On the brink

Java Jive artist writes to effect 'truth of the matter'

By Alex Lehning

Posted on Jan. 30, 2003, at 12:00 a.m.

chris shinay

Gregory Douglass played to a packed Memorial Union at the Campus Activities Board sponsored Java Jive on Tuesday night.

Singer-songwriters often come in two different breeds — those who bare their soul on their sleeve and those who only try to.

While it was easy to recognize the first Java Jive act of the semester as two talented musicians, they also seemed to try too hard. The largest audience in recent months at the weekly coffeehouse series didn’t seem to mind much, as they warmly welcomed the acoustic music of Gregory Douglass and Jeremy Mendicino.

With a few exceptions, Douglass and Mendicino fronted an excellent set Tuesday night. Despite technical problems and some small lulls, the duo managed to impress on only the third night of their tour.

“We’re from Burlington, Vt., we’re the Indigo Guys,” Douglass joked before the set. The duo opened with a cover of Patti Griffin’s “Rain,” showcasing the extremely tight and powerful harmonies that would mark their performance for the rest of the evening.

While tuning, Douglass offered observations on his trip north.

“Do any of you have frostbite yet? It’s much colder here, but Maine has the nicest people. They talk to us at gas stations like we are family.”

The brand new songs “Hush” and the uptight “Have A Nice Day,” about the frustrations of retail, came next.

After the mellow “Never Mind Me,” Douglass put down his guitar and assumed a Michael Stipe-esque posture, gesturing to the microphone. Although he managed to impress with his powerful voice during tunes like “Hard” and “American City,” the songs tended to sound the same and run together. Some of the blame should be laid on the vocal mix on the monitors, which seemed to muffle the lyrics.

When Douglass returned with his six-string guitar, however, the set seemed to get a breath of fresh air. “Til Your Dead” was one of the best songs of the evening, with a tight and uplifting groove.

Throughout the evening Douglass handled delays with humor.

“We do every song in a different tuning, it takes about eight minutes between songs,” he said.

“We don’t like to do sing-alongs, on this one just breathe, only everyone in here is a good breather,” he said.

“Feel You Breathe” was an amazing and heartfelt song, which Douglass managed to convey with a wide range of emotions.

A hilarious “Radio Medley” came next.

“I wrote all these hit songs, I’ve won several Grammys,” Douglass said before launching into short renditions of radio hits such as “Im Gonna Be (500 Miles),” “You Oughtta Know,” “Linger,” “What’s Going On” and “Paradise City.” The extended set closed with the heavy and powerful “Valley.”

Despite some slow points, the set was great overall. Douglass utilized his emotional yet strong voice and the talents of Mendicino were evident in his guitar playing, despite three broken strings and constant tuning switches, sometimes on the fly.

Douglass released two CDs, both of which hit No. 1 in Vermont before his senior year of high school. Mendicino has been plucking notes for 13 years.

Douglass described his songwriting process as music first.

“I hear a refrain, then say the first words that come to my mind and see if it works,” Douglass said. “Words come last, I mean I put thought into them but what’s more important? The song has to grab you first.”

Douglass also mentioned his audience as “all over the map.” He said he writes songs to get to the “truth of the matter,” songs that are political, serious, emotional, or influence by observation of people. “I see how full of bullshit life can be,” he said, “and I’m amazed people survive.”

The duo’s latest album, “Teeter,” was recorded and produced entirely in Mendicino’s home studio. The disc contains lush and full arrangements of many of the songs featured in the show that would have been hard to recreate live.

Both expressed their appreciation for the close-knit music scene in Burlington, but also realized its restrictions and limitations.

“Burlington used to be great,” Mendicino said. “But I always have hope. Hope that something new comes along and sweeps us off our feet.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 30th, 2003, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.