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Detweiler show
What Fairpoint, Ohio Has Done with Linford Detweiler
Linford Detweiler
September 1, 2000
Trinity House Theatre, Detroit, MI
As an individual, Linford Detweiler's music draws from many sources within
the collective midwestern psyche. There is evidence of western steakhouse
jukebox honky-tonk, cocktail jazz and ballet recital in his solo piano. Yet,
for the most part, it is not unlike those endless paternalistic hymns one
squirmed their way through locked in a church pew as a child. His musical
genius takes all that one was emotionally allergic to as an adolescent and
endears the them to a nostalgia of one's own thoughts and experiences.
What would explain this phenomenon of nostalgia? Linford has done this for
himself. "Nervous as all get out," the willowy performer took all of two
hours to explain with poetry, prose and a tinny oak venire upright piano his
life story. This was a rare occurrence - the first - for a man who keeps so
well to himself.
The 14 song evening began with "Run Dark Olive," a contemporary piece from
his solo piano album " I Don't Think There Is No Need to Bring Nothin'
(Music for First Kind Sight)." In an atmosphere that could lead one to
believe they were spying on him in his living room, Detweiler took the less
then hundred person audience through "Is It too Late to Start" and "First
Kind Sight" into a loose yet hopeful spoken ballad of self-discovery.
Perhaps the rarest was first known live performance of "Let the Lower Lights
Be Burning," a hymn layered with purpose-filled prose about the childhood
desire to become a missionary, only witnessed before on the Over the Rhine
video exposé "Serpents and Gloves."
After the plush and rolling "I Should Have Kept Going," began a deeper
connection with the audience- more words. Detweiler admitted to writing
regularly, and as of late has been identifying with the letters of Vincent
Van Gogh. He hued Van Gogh's textured colors with words in his "Vincent
poem #1" where he found the will to live in nature and, inspired by
indulgent night walks with the dog in a cemetery, a poem entitled "One More
Canvas While We Were Still." He then went on to play "Weak in the Knees
Across the Sky," another from "I Don't Think..." The humorous, bare boned,
sin sultry backup singers, "Jack's Valentine" (from Over the Rhine's "Good
Dog, Bad Dog," 1996) was next spliced with tomfoolery about the painters
(Van Gogh, Monet, Degas) the song mentions towards the end.
There are subtle hints of a pastoral background in a great deal of
Detweiler's work as he is one of six siblings from a Fairpoint, OH
minister's family. Personably, Detweiler lead into more writing with a
storytelling of adolescent memories, including a story about a one piece
sequenced wearing, baton twirling, high school girlfriend he brought home
only to take her for tick infested motorbike ride in the Minnesota
wilderness. He then read of first memory - to be close to the trumpet - as
well as piano practicing to avoid evening dishes, and how it was engraved
into his psyche from a young age that the sole purpose in life was to become
a missionary. At the time when the volatile King David was his inspiration,
he only went fishing with his brothers because he loved them and enjoyed the
colorful names for the fish. Through his essay and prose, it became evident
that Detweiler has come to the place, maybe long before the rest of us,
where he is truly grateful for all has brought him to this moment in life.
His final solo work of the evening closed with the most passionate of all –
another spoken word over bluesy piano piece where he detailed the
fascination of a "life-long fling" he intends to have with wife Karen
Berquist. The intensity of feeling not express in words he channeled through
the intimate dynamics of his fingers on the keys. With a nod and a smile, an
encore called him to bring his wife onto stage for a rendition of Over the
Rhine's "Latter Days" where throughout Karen glanced admiringly at him.
Out from the shadow of Over the Rhine, Linford Detweiler took one steamy
September night at Detroit's quaint Trinity House Theatre to give us a
glimpse into the musical outgrowth of his individuality. Covering every
corner of a life infused with music and mystery, Detweiler communicated
hope, faith and an intent to suck the marrow from life. In all, the stunning
simplicity of a beatnik ballerina on a broken-hearted upright was pleasant
and historical- if not just for the tiny audience, for Detweiler himself.
Jessica Aguilar Walker
submitted to The Phantom Tollbooth
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