SOUNDTRACK: AVERY*SUNSHINE-Tiny Desk Concert #616 (May 1, 2017).
I had never heard of Avery*Sunshine and had no idea that she was a “soul maven.” But boy did I enjoy this set. She is a lot of fun, vibrant and playful and she really gets the crowd singing along. Her lyrics are fun and improvisations are really fun.
Here’s what the blurb says:
When the soul maven visited NPR headquarters to perform her first Tiny Desk Concert, she gifted us with the story of her own redemptive love. And a whole lot of laughs in between.
Avery*Sunshine knows what love will make one do: Give up your favorite ice cream. Break up to make up. Even swear off of holy matrimony for good, only to fall head over heels again.
Newly married to her musical partner, guitarist Dana “Big Dane” Johnson, Avery*Sunshine broke down the meaning behind the title to her latest album, Twenty Sixty Four. But it was her playful charisma and those heavenly vocals that won us over, the same way she’s turned such legends as Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson into fans. Press play and prepare to fall in love, too.
And her band The Trustees is tight and hot: Dana “Big Dane” Johnson (guitar); Demonterious “Detoxxx” Lawrence (bass); Quinton “Q” Robinson (drums)
“Come Do Nothing” has a cool funk start and Sunshine’s sweet soulful voice. It’s an interesting song of get away/come back, with the get away part being funky and cool and the come back being a bit treacly and sweet. I loved this lyric: “I heard you found a girl. I saw her pic online. Yes I looked her up on Face Book (thump thump on Face Book). She gets everyone to sing along “Come on Over here with me ; come do nothing here we me” before playing a joyful keyboard solo.
When the song ends, somebody jokes that “Big Dane” is not the one guilty of cheating. There is much laughter as she explains that she and Dane got married a year ago.
Then she describes the song as a can’t live with you can’t live without you song:
“Go on, get out. I put all your stuff out and you can come pick it up. But when you come… ring the doorbell coz… I’ll be making gumbo.”
Then she talks about their marriage: they were both married before and they swore that they would never get married again. And then he proposed some time later. And she prayed: Just give me until 2064 with this man. I’ll be 89 and he’ll be 91. I won’t cuss anymore. I’ll eat all my vegetables. I will be good. That’s why the album is called 2064.
After they got engaged, she wrote “Ice Cream Song” as their wedding song. It’s sweet soulful ballad: “I’d give up ice cream just for you / I’d open my bag and sell my shoes.”
As she introduces the final song, Dane says, “You need to change the piano.” “Will you do it, you’re so good to me. He changes my keyboard sound for me, he’s so sweet.” And while he’s fiddling, she says, “The people are waiting, honey.”
She says that “Used Car” is a metaphor for divorced people. Her mama said, “There;s nothing wrong with a used car.” She says I’m not encouraging anyone to get divorced–but if you are, there’s no reason to not try again. Just make sure its a certified pre-owned.
The song is bright and bouncy and ton of fun with funny enjoyable lyrics. There’s a cool break down with funky bass line and she gets to talk about her cars, with the Trustees shouting : “a car payment is overrated.” And man when she gets into it at the end she really shows off her pipes–boy she can sing.
They start chant at the end “used car” and she throws in lines like “I’m taking a selfie in my…”
The whole set is fun It’s a pretty great way to spend 17 minutes.
[READ: March 10 2017] “Solstice”
The story opens with a man in Dublin looking for his car. It has gotten dark in mid-afternoon–it is the twentieth of December–and he can’t remember what floor he was parked on. It felt like the longest night of the year, because it was.
And he marveled that at 10:44 AM the next morning the solstice “the event” would happen: “Somewhere in that moment whether he believed it or not, the sun would pause in the sky above him, or seem to pause. It would stop its descent and start its slow journey back to summer and the middle of the sky.”
I love that the next line undermines the wonder: “or this year, he thought, it might not bother.”
He drives home out of the city into the country where the night was very big. (more…)
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I though the first Nightmares! book was great. I had listened to both of these books before, but what was fun about listening this time is that the end of book one gives a little hint at what book two would be about.
I Just Read About That... 