Jay Brown goes solo

It’s always a melancholy yet proud feeling when a local musical act breaks out and gains a more regional following.

That’s the way it has been for Jay Brown and the Lazybirds.

Once upon a time, their funky roots music was strictly a High Country pleasure, and they could be found playing at small cafés and on the Jones House front porch.

That was long ago, and now the band plays bigger, if not necessarily better, venues.

That’s one of the reasons it’s a treat to have Brown perform one of his intimate solo shows. Brown will perform a free solo concert at the Hob Nob Farm Café in downtown Boone on Thursday, Nov. 10. The show takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. For more information, contact the Hob Nob Farm Café at (828) 262-5000.

Brown will use the Hob Nob show as a springboard for his new album, “The Jester.” The album is somewhat of a departure for Brown in that is neither a Lazybirds album or a true solo album in the style of his previous outings. The Lazybirds — bassist Mitchell Johnston, fiddler Alfred Michels and drummer Jamie Browne — accompany Brown on a single track, “Like a Bird with a Broken Wing,” a song dedicated to former Lazybird Andy Christopher.

Other musicians accompanying Brown on “The Jester” include Aditi Sethi on harmonium and harp, Sarah Carlisle on bass, and Matthew Cox on percussion. Those three musicians and Brown form the new band Shantavaani.

Recorded at Higher Ground Studio in Alabama, the album features a collection of Brown originals that range from spirited inspirational ditties (“Be Here Now”) to Eastern music-influenced songs (“Dr. Sethi”), to the ancient blues (“How You Expect Me to Sing the Blues”).

Brown’s star is definitely on the rise, and this might be the last time his High Country fans get to see him in such an intimate setting. His lengthy interview is one of the centerpiece’s of this month’s No Depression magazine, the bible for fans of folk and Americana music.