Alt country and Americana music took over Silverlake’s The Echo last Saturday night, as rising San Diegan songwriter Jack Van Cleaf headlined a night of intimate songs and wry humor.
Hailing all the way from Alaska, Rosie Rush opened the evening with a set of soulful, melancholic acoustic songs. Accompanied by her friend Ray on guitar, Rush showed off gorgeous vocals and songs that seemed to relate to numerous plot points from The Summer I Turned Pretty (Rush’s current obsession). Also included in her set was a pitch perfect cover of The La’s classic “There She Goes”. While she only has a few songs currently up on streaming services (including her set-closer, “Willa”), the ones there are worth checking out.
I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that Joelton Mayfield was the main opener of the show, having included his songs great recent singles “Speechwriter” and “Turpentine (You Know the One)” in our NMF posts. Mayfield is one of those unassuming figures, taking you by surprise with his clever songs and deadpan humor. He began his set with what he described as his “religious trauma” songs, inspired by growing up in the church. Other older tracks like “Afterlife” These songs obviously leaned more serious, and Mayfield’s vocals provided the right haunting timbre to make them resonate. It was on his newer tracks from his upcoming debut album (due October 24th) where his ability to weave humor and pathos was really able to shine. The tempos of these tracks on the studio recordings are more upbeat and rock than his older ones, and even on solo acoustic they brought a burst of energy to the room.
During his set, Mayfield revealed he had admired Jack Van Cleaf‘s songwriting since they were in the dorms together, revealing a history between the two that was news to me, but showed the kind of nurturing community music can foster. Cleaf’s band accompanied Mayfield on his final song of the evening and teasing the fuller sound the remainder of the evening would have with Cleaf’s set.
When I first heard Jack Van Cleaf, on his Zach Bryan-accompanied re-recording of “Rattlesnake”, a thoughtful, mid-tempo track that fits in perfectly with the new breed of rock-leaning country artists (Bryan, Sam Barber), I would have suspected Cleaf hailed from more familiar country terrain like Tennessee or Texas. That clearly would have been a prejudiced assumption on my part, as Cleaf only came from 2 hours south of me in San Diego.
His latest album JVC is one of my favorites of the year, and he did those tracks as well as his older music justice onstage Saturday. Cleaf has a relatable, every-man stage presence, filling his banter with inside jokes and sincere gratitude for his friends and fellow musicians in the audience that night.
His set focused more on newer tracks, like “Smoker”, which came early in the set. Cleaf gave background tidbits on the inspirations behind his songs, including feelings of social anxiety and post-college depression. But, one of the things I like most about Cleaf is that his songs don’t all dwell in sadness. Uptempo rockers like “Green” are insanely catchy and reveal a knack for sharp wordplay. And while I will never be a huge fan of more traditional, honky tonk country, Cleaf’s “Use Me” is one of the few songs in that style that have won me over. If I wasn’t pre-wedding poor, I would have bought his hoodie that had one of the many lyrical hooks from the song emblazoned on it.
While I’m not as familiar with his older material, his track “Cowboy” and “She Keeps It Cool” didn’t lost me during the set, and murder ballad “The Primrose Chopper” was an excellently-written story-song. Cleaf also played one of the JVC vinyl-exclusive tracks (of which I was not aware of), “Remember Katrina?”, about finding the things that scared you as a kid become even more frightening as you get older. It was affective, to say the least.
During a break for (most of) the band, Cleaf took a request and played “Hikikomori” with just his guitarist accompanying him on banjo, which was a nice moment of artist-fan connection. “Rattlesnake” was of course a highlight of the night (even without the superstar assist from Bryan), and closing the main set with the hopeful “Life” provided the right emotional uplift for the set.
For his encore, Cleaf previewed a new song he had been working on, which was another lyrical stand-out (though I would say the melody and delivery could still be honed), and ended with an ode to his father (a pilot), “Terrestrial Man”, which was both moving and rousing.
If you’re a fan of country, alt. country or Americana music, or simply great songwriting of any style, dive into Jack Van Cleaf’s latest album and keep an eye on his tour dates to see if he’s coming to your town. Definitely worth the price of admission.
The Indy Review 
2 Comments