Preview
JASON ANDERSON/WOLF COLONEL
Saturday, April 10
Carpenter’s Union Hall
For most people, the thought of having a secret identity is a thrilling prospect. An alias gives you the freedom to be whoever you want, with minimal risk of exposure or scrutiny. For the shy and socially awkward, a pseudonym is the perfect solution. But for the artist formally known as Wolf Colonel, being shrouded in mystery just wasn’t doing it for him anymore.
"As my songs and performances started becoming more intensely sincere and open, I really felt compelled to extend that level of intimacy and warmth to the limit," Jason Anderson, a.k.a. Wolf Colonel says. "I think writing behind an assumed band name as a solo performer can be liberating, romantic and mysterious – all wonderful elements of music – but I don’t know. It just felt natural and exciting to abandon the W.C."
Anderson’s latest album, New England, is an acoustic departure from the catchy power-pop sound of Wolf Colonel. Made with friends and largely recorded in one take, the process left a deep impression on Anderson.
"What I am most proud of with this record is the friendship, the hope, the heart that hopefully shines through," he says. "And with these songs, capturing that was much more important than capturing perfect takes, per se. We were going for a feeling."
The grassroots approach is nothing new to Anderson, who started his musical career by recording songs on a boom box and giving away homemade tapes to friends. It was when he started recording with K Records that he began to feel wedged inside a musical grey area. Anderson has always thought of himself as an acoustic performer and was never entirely comfortable with being labelled an indie rocker.
"For the first full-length, Vikings of Mint, I played with a rock band and that was sort of like, ‘Hey! We’re making an actual record – let’s make an amazing power-pop-summertime-Weezer album,’" Anderson says. "But with the next release, The Castle – well I think you can hear how I reacted to that. The Castle is literally half and half, acoustic and full band. Then Something/Everything! was even more confused – just me trying to work it out. Did I want to be Elliott Smith? Did I want to be Guided By Voices? There were some OK songs on all those albums – even though none of them are truly good records."
Anderson feels like he has finally got it right. New England has brought him full circle, back to his days as an acoustic singer-songwriter. He brings that enthusiasm for the new material to his shows and his nostalgia is refreshingly optimistic.
"I want shows to be fun again. Now, it almost feels like going to a show is like going to a high school dance. Everyone is just leaning up against the wall, checking out what everyone else is wearing," he says. "But I believe in shows. As romantic or naive as that might sound, I think shows are incredible." |
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