Entertainment, pure & simple: Jack Grace Band at the Nelson Odeon

Jack Grace just doesn’t fit in. Jerry Lee Lewis once remarked, “He’s like that Cash kid, but good,” yet Jack also plays enough rock and throws in original Bossa numbers to add to the confusion. He has spent more time on the road than off it since 1992.

He’s been most recently known as a country musician, but that designation belies the myriad of influences that shape his sound. It began with an obsession with the Beatles, and as a teenager, he wore out his Zeppelin records like so many of us. Later, when he discovered Neil Young, he wore those discs out too. His first band, Steak, had a Zappa-inspired sound, he was told, when he was barely aware of the iconic figure who couldn’t be bothered to stick to a single formula. Fitting. Later, after discovering he had a baritone eerily reminiscent of the great Johnny Cash, he added some steel to the mix and suddenly everyone was calling him country.

Five previous releases and tracks featured in the films “Super Troopers” and “Beer Fest” have garnered both a growing following and a steady hum of praise. His debut, Introducing the Songs of Jack Grace, was an acoustic affair, which many mistook as country. “Fine, call it country if you want,” he said at the time. “What you label it doesn’t mean all that much to me.” What mattered? There were new rules to be broken. His most recent release, Drinking Songs for Lovers, had some fine country numbers, but he added mariachi horns to give them a Latin flavor, inspired by his yearly pilgrimage to Tulum, Mexico, where he likes to write songs on the beach. His previous outing was a country concept album called The Martini Cowboy, featuring in a bossa nova number with lap steel front and center.

Join us this Friday, May 11 at 8:00pm (doors open at 7:30). Click here for tickets and more info.

By martha

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.