TRAVIS WEAGANT
<Editor-in-Chief>
I first saw singer-songwriter Andrew O’Brien in February 2011 as part of Canadian Music Week, right here in Toronto, and I’ve made a point not to miss him ever since. I saw him again last fall at the Free Times Café on College St, and on September 28, he returned to Free Times in fine form.
O’Brien, of Corner Brook, Newfoundland, was back on the mainland for a fall tour, this time accompanied by his accordion-toting better half Catherine Allan. The two clearly have chemistry on-stage as well: Allan’s effortless harmonies belie an intuition that only comes from many years of immersion in music, and complement O’Brien’s delicate but deliberate delivery of what are often deeply personal lyrics.
Carpets and various other sound-absorbing materials deaden the Free Times Café’s intimate backroom venue, a fixture on College St for more than 30 years. The result is a feeling that you’re right in the recording studio with the performer. With that said, I’ve never been in a studio where I could get a smoked meat sandwich. While Caplansky’s Deli – just down the street – seriously undercuts Free Times’ sandwich pricing, the quality is comparable and you can’t beat Free Times on beer: just $5 for a pint of Mill St. Organic or Tankhouse, a deal so magnificent that O’Brien himself couldn’t resist advertising it on stage. I highly recommend the venue.
This may seem like a hungry man’s digression, but there’s method to my ramblings on ambience and cuisine. Take an intimate venue, a well-fed crowd who aren’t bitter about being gouged for their beverages; add a couple of talented Newfoundlanders, and you’ll experience something unique: the realization that if O’Brien and Allan had simply stopped playing abruptly, you could have heard a pin drop.
O’Brien’s set was composed primarily of material from his debut album Songs for Searchers, including upbeat folk-rock numbers “La La La” and “On the Radio” (both of which, incidentally, have been featured on local Newfoundland stations and on CBC Radio 2). However, O’Brien truly shines when he puts down the plectrum; his greatest strength is his honest brand of folk ballad, including “Built to Last,” “West Street Serenade,” and the incomparable “Go Easy.” In these tunes, O’Brien comfortably steps into a distinctive and purposeful fingerpicked rhythm that he uses so often, and tells you about life.
The spirit of Newfoundland was undeniably present. O’Brien’s friend and Fellow Corner Brook native Brad Fillatre played the opening set, and the mutual influence between the two was plain to see. O’Brien himself covered two songs by fellow Newfoundlanders: one by Juno award-winner Amelia Curran, who features on Songs for Searchers, and another by friend Sherman Downey, whose band, Sherman Downey and the Silver Lining, includes accordion and trombone player Bill Allan, Catherine’s older brother. When O’Brien and Allan closed their set with Tom Waits’ “Picture in a Frame” and the audience insisted on one more song, O’Brien dragged yet another friend from Corner Brook out of the audience to join him in an energetic rendition of Paul Simon’s “Cecilia.” Suffice it to say that Newfoundland is a small place with big talent.
O’Brien’s album Songs for Searchers is available on iTunes and on good old-fashioned Compact Disc through his website: andrewjamesobrien.com/music, where you can also stream it for free. His second album is in the works for release next year. Check it out; you’ll like it.