...12 hours after the total lunar eclipse! Come hear.
04 December, 2010
23 November, 2010
New QTN interview!
Troubadour lets music do talking
By JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO - H-P Features Writer
Thursday, October 14, 2010 2:08 PM EDT
For a musician who has most often been lauded for his lyrical storytelling, making an all-instrumental guitar album may seem like an odd choice.
But that's just what Brian Cutean (aka Brian QTN) has done with "Guitarred & Feathered," the new CD that features the Oregon-based troubadour, one guitar and a whirlwind of sound.
"I know it's not what people expected, but I felt like I wanted to stretch and do it," Cutean says by telephone from Chicago Heights, Ill. "It seems like we've entered a part of history where everybody's words, opinions and thoughts can be published instantly. Sometimes that's too many words even for me, someone who loves words."
Cutean, who has regularly stopped in Southwest Michigan during the harvest season for the past 10 years, will bring his new instrumental works along with his popular lyrical tunes to South Haven on Sunday when he plays Foundry Hall.
"I've been making instrumentals for more than 20 years," Cutean says. "I just didn't put all of them on an album before. Sometimes I get wrapped up in wordplay and cleverness, so I wanted to make something that was 100 percent universal; to play music that was in my heart that everyone could get because there's no language limitations."
Born and raised in the Chicago area, Cutean says he became enthralled by the urban blues and acoustic folk scene of the 1950s and '60s that came through his transistor radio.
"You know that question, what was your first motor skill besides feeding yourself?" Cutean says. "Well, mine was putting little orange and yellow plastic records on a windup record player at 2 or 3 years old. Then I got my first transistor radio before I was 5, and you just can't do that to a kid without having serious repercussions."
Cutean got his first guitar at age 10, he says, in response to The Beatles and the garage-band scene, but didn't take to the instrument until he was 12 or 13. By the time he turned 19 he had left for Austin, Texas, where he spent the next 13 years playing that city's burgeoning music scene. He became a favorite at the Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival in 1980, and has appeared at the Oregon Country Fair every year since 1988 after leaving Texas for the Pacific Northwest, where he now makes his home.
His first album, "Lubricating the Species," was released on vinyl in 1988, followed by "Is As Does Is (1996), a bare-bones live-in-the-studio guitar, voice and harmonica set that is still lauded by audiophiles, "Parakeetfishhead" (1999) and "Hearthearthearth" (2004).
"Career choice is a funny thing," Cutean says about his musical odyssey. "It reminds me when The Roches were on NPR and Neal Conant asked them, 'When did you decide you'd start making a living at this?' And Terre Roche, after 30 years in the business, said, 'We're still waiting for that to happen.' It's a music thing. I don't really know that I actually decided it, it's just something I've always loved doing. I feel privileged that people like to come to my concerts and like to buy my recordings and that this has been going on for almost 30 years. I think that's pretty amazing."
Although Cutean hints at settings with the titles of such tracks as "Tuned (To Her Piano)" and "Theme from Handpainted School," he says "Guitarred & Feathered" offered a different challenge to his typical songwriting style.
"I think in some ways I still focused on the story, only I didn't tell it with words," Cutean says. "I found something on the guitar I liked and went with it. Songwriting to me is still a mystery. Every time I write a song it's like I never wrote a song before. I still have to get out of the way and find out what it's showing me."
Although Cutean is proud of the all-instrumental album, he says he couldn't imagine not using music to tell stories of a certain place, in a certain time.
"I think storytelling has to be the world's second oldest profession," he says. "In the troubadour fashion you pick up a story from over here you pick up a song from over there. You notice what's happening in the world around you. You take a big breath and hopefully it all makes sense at the end of the evening."
That, Cutean says, is something he feels compelled to do, even on the days he feels a little like Terre Roche.
"People always want to know if I'm making a living in music," Cutean says. "The answer is I have a life in music. It may not look like anybody else's life. It may not be the most lucrative existence in terms of keeping the wolves away from your door. But I wouldn't trade it for anything."
jbonfiglio@TheH-P.com
Originally posted at http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/10/14/features/2139749.txt
By JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO - H-P Features Writer
Thursday, October 14, 2010 2:08 PM EDT
For a musician who has most often been lauded for his lyrical storytelling, making an all-instrumental guitar album may seem like an odd choice.
But that's just what Brian Cutean (aka Brian QTN) has done with "Guitarred & Feathered," the new CD that features the Oregon-based troubadour, one guitar and a whirlwind of sound.
"I know it's not what people expected, but I felt like I wanted to stretch and do it," Cutean says by telephone from Chicago Heights, Ill. "It seems like we've entered a part of history where everybody's words, opinions and thoughts can be published instantly. Sometimes that's too many words even for me, someone who loves words."
Cutean, who has regularly stopped in Southwest Michigan during the harvest season for the past 10 years, will bring his new instrumental works along with his popular lyrical tunes to South Haven on Sunday when he plays Foundry Hall.
"I've been making instrumentals for more than 20 years," Cutean says. "I just didn't put all of them on an album before. Sometimes I get wrapped up in wordplay and cleverness, so I wanted to make something that was 100 percent universal; to play music that was in my heart that everyone could get because there's no language limitations."
Born and raised in the Chicago area, Cutean says he became enthralled by the urban blues and acoustic folk scene of the 1950s and '60s that came through his transistor radio.
"You know that question, what was your first motor skill besides feeding yourself?" Cutean says. "Well, mine was putting little orange and yellow plastic records on a windup record player at 2 or 3 years old. Then I got my first transistor radio before I was 5, and you just can't do that to a kid without having serious repercussions."
Cutean got his first guitar at age 10, he says, in response to The Beatles and the garage-band scene, but didn't take to the instrument until he was 12 or 13. By the time he turned 19 he had left for Austin, Texas, where he spent the next 13 years playing that city's burgeoning music scene. He became a favorite at the Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival in 1980, and has appeared at the Oregon Country Fair every year since 1988 after leaving Texas for the Pacific Northwest, where he now makes his home.
His first album, "Lubricating the Species," was released on vinyl in 1988, followed by "Is As Does Is (1996), a bare-bones live-in-the-studio guitar, voice and harmonica set that is still lauded by audiophiles, "Parakeetfishhead" (1999) and "Hearthearthearth" (2004).
"Career choice is a funny thing," Cutean says about his musical odyssey. "It reminds me when The Roches were on NPR and Neal Conant asked them, 'When did you decide you'd start making a living at this?' And Terre Roche, after 30 years in the business, said, 'We're still waiting for that to happen.' It's a music thing. I don't really know that I actually decided it, it's just something I've always loved doing. I feel privileged that people like to come to my concerts and like to buy my recordings and that this has been going on for almost 30 years. I think that's pretty amazing."
Although Cutean hints at settings with the titles of such tracks as "Tuned (To Her Piano)" and "Theme from Handpainted School," he says "Guitarred & Feathered" offered a different challenge to his typical songwriting style.
"I think in some ways I still focused on the story, only I didn't tell it with words," Cutean says. "I found something on the guitar I liked and went with it. Songwriting to me is still a mystery. Every time I write a song it's like I never wrote a song before. I still have to get out of the way and find out what it's showing me."
Although Cutean is proud of the all-instrumental album, he says he couldn't imagine not using music to tell stories of a certain place, in a certain time.
"I think storytelling has to be the world's second oldest profession," he says. "In the troubadour fashion you pick up a story from over here you pick up a song from over there. You notice what's happening in the world around you. You take a big breath and hopefully it all makes sense at the end of the evening."
That, Cutean says, is something he feels compelled to do, even on the days he feels a little like Terre Roche.
"People always want to know if I'm making a living in music," Cutean says. "The answer is I have a life in music. It may not look like anybody else's life. It may not be the most lucrative existence in terms of keeping the wolves away from your door. But I wouldn't trade it for anything."
jbonfiglio@TheH-P.com
Originally posted at http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/10/14/features/2139749.txt
12 November, 2010
QTN returns to Rock Island!
Come on out for a QTN concert in the Quad Cities area. The venue is in Illinois at the Rock Island First Lutheran Church Parish House, 1620 20th St and the concert is Friday November 19 at 7 pm.
This is my third year here and it's a wonderful warm room with many friendly folk. Chris Dunn is doing the opening set honours and he is very entertaining and energetic too.
Call 309.788.9661 for info and directions.
19 October, 2010
Benefit for Anne Feeney in Chicago
(cloud photo© by QTN)
A gorgeous Michigan feathersky!
This update is for a late booking where I will be singing along with others. Anne Feeney is one of my dearest folk music friends and concertmates for more than 20 years. She has tirelessly advocated for peace and justice, worker's rights, healthcare and many other good causes all over the world with humour, grace and compassion. Now she is in Pittsburgh doing radiation treatment and has just finished another round of chemotherapy for a fast-growing tumour in her lungs. Her medical bills are understandably astronomical given the price of healthcare these days. So...
Saturday October 24, 7:30 pm, The Benefit for Anne Feeney is at the People's Church of Chicago, 941 W. Lawrence, Chicago. Performers include Al Day Trio, Amy Dixon-Kolar, Andrew Calhoun, Kristin Lems, Awesome Folk Band, Niki Leeman and Brian Cutean. Suggested donation is $10 but no one will be turned away for lack of dough re mi. All proceeds go directly to Anne for her health needs.
There's on street parking for people with cars, but meters need to be fed until 9 pm. The closest el stop is Lawrence on the red line, or the Lawrence Ave. bus that gets off right on that corner of Sheridan and Lawrence.
If you can't make the show but would like to contribute to Anne, send a check made out to ANNE FEENEY, c/o Rev. Jean Darling, The Peoples Church of Chicago, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., PO Box 408319, Chicago, IL 60640-8319. We will bundle them all together and get them to Anne the day after the show.
For more information, there is a Facebook page here
More to come.
Thanks for reading and for supporting live music and the folks who make it.
bq
www.QTNRG.org
Here's a new interview article from the St. Joseph, Michigan Herald Palladium.
01 October, 2010
Autumn road around the Great Lakes
(Equinox moon © Kimm Still)Suddenly I find myself in Chicago again before the trees change this year and looking at a burgeoning calendar. This is a quick send with be more coming soon as there surely will be updates and additions.
If you’d like to host a house concert with me, drop a line and we’ll figure out what a good date is. It’s easy and simple to host one and your friends and family will love having live music without a club scene attached.
Hope to see you all soon and may your harvest be abundant.
bq
***BRIAN CUTEAN'S AUTUMN MIDWEST ADVENTURE***
• SUNDAY OCT 3 – GROVEFEST I play at 1:30 pm on the stage and later on at 2:45 pm in the Kennicott Courtyard without a PA. Both are fun sets and it looks like a sunny cool day coming up. I think I have played this fest for about 15 years. Music outdoors and food, gorgeous autumn day and nice folks!
The Grove National Historic Landmark is at 1421 Milwaukee Ave. Glenview, IL 60025 for Google map and their phone is 847.299.6096
• THURS- SUN OCT 7, 8, 9 The FARM conference (Folk Alliance Regional Midwest) singing some, listening some and visiting with musical friends. See the website www.farmfolk.org/gathering.html and volunteer if you want. This is a great annual gathering for pickers, presenters and all kinds of folk.
• SATURDAY OCT 16 – SATYA YOGA STUDIO 7:30 pm. Saugatuck, Michigan My annual Michigan concerts are fewer than usual this year but always more than before. Satya is a gorgeous place and worth the drive for the area’s autumnal tree show and the local farmer harvest goodies out of the city suburb stream. All ages are welcome and the cover is sliding scale $8 - $10. The center is at 3385 Blue Star Hwy, Saugatuck, MI 49453 and can be reached by phone at 269.857.7289. satyayogacenter.net
• SUNDAY OCT 17 – SPECIAL AFTERNOON CONCERT AT FOUNDRY HALL, 3 pm, SouthHaven, Michigan – This is a gorgeous old theatre and concert space. They sometimes do afternoon shows and I love playing here. All ages are welcome and a sliding scale cover. www.foundryhall.com
• SUNDAY NOVEMBER 7, HOUSE CONCERT, 3 pm, Oak Park, IL (Doors open at 2:30) – Opening for Mad Agnes with Margo Hennebach, Adrienne Jones and Mark Saunders ! This east coast trio will move and delight you and after many many wonderful years, it is their farewell tour so if you don’t see them this time, you won’t. Don’t let that happen! For info, directions and reservations, contact Nancy at nancylclark@yahoo.com or 708.848.2205.
Questions? Answers? Rags? Bones? Bottles?
25 August, 2010
15 August, 2010
02 August, 2010
27 July, 2010
05 July, 2010
Suddenly: JULY!
Howdy live music lovers!
Here we are again on the verge of another summer (if it ever gets here) and that means summer travel, gigs and the annual Oregon Country Fair. I'm just freshly back from Texas where it was hot and hotter and now that I opened my cells up to let all that heat in, I'm chilly up here and I'm sure folks in the rest of the country would just tell me to please not talk about it anymore, so allow me to deftly change the channel...
My time in Texas and Kerrville was splendicious and full and I heard plenty of new amazing songs, met and visited with all kinds of folks. I'm doing several concerts with Texas friends in July and August. Come on out and get an earful of songs new and less new.
The new wordless guitar CD, Guitarred and Feathered, is getting airplay on nearly 50 stations here and abroad and if you haven't got a copy yet, you can order through my website or through CDbaby or itunes. Of course, I get the most bang out of your buck when you order CDs here, but the others are fine too. Go here to listen to whole songs from the latest. This is the one record of mine that every culture on the planet can get 100%. There is a new colouring book too (Lolololololo) but you'll have to come to a gig to find one.
Here's the Fair schedule and upcoming Northwest gigs in July:
• JULY 9, 10 and 11 The 41st OREGON COUNTRY FAIR - Veneta, OR
Friday: Shady Grove Stage, 12 noon
Saturday: Community Village Stage, 12 noon
Sunday: Blue Moon Stage, 12 noon This one may be broadcast live on KRVM.org. and other places sponteancious and suddenly. I have a great band this year featuring Lewi Longmire on mandolin, Jason Montgomery on bass and for the first time, Chris Kokesh on violin fiddle. (Come see Chris' set right before ours Friday at Shady Grove at 11 am). Hey! how'd all three days get noon sets??
• WED. JULY 14 - SCOBERT PARK - Eugene, OR, 7 pm
Bring a picnic and the kids. Special guests are likely.
• SUN. JULY 18 - SAM BOND'S GARAGE - Eugene, OR, 8:30 pm
With some version of QTN's Country Fair Band and sets from Seattle/Austin's Jack Wilson and a late set from Hendrikz McLeod who hail from Austin/Ashland. 21 and over, $5
• THURS. JULY 29 - MISSISSIPPI PIZZA - Portland, OR, 9 pm
With sets from me, Raina Rose Band and Austin's legendary Some Say Leland.
• FRI. JULY 30 - AXE AND FIDDLE - Cottage Grove, OR, 8 pm
With me, Raina Rose Band and The Pines from Minnesota, $5
Then in August, I'll be playing at the first PORTLAND FOLK FESTIVAL. Check out the line up of artists there too.
As Baby Gramps would say: See you suddenly!
bq
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