Where is the fine line between entertainment and uncompromising artistic endeavour? This eternal question is probably here to stay, but this year the Harmonica sur Cher organisers certainly demonstrated that they would not shy away from difficult music in programming Gutpuppet. Gutpuppet is a lap steel guitar(s) and chromatic harmonica duet formed of Scot Ray on guitars and Bill Barrett on harmonica. If you read this blog regularly, you will no doubt have heard me talk about them as they are one of my favourite bands right now and one of the concerts I was most eager to attend this year.
Bill and Scot are about as unencumbered by ego as it gets, and they came up on stage very humble, even a little too quiet I felt (the language barrier when playing to a French audience can be intimidating, especially since Bill's brand of humour isn't exactly first degree...) Still, the music is what you're really here for, and Bill and Scot certainly delivered on that count.
The thing that makes Gutpuppet potentially "difficult" is that their music is built on non-western foundations to a sometimes extreme degree, especially when it comes to structure. I was talking to Scot after the gig and he told me that more or less no matter what the flavour of the music (gospel, greek, indian, american jazz, etc.), the structure was raga inspired, with a long and swirling introduction that led into the theme and then interweaving of theme references and improvisation. This makes it hard for ears and brains trained to hear the underlying structure and the melody from the first bar to connect.
And indeed, talking to the audience after the concert, Gutpuppet seemed to have evenly split the public between people who absolutely loved it and people who didn't get it at all and thought it was all "chaos", or, more bluntly, "n'importe quoi". Interestingly the people who did get it all mentioned the colour, the texture, the atmosphere of the music, and indeed I think that's where Gutpuppet really excelled: in setting up different moods. In many ways, this is ambiant music, something to be experienced, not analysed, and if you don't get hooked early on then you'll be left by the wayside.
Highlights of the evening for me were their rendition of Medio de Nada, a spanish flavoured tune, a new Gospel-y composition with Bill on Harmonetta, and both of their solo spots. Bill's was mostly (if not all) written, a complex piece full of tongue blocked diads and triads. Scot's was a dreamy slidy thing, very atmospheric.
I personally loved this concert, and was even more thrilled that my guitar beginner eight year old son also loved it despite the potentially difficult nature of the music (but I think he just experienced it without any thought for analysis, although he was looking at Scot's playing intently). This was my first opportunity to see Gutpuppet live and although I did think that Bill and Scot should have tried to connect with the audience more despite the language barrier, especially during the long intervals where Scot was retuning his 22 string indian guitar, the music was just what I'd expected and more.
We had long talks with Bill and Scot that evening after the gig and at the jam, and one thing Bill said struck me. i can't remember if he was quoting someone or not, but essentially what he said was:
On this philosophical note, you will find my (not very exciting) photos here and below is a video of Medio de Nada:
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