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Mahan is the latest in a string of Cincinnati musicians I've reviewed over the last year for Rockzillaworld. Comparing the names in credits and band histories from Pike 27, Len's Lounge, Messerly & Ewing, and Mahan's album gives the impression that Cincinnati is a tight-knit, incestuous musical community. Mahan and his brother Brian played on Messerly & Ewing's The Last Twelve Hours. Brian Ewing and Mark Messerly both put in appearances on I Row My Boat, Brian Lovely (yes, lots of Brians in Cincinnati) co-produced this disc and also shows up on Messerly & Ewing's disc. Pike 27's Dave Purcell used to be a member of Len's Lounge; Mark Messerly recently joined Pike 27. You get the idea. With so many of the same musicians, some similarity between all of these acts might be expected, and close listening reveals some, but each act is dominated by one or two people with the others acting in the role of sidemen. Pike 27 rocks the hardest because Dave Purcell likes to rock. Len's Lounge's Jeff Roberson would seem to be a laid-back guy of few words. And then there's Greg Mahan. Like Purcell, Mahan can rock, but where Purcell prefers the straight-ahead, blues-based rock of the Stones, Mahan experiments with unexpected sounds and textures, not unlike what the Beatles did thirty-some years ago. No sitar, but keyboards, accordion, flute, sax, and trumpet. Mandolin, violin, and banjo too. Pick any popular musical style from the last thirty or forty years. Memphis R&B. Power Pop. Psychedelia. New Wave. Folk. Greg Mahan has heard them all and at some point incorporates each of these influences on I Row My Boat, even a glimmer of The Tijuana Brass in the horns and percussion on "All Is Grace." The flute and strings-filled "Song For Brenda" is almost a New Age love song. Lyrically Mahan's influences are more limited, or at least less apparent, with one obvious exception. Starting with the opening track, "Well I Know I Figured It Out," there are strong hints that Mahan studied Dylan's in his personal songwriters school. The lyrics are evocative, yet the meaning not always obvious.
And I know I figured it out After back rent "New Noah" makes liberal use of religious imagery yet isn't overtly religious. The opening lyrics, "I had a dream, it was such a fright," allow the possibility of interpreting some lyrics as metaphor ("New York City is under the sea/Wall Street and the Village looking up at me/saying he was neither wrong nor crazy") while other lyrics can be taken literally. Here I am at the top of the world Like Dylan, Mahan has surrounded himself with an excellent group of musicians and won't be boxed into the parameters of a single musical style. Unlike Dylan, the vocals are comprehensible. At times his lyrics may leave you as confused, hearing the words but working hard to understand their meaning. Other songs, like the folk-rockish "American Farmers Song," are more overt in their meaning. I moved to the left and I moved to the right Can't work my hands and I can't work the land If you believe music should be mindless noise in the background, then buy a white noise generator. Everyone else might consider Greg Mahan's I Row My Boat Gotta, Get It Afloat, I'm the Man With the Plan . . . * www.gregmahan.com
is the place to visit for more information and song samples.
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No, Greg Mahan's
fourteen word album title doesn't even approach the longest ever.
I believe that honor still belongs to Fiona Apple's ninety word
poem-as-title disc from a few years back. With my tendency towards
the verbose I thought chances were good that Mr. Mahan's music
would connect with me, even before I listened the first time.
That was three, maybe even four months ago. I've listened to
the disc several times every week since and can report that I
was right. It did connect. I enjoyed the music from the first
time I played it. That's easy. Explaining why is another story.
Since I assume none of you are psychic, I'll try.
It came to me
yesterday night
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