Chuck Brodsky holds songs (and songwriters) to the highest possible standard. That’s one of the reasons he’s brilliant at his craft, in my opinion.
When the Asheville, N.C. (by way of Philadelphia) songwriter passes through Redding, I try to catch him. He performs at 8 p.m. Jan. 30 at Bernie’s Guitar as part of the Oaksong Society’s winter series. Tickets are $15.
A little about his resume: His songs have been covered by Kathy Mattea, David Wilcox and Sara Hickman, and he’s shared concert billing with the likes of Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Gillian Welch.
His song “Radio” was used in the 2003 film of the same name, but I can’t imagine that that movie did a better job of telling the story than his great song. Chuck has a very sweet-sounding voice, and his songs can bring you to tears with their poignancy – or, sometimes, have a sting to them.
Brodsky often writes songs about unsung heroes, “ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” but he’s also taken on such subjects as political corruption, road rage, the social dynamics of small towns, the schmoozing of songwriters, and directions to his house by turning after the “third dead cat.” A lover of baseball, he’s also written plenty of tunes about obscure characters within the world of our national pastime. (As a Phillies fan, he’s loving life right now with the recent World Series championship.)
He doesn’t write as many songs these days because he’s already covered a lot of ground with his songwriting. If a new idea strikes him, he might take it on, but it’s a pretty tough standard he sets for himself right from the outset.
“Having a strong subject is the key and I write when something moves me,” he said today by phone from Asheville. “These days it’s harder to move me. It needs to be a new, unique, fresh idea that hasn’t been done by me or anyone else.”
Sometimes he starts with lyrics and sometimes with the music. There’s not a set format. The songs have to pass the “so what?” test. In other words, what is so important about this sentiment that it’s worthy of being put out in front of people?
When Brodsky takes part in songwriting clinics, the next element he stresses to would-be songwriters is the rewriting process. A song may need 15 or 20 rewrites before it begins to take a good form.
“There have been songs of mine that have taken eight to 10 years (of fidgeting) before I was happy with them,” he said. “When a new idea comes around, a song ought to be allowed to grow.”
• In addition to Brodsky, Jan. 30 (next Friday) is shaping up to be one of those “when it rains it pours” days for culture in the north state. Leo Kottke is performing at the Cascade, a talented young songwriter named Jakob Martin is playing at Vintage Wine Bar, members of the North State Songwriters group are performing in the lobby at City Hall and, oh, yeah, it’s the Cultural Cruise that evening.
