James Maddock will be playing a pair of free hometown shows this week as part of River to River Festival (photo by Seth Neuffer)
Tuesday, June 25, Brookfield Place Plaza, 220 Vesey St., free, 5:30
Thursday, June 27, One New York Plaza, free, 12:30 pm
www.rivertorivernyc.com
www.jamesmaddock.net
British-born, New York City-based singer-songwriter James Maddock will be playing a pair of free shows this week as part of the River to River Festival, June 25 at Brookfield Place Plaza at 5:30 and June 27 at One New York Plaza at 12:30. The fifty-year-old Maddock, who made a name for himself with his band Wood and their 1999 album Songs from Stamford Hill, will be featuring songs from his upcoming record, Another Life (Jullian, July 23), which was completely funded through donations via PledgeMusic. The follow-up to 2010’s Sunrise on Avenue C and 2011’s Wake Up & Dream, the new disc is an intimate collection of acoustic-based rootsy Americana songs dealing with love and loss and facing the second half of one’s life. “My future’s uncertain / My back starts hurting / as soon as I get out of bed / I listen to the news station / Trouble in the whole nation / Airplane passes by / Gotta be a mile high / Reminds me that I’m not a bird,” Maddock sings on the title track. Accompanied by Larry Campbell on guitar, violin, and mandolin, Tony Scherr on bass, Oli Rockberger and Raymond Angry on keyboards, Bashir Johnson on percussion, and Kenny Wolleson on drums, Maddock’s raspy voice evokes the likes of Rod Stewart and Tom Waits, his melodies reminiscent of Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, and even a touch of Bob Marley. On “Better on My Own,” Maddock tries to convince himself that he can survive a breakup. “Better on my own / Better on my own / I tell myself as I’m walking home,” he sings. “Better on my own / better on my own / I don’t know how to stop or how to carry on.” Most of the songs are of a personal nature, but Maddock takes on the controversial topic of PTSD on “That’s Heavy,” which features an Irish flourish. And album closer “Making Memories” goes even further, liberally borrowing from the Waterboys classic “And a Bang on the Ear” as Maddock confidently declares that “a better world is possible.” In fact, Maddock is friends with Waterboys leader Mike Scott; the two cowrote “Beautiful Now” on Wake Up and Dream, and Scott and Waterboys violinist Steve Wickham joined Maddock onstage this past November to sing Scott’s “Fisherman’s Blues” at Rockwood Music Hall. Maddock will also be at Swing the Teapot in Floral Park on June 28 before heading off on a brief Italian stint and returning for the Great South Bay Festival on July 20 and a gig at the Cutting Room on August 1.