Eugene weekly., May 31, 2012, Page 28, Image 28

music
Dark Water Runs Deep
Bronwynne Brent might look like another relic
from the ‘70s, with her flowing brown hair, flowery
frocks and guitar in hand, but that assumption
proves wrong when you actually listen to her music.
Hailing from the Mississippi Delta, Brent has
spanned the South, playing shows everywhere from
New Orleans to Nashville, writing and performing
her own music. She picked up a country-Americana
influence along the way. Brent has been praised for
emulating Joanna Newsom and Jesse Sykes, but
she is perhaps more reminiscent of Jill Sobule, or
the confident, slow and catchy tracks of Jewel. With
a full band backing her, Brent has the luxury of
incorporating instruments like the pedal steel guitar
and the Hammond B-3, which contribute to the
fluidity of her music, each song gracefully
transitioning into the next, freckled with delicate
instrumentals.
Brent’s lyrics read like pages from her diary,
asserting lines like “the cold wind it blows me,
straight back to your door,” or begging the
question “won’t you reassure me that it’s all right?”
Luckily, Brent has an all-star band supporting her
heart-spilling, and packs just the right amount of
emotion into each ballad. Brent’s album, Deep Black
Water, was produced by Mike McCarthy, who has
the cred of working with stars like Spoon and
Heartless Bastards, and her band is composed of
Grammy-nominee Chris Maresh, J.J. Johnson,
David Grissom, Ricky Ray Jackson and Ian
McLagan. These guys, who mostly come from
Austin, all have plenty of experience under their
belts. Brent couldn’t have a better group of guys to
help her break into the scene.
Bronwynne Brent plays 9 pm Wednesday, June
6, at Sam Bond’s, $5; and 8 pm Saturday, June 9, at
the Granary; FREE. — Hailey Chamberlain
Can’t Keep Her Buried
Brooke Parrott’s songwriting recalls Laurel Canyon-era folksingers like Carole King, early Bonnie Raitt
and pre-rebellious-period Norah Jones. Her warm oatmeal cookie of a voice sounds like your mom’s when you
drifted off to sleep with your head against her chest, or the sound of ’70s AM radio as you dozed off on a
long road trip with your folks.
The Portland-via-London-via-Boston-via-Eugene songwriter has already come a long way with her music,
and her work with popular PDX indie rockers Loch Lomond (who sell-out concerts all over Europe) shows that
she’s got a lot farther to go. But Parrott has never lost sight of her first passion – writing and singing her own
piano-based compositions.
“Loch Lomond really opened my eyes to the band/family dynamic which has made me never want to play
a solo tour again,” says Parrot. “Having a band is like having a wonderfully dysfunctional group of your best
friends traveling the world with you.”
In early June, Parrott is kicking off a tour supporting Buried, an EP of original works spanning her time
living in London and a yurt in the Oregon wilderness. “This is the first time I’ve played shows on the West
Coast with a band, and it really changes the experience of my songs,” says Brooke. Recorded in L.A., the
collection is anchored by “Call it Done” – a gently lilting Americana tune, propelled by infectious hand-claps,
and a sing-along chorus that has all the makings of a big-ol’ NPR hit.
“The inspirational songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s have always been a huge influence in my songwriting,”
Parrott explains, “but I feel like, with this EP, I’ve finally started to distill that into my own sound.”
Brooke Parrott plays 9 pm Saturday, June 2, , at Sam Bond’s; $5. — William Kennedy
Olympic Downpour
Broken Water is a product of
Northwestern weather: cultural, musical,
political and alluvial, rooster-vanes swinging
in the storm. “Our music is something to
turn to in the midst of it all,” says drummer/
vocalist Kanako Pooknyw, who pounds
through skin-rooves like a horizontal
hailstorm. Heavily influenced by the grungy
Olympic underground of the 1980s and ‘90s,
Broken Water swells in the melodic
breakdowns as much as it surges through
dammed distortion. Guitarist Jon Hanna
sandpapers and scours with the drip-drop
pop of Pooknyw and Abigail Ingram’s (bass)
maelstrom rhythms.
West Coast touring on the strength of the
recently self-released Peripheral Star EP and the forthcoming (May 29) debut long-play on Seattle-based
Hardly Art record label, Tempest is set to saturate the sonic sponge. Tracks like “Drown” and “Underground”
show Broken Water raging through the subterranean passages of its predecessors.
“When I see our structure, and economy and human needs, the social fabric fraying, with more chaos and
less sanity and safety,” says Pooknyw, “I’m motivated to make music against that.”
“This band,” she says, “is an immediate approach to that.”
Like a punk Prospero, antagonized Ariel and clanging, growling Caliban, Broken Water’s storm plumbs the
depths of the eclectic Northwest and finds springs instead of tar.
Broken Water plays with the Groundblooms 9 pm Sunday, June 3, at Wandering Goat; donations
suggested. — Patrick Newson
20 MAY 31, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
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