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A cold wind may have kept most students inside Tuesday evening – but those few who braved the weather to come to the Stillwater Canal Co. Pub were warmed by the sounds of Jason LeVasseur. The homegrown singer/songwriter acoustic act made for one of the best Java Jive performances of the semester.
LeVassuer opened with the upbeat “Precious Town,” followed by the mellow “Don’t Go Away,” a song he said was written about his 21st birthday. The show got off to a slow start, due to technical sound problems, but was in full swing by the fourth song, the rocker “Marlene.”
The well-crafted and melancholy “Captain” was next, one of the best songs of the evening.
“This song is about a boat captain from North Carolina who I look to for advice,” LeVasseur said.
He then played some cover songs, including David Allan Coe’s “Please Come to Boston,” in honor of his recent move to Massachusetts, followed by the Counting Crow’s “Murder of One.”
LeVasseur joked before introducing two new songs.
“I’m taking a chance . there is a lot of love in this room. Most of it tainted love,” he said.
The sad “Suppose” and a song written about a friend’s new found fatherhood, titled “Watching You Grow,” followed.
“First-year students, this is the song your dad would write for you,” LeVasseur said.
Both tunes featured light guitar and sweet melodies, which sat comfortably alongside LeVasseur’s more established material.
The next song, “Don’t Wanna Fall,” was picked by a music producer for the final episode of the television show “Felicity,” but the producer was fired three weeks before the show aired, LeVasseur said.
“Big Sky” was written after a performance in Montana where Levasseur said he saw hot air balloons from the stage.
“I kinda dreamt I was a hot air balloon . it was hot that day,” LeVasseur said.
He continued to amaze with the witty “Fiddle.” The song was about a girl he met in a bar in Pennsylvania, where the two exchanged phone numbers.
“She said I should come up this weekend because her fianc� was out of town . I was like coooool . then she said he was at Special Forces training . not cool,” LeVasseur said.
He then followed with the best song of the night, the rhythmic and lyrically stunning “The Steps of St. Patrick,” a track featured on LeVasseur’s album Watching the Girls Go By. He followed with the bouncy love song “Pour the Wine.”
Two more cover songs followed, including a heartfelt version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and The Police’s “Walking In Your Footsteps,” featuring LeVasseur on a drum.
“San Miguel,” a song about his trip to Mexico and discovery of tequila, came next.
Before playing “Late Night Cigarette,” LeVasseur explained that while the song was an homage to his hometown – and North Carolinia tobacco roots – he did not condone smoking. He joked about e-mails he received from people who used the song as an anthem against quitting their habit.
The show ended with “One More Hour,” a song LeVasseur said was about people who were away from loved ones, and a cover of U2’s “All I Want Is You.”
Despite the slow start, LeVasseur found his groove and remained there throughout the whole set. Each song presented something new and continually impressed the audience. LeVasseurs voice had a Springsteen-esque roughness, but managed to be melodic and soothing. His guitar playing was light, but full of sound, and accompanied his voice perfectly. Throughout the evening, he added bits of other songs to his own tunes, sampling from artists as varied as Pink, Eminem, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, New Kids on the Block, Led Zeppelin and Avril Lavigne.
LeVasseur hails from a musical family. His father, uncles, brothers and grandparents were all musicians. He lists The Police, Elvis Costello, Rush and The Cure among his influences, admitting that he sounds like none of them. He has been playing guitar and writing songs since 1994 and described songwriting as a fun process.
“The fun puzzle is making words fit and deciding if the story fits the melody” LeVasseur said.
According to LeVasseur, most of his songs are about personal relationships or eras he is interested in. He even talked about writing a song from the perspective of a pioneer woman.
As for what’s next on his itinerary, a live album is slated for release in a few weeks, and LeVasseur plans to be in the studio by mid-November. Having been on the road since August, he said sometimes he needs a good performance to give his work a sense of validity. But he likes making people feel good.
“Sharing stories, bringing people together … I have no complaints about this at all,” he said.
Related Posts:- Boston-based acoustic act plays to dismal crowd for Frequency finale (December 4, 2006)
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- A high-octane ’switch’ from the norm pumps up crowd (September 20, 2004)
- Acoustic songwriter bares soul at Java Jive (February 27, 2003)
- Acoustic champion crowned (April 23, 2009)
