'Working out'

By Jim Sullivan
Boston Globe Staff

Ken Stringfellow is a very busy man. He just released a gorgeous solo disc, "Soft Command." He's been recording with three bands he plays in -- R.E.M., Big Star, and the Posies -- and tonight he brings a solo tour to the Middle East Upstairs. "I was having some anxiety about having too much of a good thing," Stringfellow says from his Seattle home. "I've never had so much stuff working out so well." Stringfellow's music often has a lush, layered, Brian Wilson-like quality. The singer-guitarist-pianist admits to some sentimentality in song, but adds that "it's sincerity that I like in art forms. . . .What I can't relate to is mainstream pop music where the emotional content is so fake. That, to me, seems really sinister. . . . The importance of music is clear: It's communication that makes the world a little closer. At the same time, a musician's self-importance is something you can debate. My mission is to make people feel better rather than worse. My music isn't angst-y -- that is just not me. I'm here to give something comforting and humanistic." Opening the 18-plus show: Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher and Jabe. Starts at 9, tickets $9.472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278.

Wednesday, July 21, 2004 | 0 comments | Permalink