Before opening for Micah Schnabel at the House of Righteous Music, Andy Brawner’s Time Since Western hadn’t played a gig since a full band show at Summerfest. Yet, here he was just three weeks later playing another solo show. Even if he doesn’t believe me, I do prefer the one man band version, which makes good use of a looping pedal. Like Anders Parker, he’s better without the band. I will only begrudgingly admit it, but he sounded even better tonight than he did in the basement. In fact, when one of his co-workers who had been at both shows suggested that to me mid-set, I responded with a hurt “come on!” Unfortunately, Brawner took that to mean that he was taking too long to tune between songs, and replied that he was trying. Oops, sorry Andy.
He was taking a little long, but I’ve certainly seen worse, and besides, tuning means you care. He seemed comfortable on stage tonight and didn’t feel the need to fill the space with practiced banter, opting instead for a relaxed, one-sided conversation with the audience. The new songs he’d played at the house went smoother tonight and those from A Sun Goes Down as good as or better than the CD version. The one-two punch of “Feathers” and “Bottom of the Sea” to end the set were damn near perfect. It’s good news for music fans in Madison (where he works) and Milwaukee (where he lives) that he has decided to continue as a solo artist after being orphaned by his band earlier this year. He’s been recording new songs with some of the work being done at the now-closed legendary Smart Studios. Hopefully we’ll see a new Time Since Western record soon. Until then, I just hope he keeps playing shows.
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