One of the things I love most about the Boston music community is that musicians support their performing friends. This was in evidence on a recent Sunday evening (typically not a busy night for shows) when Corporate Punk performed at Club Passim. I believe there were more musicians in the audience for this show than non-musicians!
Drummer Sean Trischka, guitarist Stash Wyslouch, bassist Nate Sabat, and keyboard player (and Scottish harp although she did not play it this night) Mairi Chaimbeul (pronounced Mahry Campbell) comprise the band. I have seen each of them perform on numerous occasions and they never fail to delight me regardless of the genre they are playing. Dietrich Strause joined them for a few numbers on trumpet, Eleanor Buckland joined them on guitar and vocals for one number, and Isa Burke joined them on vocals for one number.
This was my first time seeing Corporate Punk; I supported their recent crowdfunding campaign so I was especially interested in hearing some of the songs from the upcoming album. Based on this show, I am going to love the album!
Sean’s first musical love was pop music; Nate plays bluegrass with Mile Twelve; Stash played bluegrass with The Deadly Gentlemen and some metal-grass with his first solo project; and Mairi plays more traditional Celtic folk music. They came together to play an amalgamation of all their styles, but deeply rooted in the pop that Sean loves so much.
They clearly were having a grand time performing for us and the audience, while not a sold-out crowd, loved them. They joked about never even playing some of the songs together!
Their set included many (all?) songs from their upcoming album as well as songs from Sean’s first solo release, The Shuffle. The ended their set with a fabulous cover from that album, Nirvana’s “All Apologies”. I have seen Sean perform it several times, and I love his interpretation of that iconic song.
Opening the show was Eleanor Buckland, known for her work with Americana band Lula Wiles. She was backed by all of Corporate Punk except Stash.
Her set included some Lula Wiles songs as well as new songs I believe she wrote for this solo project. Eleanor has a truly lovely voice and she imparts the emotion in her songs quite well. When she sings a sad song, one can feel whatever she was feeling as she wrote the song.
All who performed this night are shining examples of the future of acoustic music. They have the drive to make music their career, and I admire them for it. I foresee a great future for them all, together and separately.
Click here to see photos of this show on Suze Reviews the Blues.
