When Spencer Bohren took the stage last Saturday night at the Red Dragon Listening Room in Baton Rouge, I was thrilled to get the chance to see him after so many years. My daughter, Lorena was born near New Orleans in 1981 and Spencer’s wife, Marilyn was the attending midwife at her birth. Marilyn was expecting their second child at the time.
In my conversations with Marilyn between my wife’s contractions, I learned about Spencer Bohren and his roots blues. He was making a living, supporting his family, playing clubs in New Orleans, doing a lot of musical experimentation, hosting a weekly Monday night jam session at Tipitina's and playing weekends at the Old Absinthe Bar on Bourbon Street. Still, it wasn’t until a few years later that I actually got a chance to hear him perform.
I remember the first time I saw Spencer singing and playing guitar at Chelsea’s near LSU. I actually sat six feet in front of him, drinking beer and watching his fingers in amazement. He was making exotic chord progressions, doing solo embellishments and finger picking melodies like I’d never heard before. At the time, a B7 chord was awesome and mysterious to me, but this guy was playing harmonic partial chords all over the neck. Man, I wanted to be able to play like that. His style and energy was so vibrant and alive and I’ll never forget how thrilled I was to watch that kind of guitar playing. He was such an inspiration to me at that time.
A year or two later, I had an opportunity to sit and jam with Spencer at a mutual friend’s house. I played him the only blues song I knew at the time, a subdued version of a tune called “How Long” by Christian folk guitarist, John Michael Talbot. I don’t know what Spencer thought of that song considering he was into the real country blues classics, styles by artists such as Mississippi John Hurt, Tommy Johnson, Charley Patton and so on, but he played along with me with absolute politeness, enthusiasm and respect. Just that short time with him really gave me the encouragement I needed to work harder at improving my playing skills.
Thirty years ago Spencer was just beginning to make his mark in the music world of delta and country blues, traveling around the United States, hauling an Airstream trailer with his red and white ’55 Chevy Bel Air, along with his wife Marilyn and their young children. During that time he actually gave me an autographed copy of his first solo LP album entitled “Born in a Biscayne”, which I played over and over until it was completely worn out.
Spencer’s music is born right out of that folk-blues revival of the late 1960’s. In fact, early on in his career, he actually met one of my favorite guitar heroes, the eccentric ragtime genius, Reverend Gary Davis. Over the years, Spencer has established himself as a torch carrier of the old traditional roots music, mixing in some creative, thoughtful originals as well. One of my favorites is a tuned he wrote called, “Cry of the Blues,” on his 1996 CD, Dirt Roads
Spencer probably doesn’t know how much I appreciated that first album he gave me when I was in my early 20’s. But it opened up my ears to a world of music that I love dearly to this day. There is so much unrefined emotion in this old style of music. So when he played blues classics like “Canned Heat,” and “Ain’t Nobody’s Dirty Business” at the Red Dragon this weekend, it was like teleporting back to that time once again. Throughout the evening, Spencer sang and told stories while moving effortlessly from lap steel guitar to banjo to his old Gibson and then back again, painting a melodic panorama of poetry, image and sound. My friend, John Baute, elbowed me more than once between sips of wine, as if to say, “Wow, this guy is great.”
Patrick Sylvest, from Thibodeaux, generally plays in an old time string band trio called the Mosspickers. Patrick opened the performance with a set of inspired and imaginative originals which gave voice to environmental concerns such as coastal restoration and conservation awareness to Louisiana’s dwindling black bear population. Patrick is a talented musician with a pleasant voice and a great sense of sensitivity and rhythm.
The Red Dragon Listening Room is a very special place, thanks to its’ sponsor, Chris Maxwell. What Chris puts into this place is nothing short of a labor of love. It is the ideal setting for experiencing intimate, live music. Spencer said that he’d been all over the United States and that places like the Red Dragon, which cater to live acoustic music, are very rare. Through the Red Dragon Listening Room, Chris Maxwell allows professional songwriters the opportunity to be heard in an atmosphere that is truly unique.
I always have a feeling of being at home at the Red Dragon Listening Room, a comfortable relaxed feeling of being with a room full of friends. The people who love this place come because they know it will be a pleasurable experience of appreciating the excellence of talented acoustic musicians. It is a venue unlike any I’ve known before and I truly appreciate the fact that we have it here in Baton Rouge. If you’ve never been there, please check it out and support the cause of great quality acoustic music in Baton Rouge.
Spencer Bohren’s web page is at: www.SpencerBohren.com
Patrick Sylvest’s web page is at: www.myspace.com/mosspickers
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