Jason Webley – Tuning Fork – 7 March 2015

Armed with an acoustic guitar and an accordion, American musician Jason Webley entertained the folks at Auckland’s Tuning Fork with tales of tragic lives, demi-gods and pet giraffes.

Some folks may know Jason Webley from his collaborate with Amanda Palmer…the two of them have performed and recorded together as Evelyn Evelyn and Webley was last in New Zealand in February of 2011 touring with Palmer.

But the Washington-state troubadour has been recording his own songs since 1998, although his most recent album dates back to 2007. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy.

Webley was in the country to speak about his latest project, Margaret, at Wellington’s recent Webstock conference and so took the opportunity to return to Auckland and play a date at The Tuning Fork.

Last time he was here, Webley and Palmer barely escaped the Christchurch earthquake, an event that still weighs heavy on Webley. He spent a fair bit of time talking about his experience back in 2011 and his impressions on how the city was fairing now. He then followed with his song, Dance While The Sky Crashes Down.

Webley set began with the singer playing his beloved accordion and stomping his feet so hard that his guitar, perched alongside him, fell off its stand.

“Can we make the stomping work?” he asked his sound man, and with a few adjustments to the PA he restarted Two Banks Of The River.

It was an invigorating performance. Along with the foot stomping percussion, Webley eventually abandoned his microphone, singing directly to the audience, his hat threatening to fall off, his long hair flying around his head.

Throughout the set he alternated between his accordion and his guitar, playing each instrument with gusto, if not perfect technique.

An early crowd-pleaser was Letter To John Schreiner, a tune inspired by a Google search for a pet giraffe…it turns out they are legal in the state of Washington.

The mood was darkened by the intense Train Tracks, a tune from Jason’s 2002 album, Counterpoint and the intimate Against The Night.

Then Webley launched into a lengthy monologue about Margaret, the recording project built around the life of Margaret Rucker, a long-forgotten woman whose scrapbook was found by a friend of Jason’s in a dumpster. The find revealed a life full of tragedy that Webley and his friends brought back to life with songs, many using Rucker’s own poetry for lyrics. It’s clearly a project that is close to Jason’s heart and he explained the story, quite entertainingly, for over 15 minutes before finally playing Pyramid, one of the songs from the Margaret project.

Webley then encourage some enthusiastic howling from the crowd as he introduced a new-ish song, Promise To The Moon.

After the poignant My Love Left Me In April…lyrics by Margaret Rucker…Jason Webley wrapped things up with the appropriately-titled Last Song.

Jason Webley is an old-style storyteller…in fact I found that his style often recalled Kurt Weil…maybe it was that accordion. Obviously a seasoned performer, he knows how to entertain a crowd with just the minimum of assistance…and accordion, an old guitar and a pair of sturdy boots.

Marty Duda

Jason Webley set list:

1. Two Banks Of The River
2. Sing Orpheus
3. Deep Dark Water
4. Letter To John Schreiner (The Giraffe Song)
5. Dance While The Sky Crashes Down
6. Train Tracks
7. Against The Night
8. Pyramid
9. Icarus
10. Promise To The Moon
11. My Love Left Me In April
12. Last Song