Leave it to the English singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding to make just another Saturday night into something much more. The troubadour from Hastings, East Sussex was joined by two of Chicago's finest female voices, Nora O'Connor and Kelly Hogan. Along with vocalist Brian Lohmann, Harding presented Songs Of Misfortune, an album which serves as a musical accompaniment to his debut novel Misfortune, written under his given name Wesley Stace.What sets this latest album apart from the rest of Harding's previous albums is the style in which the album is presented--a cappella. Harding provided a small preview of the album while it was still in its early stages when he first returned to Chicago last January with two sets at Schubas and a night at the Hideout. During those shows, Harding was joined by O'Connor and Hogan. The three would dish out covers like John Prine's "If You Don't Want My Love" and Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe," showcasing to audiences the trio's gorgeous vocal harmonies. It seemed like a no-brainer that the three should make an album together. The end result was a collection of original material by Harding (minus Leonard Cohen's "Joan Of Arc (The Ballad Of La Pucelle)") in the vein of Olde English folk songs that told tales of murder and love in accordance to the relevant chapters in Misfortune.
Over the course of two sets, a 7 P.M. and 10 P.M. time slot, Harding and company let their voices be their only instruments. As if aware that an all out a cappella set would be a strecth for some fans who are used to the singer taking requests and strumming his guitar, Harding eased both audiences with a mini-set of favorites before introducing the Misfortune set. Then, like some campfire setting, the quartet of vocalists gathered on stage and let out this unified, melodic voice. Harding found a terrific balance among the other three vocalists; O'Connor and Hogan as the two angelic singers and Lohmann as the bass. If the voices didn't impress, then surely the mouthful of lyrics that they committed to memory should have. The complexities of the words definitely tested each singer's ability, but they never faltered.
Though all the songs of Misfortune flow together as part of a larger story there was one that stuck out as a song that could stand on its own two feet in Harding's songbook. Sung by O'Connor and Hogan with Harding finger picking on acoustic guitar, "Shallow Brown" became the heart of the set; a gentle, yet, somber song that filled the room like a heart broken hush. Other songs, such as "Lambkin" and "The Sanguinary Butcher" (based on an actual murder in 1742 near Harding's home), remained true to the old oral traditions of telling stories through song. They were songs befitting of the Crusades or some Medieval period in history.
The audience bought the performance and allowed themselves to follow Harding's latest project with great interest. While there are elements to a John Wesley Harding show that could be considered typical from show to show, there was a clear decision by Harding when he made Songs For Misfortune to bring something new to his shows. How The Love Hall Tryst, the name the quartet went by, approached Songs Of Misfortune was somewhat reminiscent of how The Who handled their 1969 rock opera Tommy. In order to make sense of things, Harding had to tell the whole story by performing the album in sequence and it certainly worked. To provide some insight into Harding's a cappella direction, Harding included a song by Lal (Elaine) and Mike Waterson called "Bright Phoebus" in the encores. The brother and sister came out of the English folk scene of the late 1960's where they formed a group with their other sister, Norma, and second cousin, John Harrison, called The Watersons, whom Harding described as The Beatles of English folk music. It was the group's unaccompanied vocal style that Harding cited as an inspiration for the album. Not only was this a sign of Harding's appreciation for the folk music of the past, it was also a display of his deep knowledge of the music's great contributors.Harding surrounded himself with the right pieces to his vocal puzzle and managed to get his story across without sending his fans into a state of confusion. Songs Of Misfortune gave Harding's show a needed change of pace and gave his fans an experience that was far from just going through the motions. It was a labor of love that Harding was delighted to see take shape on a stage, and with Nora O'Connor, Kelly Hogan, and Brian Lohmann, he achieved so much more.
All Photos By: Chris Castaneda
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