Breaking Boundaries #3

Spira

Boundary: a line which marks the limits of an area; a dividing line.

Often boundaries serve a purpose, sometimes they are waiting to be transcended.
Every Friday, here at The Rhythm Section, we will explore the ocean of music using the latter as our lodestar: breaking of a boundary.

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Blues…a kind of music that can hit you between the eyes, leaving you alone in a Tin Pan Alley, wondering if The Thrill is Gone while being Caught Out in the Rain.

We are kicking off the Blues segment of Breaking Boundaries with an artist who “in a music industry full of glossy production & airbrushed photoshoots, throws down her cards” looking you straight in the eyes – no bluffs here.
She is a musician, composer, a singer considered as a force to reckon with in the contemporary Blues scene.

Beth Hart.
Hailing from Los Angeles, California and despite missing an e from her last name, heart is what we get every time she picks up the microphone.

During the pandemic Beth started recording A Tribute to Led Zeppelin “through remote vocal sessions from an ad hoc studio at her house. The sessions were a time of healing as Beth reached down to the dark recesses of her soul to muster goosebump-inducing performances”.
And, man, did she deliver…!

Beth Hart will be on tour through Europe & USA from June 10th to December 3rd.

Following is a live performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
Her words: “ Art and music are about seeking the truth, and you need friends & people you trust* around you when you do that”.

Ladies & gentlemen…Beth Hart, Caught Out In The Rain

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Thank you for joining us on this journey through the music of artists who defy conventions, inspiring, challenging and expanding our perspectives with their art.

Until next time, be kind to yourselves & take it easy.

SPIRA©2023

 

* trust – a currency many claim to possess. Few are capable of being worthy of its value. [Asterisk note by Spira]

Published by Spira

A Renaissance human. Part healer, part B/W photographer, part artist, part sigh of a writer, part explorer of guitar & piano landscapes, always in love with music..."Music is the fabric that clothes our lives" as Denise Farley once wrote. All done with the dedication, intensity & passion of an imperfect speck of cosmic debris.

29 Comments

  2. If I had to describe Beth Hart, it would not be difficult: she could be the love child of Janis Joplin and Robert Plant. She is the manifestation of both those giants in voice, appearance and movement. She has the ability to grab the attention of the audience on her first note, sink her teeth in and not let go.

    And she can wail the blues.

    I am not very familiar with Beth Hart but I have heard her a few times through her association with the guitar legend Joe Bonamassa. Joe has performed numerous times in unpublicized impromptu gigs in a restaurant in my home town. He is a close friend of the owner and occasionally shows up – sometimes with a few hours warning, other times out of the blue and always through the back door. Consider yourself extremely lucky if you happen to be dining there the same night as Joe!

    This was a great post and an excellent video, Nick; it was raw, powerful, and sensual. Beth Hart is an exceptional performer and I enjoyed watching and listening. While I though your choice of songs was quite good, giving us the chance to see the unadulterated true Beth Hart performing an original song, I was expecting a Led Zeppelin cover so I was a wee bit disappointed.

    But wait just a minute! I see you did not let me down after all, showcasing Beth performing one of my favorite Zeppelin tunes. Now we’re cooking with fire!

    Very cool post, Nick. Thanks for continuing to enlighten us by breaking boundaries! 😎

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    1. Nancy…I do not know what Fates were drinking when you were born…but judging from the threads connecting you to such iconic artists…well, it must have been something goood!

      Nailed it! Their love child!!

      Now, they say ( not me) great minds think alike!
      The time when Joe & Beth performed together gave birth to awesome performances. The video you picked is a prime example!

      Of course you would have a thread connecting you to the legend Joe.
      (Hey, psst…Joe is the next blues artist featured here…don’t tell anyone, ok?)

      I gotcha, Nancy! How could I not present a sample of her tribute to Led Zeppelin?
      She is really channeling Robert, isn’t she?

      My pleasure, Nancy.
      My thanks to you and Pete for making it possible

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      1. Sheer luck! I’ve been in the right place at the right time and very fortunate to have met a few big ones from Sinatra to Bobby Darin to my boy Stevie Tallarico Tyler!

        It is the Fates for sure; I was channeling Joe Bonamassa for you, Nick! I can’t wait until next week but I’ll have nothing to write about! Hee hee hee! Believe me, being in a small restaurant and suddenly having Joe pull out his axe and lay down a few riffs is indescribable. Again, I’m lucky to have that connection in my little home town.

        How could I not mention the love child? Janis and Plant are two of my faves. And Black Dog? Gimme a break! This is the cherry on top!

        TRS is fortunate to have you. 😎

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        1. I wanted to say more about that restaurant… what an experience it must be! And also, it speaks volumes for the person Joe is.
          (He is not coming next week but he will be the next blues artist featured…I am trying to mix the cards I’m dealing)
          Hey, next time you visit that restaurant can you do me a big favor if Joe appears? Give him the biggest applause possible from a renaissance man from Hellas and his brother ( who listens only to Joe after I introduced his music to him…period…the rest are now 1% of his music repertoire 😆)

          “Eyes that shine, burnin’ red”🍒

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    1. I agree 100%, M.
      Black Dog was initially my choice of featured performance but I decided to go with something that would portrait her not as a cover artist…and then, the golden rule solution ( inserting Black Dog at the comments, hehe)

      Listening to the album you will find yourself moving like a pendulum between “Is this Robert Plant sampled” and ” Damn, she is letting it rip”

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    1. Her performance brought to mind the Maenad, from ancient mythology.
      Beth was singing at the edge between art and ritual…and when this happens genuinely, the audience apart from being captivated, takes part in a liturgy of sorts.

      Like

      Reply

        1. Dorothy, your insight is spot on.
          That feeling must be so powerful and unique that I fail in finding a proper analogy…yeah, trance sounds about right.
          There is incredible vulnerability (as any artist who exposes his/her soul knows). And incredible power at the same time.
          If I experience a feeling as if I am on fire when I jam with my guitar, all by myself and I hit that perfect harmony…
          …imagine what those artists experience when that magic resonance happens in front of 100, 1000 or 100,000 people!

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    1. I am guessing that you are talking about projected egos. Because to jam successfully with a band egos have to subside. And as you pointed out, indeed that is not always happening.

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  8. I’m enjoying your series, Nick. Funny, Beth Hart consistently shows up in my YouTube feed and yet I’ve hardly given her any attention. Until this article. I love her rendition of I’d Rather go Blind with Eric Gales and her performance of the same song with Jeff Beck at the 2012 Kennedy Center tribute to Buddy Guy.
    Wonder who’s in queue for this Friday!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. These are two peak performances by Beth Hart you singled out, Denise.
      (Hey, next time feel free to insert the video with your comment – it is not a rare occurrence @ TRS to offer video/songs as part of the ongoing discussion)

      Beth Hart, for me, apart from the obvious musical qualities she possesses, is resonating in a deeper level as I get a strong feeling of exorcising her demons through her art.

      Next up, you say?
      How about…ET?

      Hey, Denise… I know you have not only a deep love for everything music is – the phrase you have inked years ago ” Music is the fabric that clothes our lives” is my most favorite description of the role music has in my life–
      but you also have some interesting stories around music, musicians, concerts etc.
      As we sit around the fire pit of Breaking Boundaries, I will expect you to throw in the mix some of that, should the occasion arises!

      Liked by 1 person

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