.
“We have a short time to be in California,” she says, “so we’re trying to squeeze in as much cool stuff as we can.”
Brennen Leigh opens for Tom Breiding at Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena, at 8 p.m. Wednesday; $15. For information, call (626) 794-2424. At 10 p.m.-ish that night she plays the Redwood Bar, 316 W. Second St., downtown LA. brennenleigh.net.
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