Mare Wakefield
Nashville Girl
Since Mare Wakefield moved to
Nashville from Eugene three years ago, she
and her husband, Nomad, have settled in and
purchased a home there. This summer they
spent six weeks touring Germany. I caught up
with Wakefield in Nebraska on her way to her
34 SEPTEMBER 13, 2007
West Coast tour dates after she and Nomad
had finished doing yoga while watching the
sun set over the prairie.
“I feel like we’re really warming up to
Nashville,” she says. Wakefield has em-
braced co-writing, which she was initially re-
luctant to do. “Nashville is all about co-writ-
ing,” she says, “and I had always written
songs by myself, in my room, with
the door closed! But it’s really be-
come something that I enjoy and
that’s opened up a lot of doors for
me.” On this tour, Wakefield will be
performing “Pretty Little Bird,” a
song she wrote with Colleen
McFarland.
Another facet of Nashville life is
that most concert opportunities are
“in the round,” meaning that you
share the stage with other
singer/songwriters and perform just
a few of your own songs. Wakefield
misses being able to play a whole
show by herself, but, as she points
out, there are “so many” musicians
in Nashville that there are not
enough venues for everyone to have
the stage to themselves each night.
Wakefield and her friend Eve
Fleishman recently released Daddy’s
Moonlight Alligator Boat Ride, a
collection of 15 children’s songs.
Wakefield says the children’s CD
has met with great success. Now,
performing as part of the duo Eve &
Mare at children’s concerts is about
half her income, “if not more,” she
says. Nomad is building a successful
career as a composer and producer,
and he learned bass so that he could
more fully back up Wakefield when
she performs. Now that’s true love!
Mare Wakefield plays with Nomad
on bass and piano at 9 pm Friday,
Sept. 14, at Sam Bond’s Garage. 21+
show. $5 — Vanessa Salvia
Three Guys and a Laptop
Three guys from Chico who perform indie
rock that sounds like the Magnetic Fields?
Who’da thunk? Not too jammy, not too stony,
pretty much straight ahead indie rock circa
1996, complete with drum machine (probably a
laptop) and crooning vocals (courtesy of
Maurice Spencer). Guitarist Chris Hunter and
drummer Clint Bear (Bear Hunter, get it?)
connected in 1997, but didn’t absorb Spencer
into the group until 2001. Once the trio was
completed, they disappeared into their base-
ment and recently remerged with their first full
length album You Will Be Heard!
Comprising a mix of styles — tracks like
“Action Reaction” sound straight out of The
Magnetic Fields Get Lost, and “Caught in a
Well” feels almost Xiu Xiu-like with its mix of in-
struments such as marimba and accordion —
You Will Be Heard! takes a brief tour through
some of the more plaintive genres of indie-
rock. Far from depressing — but maybe a little
dopier (sluggish-sounding) than I thought —
Bear Hunter’s tunes are enjoyable in their nos-
talgia for a more “sensitive” time in college-
rock history.
The group is a little off-brand, considering
the current indie rock climate, so Bear Hunter
may have an uphill climb to stardom. However,
their throwback sound definitely has a niche
market these days as well. Maybe a release on
the 5RC label (home to Xiu Xiu) in the future? I
think it could work. Bear Hunter, Three Guys
That Paint and Redox play at 10 pm Sunday,
Sept. 14, at Diablo’s Downtown Lounge. 21+
show. — Steven Sawada