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Event
ELIOT BRONSON
Picture a working-class Baltimore some 30 years ago. Kids play in the shadows of the row houses that line the sidewalks. Parents sit on the stoops leading up to front doors. It all seems normal at first glance.
But zoom in on one of these homes that old duplex built back when this part of town was still mainly open fields. Inside is a completely different community, where fundamentalism, hippie values and volatile, unpredictable emotions coexist and collide. Escape is difficult: the only way out is to pass through the bedrooms of people you might be trying to get away from.
This is where Eliot Bronson grew up. Often wanting to slip away, but the first thing he saw once he exited was the Pentecostal Church across the street where his father and grandfather had preached.
In this kaleidoscopic family, where glossolalia and, on occasion, alcohol-fueled ravings, sometimes bled into each other, Bronson found shelter in music. At age 15, he got his first guitar and started teaching himself to play. Right away, I wanted to write my own songs. My house was pretty chaotic so I took to music like it was a life raft. It was something I could do to keep myself alive.
Punk rock was his first shelter. Then one day his dad put on a few of his favorite LPs Bob Dylans The Times They Are A-Changin, something by Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. Eliot had heard these albums a thousand times before. This time, though it resonated with me, It wasnt just in the background. I tuned into it for the first time. There was a magic and a power there. It didnt talk down to the listener but it was also high art. It asked you to be smart and to become a better version of yourself. For me, this was a moment when it became my music, not just my parents music.
From local coffee houses and venues beyond Baltimore, Bronson sharpened his writing and performance. A local following grew. Astute observers saw something different in the young artists work. The Baltimore Sun even anointed him a folk singing wunderkind.
Expanding his range, Bronson toured as one-half of a duo. They moved to Atlanta and picked up a gig in a room frequented by The Indigo Girls, John Mayer, Shawn Mullins and other discerning clientele. When his partner quit to take a sensible non-musical job, Bronson persisted. His songs won first-place honors at MerleFests Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and Eddie Owens Presents Songwriter Shootout. He issued several solo albums, including a self-titled release in 2014 that prompted Glide Magazine to describe him as a gorgeous, magnificent hybrid of (Ryan) Adams, Jason Isbell and Jim James. Bop n Jazz upped that ante by heralding him as maybe the best singer/songwriter since Dylan.
Writers may have trouble topping these accolades, though thats what Bronsons latest album merits. Scheduled to release Aug. 25 on Rock Ridge Music and produced by Dave Cobb(Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell and others), James offers songs that are more like pictures than movies, capturing moments and digging deeply into their meanings. A stomping beat, raw harmonica and searing electric slide drives the opening track, Breakdown In G Major, followed by a selection of songs that only confirm Bronsons restless, escalating excellence.
Wherever hes bound, Bronson promises to write and sing the truth as he sees and feels it. For the really great artists, like Dylan or Paul Simon, you never quite find what youre looking for, he says. As you get closer, it changes. It stays elusive. What I want to do now isnt the same as what I wanted to do five years ago. And thats what keeps me going. And its that shift that drives Bronson to continue to refine his art.
"An Americana Gem"
- Paste Magazine
"One of the key up-and-coming songwriters in the Americana scene."
- Brice Ezell | Pop Matters
Good Enough
https://youtu.be/3UyK56CUlJQ
You Wouldn't Want Me If You Had Me (Live)
https://youtu.be/d0LPN__CbVM
"Time Ain't Nothin'"
https://youtu.be/A2B7qVovOoQ?t=6
Rollin Down a Line
https://youtu.be/PPyZPV8h0fY?t=1
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LocationThe FogHouse (View)
Address Provided with Purchase
San Francisco, CA 94131
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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