Eugene weekly., October 13, 2005, Page 42, Image 42

BY VANESSA SALVIA
Return of Mare
Wakefield Band, Sort Of
Former favorite Eugenean visits for one show.
A
quantities of skilled session players and the
good songwriter with a great voice
general musical culture made the town
has two choices: continue as a
appealing. “The great thing about living in
good writer or push to be a great
Nashville was the amazingly talented musi-
writer. Mare (pronounced “Mary”)
cians we had access to,” Wakefield said.
Wakefield chose to push, majoring in song-
Among those new friends on the CD are har-
writing at Boston’s Berklee College of
mony vocalist Amelia White
Music. A graduate and a newly-
Mare Wakefield
and dobro player Kim Gardner.
wed, Wakefield returns to
9 pm, Sat., 10/15
“Everyone’s really approach-
Eugene armed with her fourth
Sam Bond’s,
able and really helpful,”
CD, Take Me Home. “[The CD]
$5-$8
Wakefield said. “There’s a lot of
is the best I’ve ever done,” said
431-6603
musicians in Nashville so you’d
Wakefield when we spoke
recently, while she and her husband were
driving west to begin their 19-shows-in-20-
days West Coast tour. A talented guitarist,
Wakefield and husband Nomad Övünç (pro-
nounced “Uvunch”) met at Berklee. Övünç
produced and arranged Take Me Home,
marking the first time Wakefield has collab-
orated closely with another. “I’ve never
worked that intensely with someone else. All
the other CDs I’ve made, I’ve been the head
honcho,” said Wakefield.
Since graduating, Wakefield and Övünç
have shifted homebase to Nashville. Vast
Fan
Mail
A letter from a fan.
BY EMILY FREEMAN
D
ear Invisible,
First of all, I want to
say thanks for not
being lame. I know this might not
be the most eloquent way to
begin a fan letter, but it pretty
much conveys what I want to say
right off the bat. So … thanks.
Second of all, it says some-
thing for a band when you go to
see their live show and you wish
that the show wouldn’t end. It re-
ally says something about a band
when the reason you went to the
think there would be a lot of competition, but
more than any competition I really feel a
sense of community, of people wanting to
help each other out.”
Wakefield’s CD exhibits a shift toward a
more rootsy, country-tinged folk. Call it
Nashville’s influence, or the true Mare
emerging (she did grow up in Texas), this CD
showcases her strengthened talents beautiful-
ly. Wakefield sings about the ominous, the
poignant and the universal with a smile and a
light heart. Joining her will be David
Burrows on drums and Övünç on bass. ew
…to be honest, you make it hard for people not to love you.
with, your music is tinged with
show in the first place was to see
this quirkiness that is set off in
the band that is playing after the
your lyrics and choice placing of
band that you wish would never
xylophone. But
end. Does that
Invisible,
even though you
make sense? Let
The Fast Computers,
know how to
me put it this
The Very Foundation
have fun, there is
way: Your live
10 pm, Fri., 10/14
a heavier ele-
show rocks.
Luckey’s,
ment to your
As an audi-
$3-$5
sound; some-
ence member I
thing transcendent and haunting
can really tell that you guys are
in the piano and guitar that
into your music, and that makes
vaguely reminds me of Death
the show infinitely cooler for me.
Cab for Cutie. Or maybe Yo La
When you love what you’re
Tengo. But the vocals are more
doing, other people want to love
Modest Mouse … but never mind
it too. And well, to be honest, you
the comparisons. I think you’ve
make it hard for people not to
taken the best elements of these
love you.
bands and put them together to
Why, you ask? Well, to begin
It’s NOT what’s OUTSIDE, but what’s INSIDE
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create a sound that could just be
the sound of my new favorite
band.
Another thing about your live
shows — the videos in the back-
ground are a nice touch. I mean,
they don’t really make sense, but
they’re just so coordinated with
your music that it’s like watching
the visualizer on iTunes or some-
thing. Not that I sit in front of the
computer and watch it or any-
thing.
Anyway, I just wanted to say
thanks and keep up the good
work. Everyone alive should go
your (Invisible’s) show.
Sincerely,
An Invisible Fan