Artist of the Month, July 2010 : Brock Zeman

Jul 7, 2010 Artist of the Month
Posted by Adam

This month we venture north of the border for the Artist of the Month. Canadian, Brock Zeman puts out better Americana music than most everyone in the States as far as I’m concerned. With six studio efforts and a live album under his belt already this 28 year old has quite a body of work in a short time.

I first heard Brock when I was still promoting shows on a regular basis and he sent me an email. Anyone who does any promoting knows that these emails flood your inbox about everyday and you are really looking for something that stands out in them. With Brock’s, he threw out a couple of names that caught my eye. He had opened for Chris Knight and Fred Eaglesmith and in fact was then touring with ex-Eaglesmith band member, Dan Walsh.

I listened to a few clips on his site and went ahead and booked the show on a Thursday night (show available soon on this site). When Brock showed and played one of the best shows I saw that whole entire year to a crowd of ten of us, I was hooked. It was quickly obvious that the name dropping in the email was unnecessary and that Zeman’s songs could easily stand on their own two feet amid songs from any songwriter.

This guy has songs filling his pockets. He is constantly writing and it seems that he can write about any topic and really in any style he chooses. He can make you laugh one minute and bring the tears the next. On top of that he is a phenomenal showman, weaving stories and songs seamlessly together.

His songs whether on album or live have an energy that just draw you in. I know that it has become the cliche, go to description but his voice is definitely whiskey drenched, which fits his songs perfectly. I would recommend all of his records but, I do have some favorites.

Welcome Home Ivy Jane from 2006 features Brock with his band, The Dirty Hands. This album brings out the country side of Brock as well as any of his recordings to date. There a few rockers on here as well, but the slower songs are what stand out the most for on this one. “Cindy” is a letter to an ex lover full of lies of how well he is doing and reminds me of Waits’ “Christmas Card From a Hooker” tune with a few new twists. “Saturday Night” is the next in a long line of songs about what happens after the last chord is struck and the band finishes it’s gig for the night. More upbeat is ” Down in the Basement” the story of Brock staying in a very un-kept basement that after a few hours and perhaps some paranoia inducing drinking, seems to contain all kinds of strange characters and objects. Of his earlier albums this one stands out as my favorite.

If you are like me you have come across a bootleg of unreleased demos or outtakes from one of your favorite artists and thought, man these versions of the songs are so much better than the ones they ended up releasing. 2007′s Bourbon Sessions from Zeman and Walsh is that bootleg only it was released. Recorded over a couple of days and a lot of shots of bourbon in Walsh’s home studio this album is right in my wheelhouse. The stripped down feel of the songs that Zeman was just kicking around at the time completely captures what seeing Brock live is like. With little to no overdubbing the album just allows the master song craft to shine through.

My favorites on this one are hard to pick because really top to bottom this one is a must listen. “Don’t Ya Tell Jimmy” caught me immediately because I am a sucker for gambling tunes, and this one is a classic. Also on the album is a ramped up stomper of a tune about a night in a very rough bar, “Blood on the Hardwood Floor”. A couple of stories of eventual murder round out my picks for this one in “Rock Fence” and “Something’s Gonna Crack”.

The final album I will go into is Zeman’s latest studio effort, $100 Difference. Released in late 2008, this record brings out the rock n roll in Zeman. A lot of the tunes on this one include a full out rockin’ band and are generally more up beat than some of his earlier stuff.

“Girl With a Gun” according to Brock, is about a relationship where you are completely afraid of the woman. “Train in Me” is a track that appeared in bare parts on The Bourbon Sessions, but here is a rocked out ode to everyone’s favorite subject. The album closer is “Once Upon a Saturday Night” and it follows the narrator through a night of drunken mischief that ends in a lot of needed apologies. Over all it is one of Brock’s finest releases to date.

Zeman also released his first live record last year with “Live @ Acoustic Grill”. I have just recently gotten a copy of this so I can’t really go into a lot of detail about it. I can say that the line up on the record is Zeman, Walsh, and Blair Hogan on bass and it features a number of previously unreleased songs. I have seen that line up on three occasions and every time it was amazing.

Shortly after the release of the live record, Zeman and Walsh parted ways and Hogan is now playing all of the lead guitar in the live sets. From what I’ve seen via Youtube clips, this change has not altered the quality of the show whatsoever as Hogan is a phenomenal guitar player. He also plays a few other instruments at times on stage and therefore brings a little something extra to the table.

Zeman, who is currently on Busted Flat Records, is almost certainly working on his next release even as you read this. I know for a fact that he is sitting on stockpile of material so it is just a matter of finding time in his schedule to hit the studio.

In addition to his own music, Brock has ventured off into the realm of producing and has recently released an album by fellow Canadian, Robert Larisey, on his new record label, Mud Music. From the tracks I’ve heard it is also going to be a great record and it features Zeman on bass and Hogan on multiple instruments.

Unfortunately for those of us Stateside we will not be getting the chance to see Zeman live for awhile as he is currently booked all year in Canada. You can, however, visit his website and buy all of his albums, which I would highly recommend. You can also find his email on the site and begin sending him messages asking for his return to the states.

Look for that first live show to appear here later this week as a download in mp3 format. Also look for a review of the Larisey album later this month.

To further convince you to check out more of Brock’s stuff here is a video of him performing “The Juggler”, a song about a performer in traveling show, with Blair Hogan

Tags: Brock Zeman, Chris Knight, dan walsh, Fred Eaglesmith, Youtube Clip