Nathan Irwin: The Soundtrack

Apropos of nothing – and because I’m seriously busy, now that “The Fantasticks” has opened – I offer this reflection on some of the songs I’ve been playing most heavily on my iPod. If you subscribe to theory that a person’s personal play list, or the books on their bookshelf, provide an insight into their personality, have at it.

This list may be a little skewed by the fact that I put many of these songs into a play list I built while rehearsing for and performing in “Autobahn” – songs that either use car metaphors, or seemed to capture the attitudes of the scenes in the show. I cycled through that play list a lot back stage, so the songs show up pretty high on my “most played” list.

Steve Forbert, “Born Too Late”

I blame my cousin, Steve Irwin, for this one. Ten years ago, on the way back from a family reunion in Michigan, he popped Steve Forbert’s “The American in Me” into his tape player, and introduced me to this musician. When I got home, I quickly went out and got the CD, and it was one of the first ones I ripped into my iPod. I love Forbert’s style of roots rock, particularly the combination of driving rock and jaded lyrics in this song.

Johnny Cash, “I Won’t Back Down”

From the five-disc “American Recordings” series Cash released in his final years. This is a cover of a Tom Petty song, and I actually think that Cash’s version is better than the original. Cash brings a kind of gravelly last-act-of-defiance feel to it, from a man who sings like he has one foot in the grave. Petty, by comparison, seems like an aging pop star copping a rebellious attitude from the comfortable safety of his major-label record deal.

Uncle Tupelo, “Give Back the Key to My Heart”

When I was in college, my friend Kurt tried to turn me on to this band, and its subsequent spin-offs, Son Volt and Wilco. I assumed Kurt was out of his mind, I was wrong. So now, fifteen years too late, I’m having a lot of fun discovering the alt-country genre.

The Bodeans, “Good Things”

This band had a brief run in the mid-nineties with their single “Closer to Free.” That’s about the time I was getting started in public radio, and covering a Triple-A shift every few months. I moved on, but the Bodeans are still at it ten years later. Last month, I caught their performance on the Peoria Riverfront, and they’re still amazing. They’re a great band, and it’s a shame their moment in the sun didn’t last longer.

Gin Blossoms, “Hey Jealousy”

Another fantastic band I’ve only just come around to (sensing a theme, here?) I’ve found a few of their singles on compilations, and every one I’ve heard so far has been amazing. Apparently, they only put out two full-length CDs, then faded into obscurity. I haven’t had time to pick them up yet, but once I get through all the un-listened-to music I already have, this band is at the top of my list.

John Wesley Harding, “I’m Wrong About Everything”

From the “High Fidelity” soundtrack – a great movie, by the way, especially if you have a fondness for the romantic fumblings of hapless protagonists overlaced with the pronouncements of self-appointed music snobs. I remember listening to Harding a little, working at the aforementioned Triple-A station, then promptly forgot about him for ten years. The song is a great confessional from a deeply flawed, but repentant character. It has an oddly catchy, up-tempo pop hook.

Lyle Lovett, “If I Had a Boat”

My ex-girlfriend, Becky Beth, came home one day with a Lyle Lovett single called “Church,” which had one of the best gospel grooves I’ve ever heard. She put it on a mix tape we listened to in the car for about a year. Why I never followed up to check out the rest of his music is beyond me; it’s probably that I’m just an idiot. I like this song for the simplicity of it’s texture – barely more than a guitar and percussion – and the wistfulness of the lyrics.

Steve Forbert, “The American in Me”

Another Steve Forbert. Damn you, cousin Steve! This song is more down-tempo than “Born Too Late,” but I love the way the lyrics convey a mid-life anomie, using cars and driving as a central metaphor.

It's Ira Glass! In all his shiny, pixellated, downloadable goodness.

Dude.

Episodes of the "This American Life" TV series are now available from iTunes.

DUDE!

Last September, at a public radio conference, I got a chance to see a preview of the series--most of what turned out to be the pilot episode of the show. Then, just before the show debuted, I saw a couple other episodes on a promotional DVD the producers sent out. But I never saw the full run of the series. Much as I love the radio show, I'm not a Showtime subscriber, and I didn't think a six-episode run justified ponying up the full cost of a subscription. Plus, I'm pretty sure I was working on a show at the time--which means I probably wouldn't have benn home to watch, anyway.

Nevertheless, based on what little I've seen of the TV series, it looks to be every bit as good as the radio show. The choice of stories is just as careful, the narrative style is the same, and so on. I don't know that the show broke ground in terms of using the craft of video production to tell stories, but it's safe to say that the show is twice as smart and curious about the world as anything else that's out there on the television dial.

That being the case, you should definitely go buy all six episodes. Now. At two bucks a pop, you'll get the whole run for slightly more than a download of "Zoolander." Which do you think you're more likely to watch without wanting to suddenly dash your iPod to bits against the nearest wall?

Thought so.

[Off-topic, I know, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Showtime has picked up "TAL" for ten more episodes. If so, that's great news--I might even break down and subscribe. But I wonder when (or even IF) the TV episodes will be available on DVD. Again, the safest bet is to fire up the credit card and get them while they're hot.]

Having a Fantastick time... (and no, that's not a typo!)

UFF-da!

I'm tired. Just got home from the first technical rehearsal for "The Fantasticks," which goes up soon at Corn Stock Theatre. I'm playing Mortimer--a small role, but a very physical one. Pretty much the whole time I'm on stage, I'm moving. I carry another actor around the stage, engage in a mock combat sequence, and do an elaborate death scene. Factor in the temperature lately (it's been in the nineties) and the walk to and from the theatre, and you start to understand why I'm getting a little worn down.

None of which should be read as a complaint, mind. Because I've been waiting years for a chance to do this show.

"The Fantasticks" is one of those shows I seem to have a history with. Thirty years ago, my father (who was about the same age then that I am now) played the male lead in a community theatre production in Wisconsin. Though I only have a vague recollection of watching the show itself, I got to know all the music really well.

Ten years later on, I'm in college, suffering from a severe delusion I might have a career in theatre. In a musical theatre class, I was assigned some of the songs from the show, and loved them all over again. Since then, "The Fantasticks" has been one of just a handful of shows I swore I'd do as soon as the opportunity came along. In the end, it took twenty years before I happened to be living a city when there was a production coming up. So, when the auditions at Corn Stock were announced, I was there.

So, in brief, that's how we got to this point in the story. I still love the show and now, after just a twenty year wait, I get my chance to be in it.

Opening night is Friday. If you're in Peoria, you should come out and see it.

A quick update from the footlights

Right now, I'm in final rehearsals for a production of "The Fantasticks," opening next week at the Corn Stock tent. We've reached that point in the process where we run the full show every night -- which makes for some long, and tiring, rehearsals.

A couple of days ago, we lost the actor playing Henry, my very good friend Clark Rians. Fortunately, our director made some calls over the holiday, and Larry Stratton agreed to take on the role on very short notice.

While I'm devasted at losing Clark, I know it'll be great working with Larry. He played the same role ten years ago (the same production Madeline was in, as it happens), so I know he'll ready to go. He's a real pro, and we've worked together in the past. A couple of years ago, he was my sidekick in "The Crucible," and now the roles are reversed.

[EDIT: One of these days, I have *got* to figure out what it is that makes directors think to pair us up like we're the Mutt and Jeff of community theatre. I mean, Larry's got twenty-some years on me; he's tall, and thin; and I'm short and... umm, NOT thin.

We're getting better every night. I can't wait until opening -- a week from tomorrow.

Yesterday it was my birthday. I hung one more year on the line.

(Apologies to Paul Simon for stealing his lyric)

Actually, my birthday was Friday, but the real celebration took place over the weekend. I got some time to finally watch the PBS special honoring Paul Simon as the first-ever recipient of the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The show aired Wednesday, but I was tied up in rehearsal, so it took me a couple of days to get around to it.

I've been a huge Paul Simon fan for just over twenty years. "Graceland" was the first CD I ever owned, and it inspired me to pillage my Mom's record collection for her old Simon and Garfunkel LPs. And I think I'm one of like twelve people who actually saw his Broadway musical, "The Capeman." So I'm delighted to see him receive this award. I think Bob Costas made a great point about Simon's musical longevity: He's been writing songs for forty years and he's written great material in each of the last five decades - compared to some contemporaries who had periods of brilliance, and decades of unremarkable work.

A few years ago, I probably couldn't have watched a show like this without getting all huffy about other artists performing Paul Simon's music, and butchering it by not performing it exactly the way he does. These days, though, I'm much more mellow; and as I watched a cavalcade of great musicians pay tribute to Simon's music, I was struck by how broad his influence really has been over the years. For instance, what other artists would bring Shawn Colvin and Allison Krauss together for the same homage? James Taylor and the Dixie Hummingbirds? Lyle Lovett and Marc Anthony?

A few random thoughts on the performance:

• I would never, in a million years, have thought to put Shawn Colvin and Allison Krauss together in a duet. But it turns out their voices are spectacular together. And "The Boxer" is a great song to test that theory.
• God, I love how Lyle Lovett sings. I wasn't too thrilled with the songs they gave him, though. I would have liked to hear what he could do with "Graceland." I bet he could knock it out of the park.
• How awesome is it that they decided to include "Gone At Last"? This is like one of my favorite Paul Simon songs ever, and I figured everybody except me had just forgotten about it. Jessy Dixon and Yolanda Adams ROCKED on it.
• Dianne Reeves. I've never been a huge fan of this jazz vocalist. But she was a great choice for "Something So Right." Her performance made me hear jazzy elements in the song that I'd never noticed were there before -- which is exactly what a good cover is supposed to do. Plus, again: Points for shining the spotlight on a song in the Simon canon that doesn't get a whole lot of attention.
• I don't know who that guy is who plays guitar for Paul Simon these days, but he was the hardest-working guy on the stage. He's the size of a house, and vaguely Nordic-looking. Until I learn his actual name, I'm going to call him "Sven."
• Stevie Wonder flubbed his entrance in "Loves Me Like a Rock," and asked to start the song over from the top. PBS didn't edit out the false start, and I think I can tell why: His cover ("I couldn't see my cue card") was actually pretty funny, and entirely genuine. Plus, on the second take, he came in like a freight train. Stevie Wonder rocks.
• Ladysmith Black Mambazo is still amazing, after all these years. Simon looked a little awkward singing with them (He always comes off a little uncomfortable on stage), but by the end, you could see real affection between him and LSM's lead singers. They really looked like two guys who've become musical brothers.
• Was that concert given at Ford's Theatre? I went to a show there a couple of years ago, and it sure looked like it.

PS: This was one the first broadcasts I recorded to my new computer, using Windows Media Center and a direct cable connection. I know that other people have been doing this for years, but I was really pleased with the result. The only downside is that I can't watch it on my flat-screen TV. Then again, maybe that'll be my next project.