I grew up listening to
Greg Brown. His poetry, delivered by a sexy growl and accompanied by sparse, well-placed guitar chords, was well known in my family's home. I was nearly destroyed when I discovered I wouldn't be able to make his show at the Bijou last Thursday night. However, thanks to the wonders of radio - WDVX, to be exact - I was able to catch the Man from Iowa on the Blue Plate Special the following day. We got there about an hour before the show and the seats were already filling up. Evidently, I wasn't the only one who missed the show the night before. When Mr. Brown sauntered past me in the lobby along with his friend, Bo Ramsey, I felt my knees buckle and my body temperature kick up about two degrees. (I don't know what it is about that man - woof!) I'm not the only one who has the hots for him, either. A friend of mine, who has toured with big names like Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, told me he's one of the few musicians that makes her star-struck and the only one she'd ever lift up her shirt for at a concert. How many folkies have that kind of magnetism, honestly?
Brown and Ramsey disappeared behind the studio door as the throngs continued to file through the front door. By the time the opening act, The Pea Ridge Ramblers, took the stage at noon, there was not an inch of floor left unclaimed. That was the most people I've seen at the free noontime concert series, by a longshot. The crowd was a refreshing mixture of local musicians, writers and hippies old & young. Even though the vast majority of the audience was there for the Brown/Ramsey segment, the Ramblers won many new fans with their clever, old-time tunes and easy banter.
As the Ramblers wrapped their set up, WDVX's charming announcer, Matt Morelock, introduced Greg Brown and Bo Ramsey to the eager crowd. Brown's perpetual morning voice filled the room as he paid compliments to Knoxville and the artistic vision of WDVX. He didn't spend a whole lot of time talking and commenced to serenading us with his old and new material. He seemed to stray from the set-list from time to time, and left the silent Bo Ramsey to visably search for the chord changes over Brown's shoulder.
Spending a half-hour with Greg Brown is not nearly enough time, but it is a far cry better than nothing. In fact, I can't think of a better way to spend a cold afternoon than surrounded by good Knoxvillians and wrapped up in the heat of Greg Brown.
