Brian Wright
Brian Wright's House on Fire
mtfrontdesk@mountaintimes.com
While there are many
artists who can be easily categorized, there are but a few that cannot be confined to one particular
definition.
Include in that latter group the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young,
artists who cannot possibly fit into a singular musical box. Not many of today's singer-songwriters
share Springsteen and Young's audacity. Brian Wright is an exception. He is willing and ready to
burn down the status quo.
When taking some time off after several tireless years on the road
with his band, The Waco Tragedies, Texan Brian Wright saw an opportunity he could not pass
up.
His previous two albums, 2006's "Dog Ears" and 2007's "Bluebird," were both recorded in a
span of three days with a live band. For his new project, Wright sought a more relaxed, self-reliant
approach, involving Wright playing nearly every instrument.
The result is the adventurous
"House on Fire," which Wright released independently in February 2010. The album caught the ears at
Sugar Hill Records and is being re-released through the label on March 29.
"House on Fire" is
heralded as a collection of "14 songs on the subjects of love and arson." Though love and fire are
the re-occurring themes, Wright covers a variety of topics on "House on Fire," including work, music
and death. Aside from the declaration of the subject manner, with one listen of "House on Fire," it
is clear that Wright put incredible thought and labor into what he would present to his
public.
"I usually say I'm somewhere between Woody Guthrie and Velvet Underground," Wright
says of his sound.
A combination of interesting verse and styles, "House on Fire" allowed
him to make music exactly the way it was in his head. From folk and Americana to black gospel and
blues and rock, Wright has no shortage of fire-starters to use in burning a unique imprint on his
listener.
The songs within the "House on Fire" have varying degrees of heat. On the lower end
are the airy "Mean Ol' Wind" and tender "Live Again." Wright turns it up on the bluesy "If You Stay"
and fun "The Good Dr." Album-opener "Striking Matches" and the lengthy "Accordion" are just plain
intense.
As far as the songwriting itself, without a doubt, the highest point comes with
"Maria Sugarcane."
Wright spins a tale of a love triangle between himself, his brother and
the song's namesake. An innocent childhood love evolves into an abusive relationship between the
brother and Maria. It abruptly ends when the narrator murders his sibling and eventually marries
Maria. This is yet another point where Wright meets the Springsteen/Young criteria.
While
Wright performed most of the album, the few invited guests provide numerous musical charms. The
angelic vocal accompaniments from Sally Jaye, Rhonda Bennett and Jamie Drake do not go without
notice, and the bass singers on "If You Stay" are strange but hilarious. The best use Wright gets
out the added instrumentation comes in "Still Got You." The booming saxophones make it one of the
most powerful songs on the album.
The packaging for the re-release for Brian Wright's "House
on Fire" takes on the form of a billboard for an old-timey medicine show, presenting the work as
"the universal domestic musical medicine." It jokingly proclaims "the health of thousands of
families is preserved from year to year in the use of Dr. Wright's remedies alone!"
Like a
medicine show, "House on Fire" is an oddity, but it could very well be the elixir for those with a
fire in the belly for exemplary, but out-of-the-ordinary songwriting.
Brian Wright is online
at http://www.brianwrightmusic.com.
