Ray Mason ~ 2012 November 15 ~ Harvest Café ~ Hudson, MA
Ray Mason accompanying himself on Silvertone electric guitar
Set List
Review
The Harvest Café is a neighborhood bar/restaurant with live music a couple of nights a week. Ray Mason is a guy whose songs meld elements of NRBQ, John Coltrane, the Lovin' Spoonful and his own quirky sense of reality into a melodic and highly entertaining blend of pop dreams. He played a 2 hour set to a small but enthusiastic audience, some of whom were hearing his unique style for the first time.
Ray's two sets mainly consisted of selections from his extensive back catalog (he said he's put out eleven records over the past couple of decades). But he also played a few covers including "I Go To Pieces" by Peter & Gordon (written by Del Shannon), "Why Do I Cry" by short-lived but great Boston band The Remains, and a bit of "Bright Lit Blue Skies" by The Rockin' Ramrods, another short-lived New England band. Ray even tossed in a few fragments of numbers by the Dave Clarke Five, Herman's Hermits, and (believe it or not) "Rawhide" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." These last two were in response to good-natured bantering between singer and audience -- and were undoubtedly never to be repeated.
Since I am a huge fan of Ray's songwriting, I was delighted to hear four new songs. One was "Hibernation Blues," a song slated to be recorded by The Lonesome Brothers, an alt-country band in which Ray plays bass and sings. The others, to be recorded by the Ray Mason Band, were "Not Everyone Can Live in California," "I Must Be In Trouble" (world premier performance), and "Working Too Hard."
If you get a chance, don't miss Ray Mason and his vintage Silvertone.
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