T Bone Burnett Rocks Phoenix

by Kevin Wierzbicki

T Bone Burnett - November 9, 2024 - Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix

Fans of Americana and folk music got a rare treat on Saturday, November 9 as T Bone Burnett performed in the music theater at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix during his first tour in 18 years. Burnett's accomplishments are legion; the singer, songwriter and producer has a whole raft of GRAMMY Awards under his belt, including a couple for the beloved Raising Sand album by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. He has fashioned legendary film soundtracks such as "O Brother, Where Art Thou," he's played in Bob Dylan's band and he's produced tons of big names including Elvis Costello, Elton John, John Mellencamp, Roy Orbison and Los Lobos. Possibly most revered though is Burnett's solo work, and the focus of this evening was the playing of his new highly-acclaimed solo album The Other Side in its entirety.

Burnett began the show alone on stage where he explained to the audience that the performance would be a very quiet one focusing on allowing the audience a real chance to listen and for the band to create a certain tone, adding "There'll be no showbiz, just pure music." And indeed that's what was delivered through about 20 songs. Burnett called his band members on stage one at a time, noting that he has lengthy relationships with all three: Guitarist Colin Linden, upright bass player Dennis Crouch and David Mansfield who played mandolin, guitar and fiddle throughout the evening. Burnett also said that it might seem like he was name dropping as he introduced "Come Back (When You Go Away)" but humbly stated that "It's just my life." One could understand the name dropping notion as T Bone said that he wrote the song for Ringo Starr after Starr asked him to write a song for him when both attended a poetry reading from Olivia Harrison at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles where she was reading works she penned for her late husband George Harrison. Burnett and Starr worked together on Starr's upcoming Americana release Look Up, set to drop in January. And that's the way it went throughout the show with Burnett naming co-writers and fellow musicians and telling brief stories before most of the songs.

Mansfield had lots of spotlights during the show and played a sparkling mandolin part during "Waiting for You;" on the next song "The Pain of Love" he moved to fiddle which heightened the slightly ominous vibe the song has. Both of those songs found Burnett singing with a mixture of hope and understated agony in his voice. Next came the playing of "The Race is Won," which Burnett called "A mystical song, I guess," also noting that it is partially inspired by the Civil War. After finishing the song he told the audience that the cut completed the playing of the first side of The Other Side. The fact that Burnett spoke of "The first side," a reference to the way music is presented on vinyl, subtly said something about the way he likes to work and the sequencing of songs on an album, something that's very important to many artists and producers.

The show carried on with songs from the second side of The Other Side, beginning with the country blues of "Sometimes I Wonder" where Linden played hot guitar licks. Burnett's 1976 co-write with Bobby Neuwirth, "Hawaiian Blue Song," found Linden and Mansfield creating a bit of an appropriate tropical sound at various points but overall the cut was more Nashville than Honolulu. The tender "First Light of Day" was played; Burnett noted that he wrote the song for his wife Callie Khouri, famed for among many other things her work as writer of the film classic "Thelma & Louise." After playing acoustic guitar for most of the evening Linden picked up an electric for "Everything and Nothing" to wring some big twang out of the instrument. The dramatic "The Town That Time Forgot" and the tender reverence of "Little Darling" closed out the performance of The Other Side.

After a brief intermission the band returned to play another batch of songs which included the cosmic commentary of "Humans from Earth," "It's Not Too Late" which T Bone wrote with Neuwirth and Elvis Costello, "Like a Songbird That Has Fallen" (another Civil War song and co-write with Neuwirth), Neuwirth's "Annabelle Lee" complete with weepy fiddle from Mansfield, "Shut it Tight" and "River of Love." Before playing "The Scarlet Tide" Burnett spoke of the Alison Krauss version, nothing that it was "angelic." Amusingly, Burnett said he and the band were going to play it "just the opposite of that." Of course the song was heavenly in its own right. Burnett did not play an encore but it was almost as if the whole second set was an encore and those in attendance were clearly pleased with the evening of stellar music, storytelling and charming commentary. They had their chance to listen as Burnett promised.

Burnett's current tour has finished; fans can find out what else he's up to here.

For a complete list of shows coming to the Musical Instrument Museum go here.

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