Gurf Morlix Live in Concert
Gurf Morlix in Concert at the Silver City School House – Supports School House Community Center and Arts Programming
Thursday, April 13, 2017 - Silver City School House
Doors 6 pm, Show 7 pm
385 High St, Silver City, Nevada
$15-$25 Suggested Donation
Beer, wine and beverages for sale, baked treats by donation
RSVP REQUESTED
To RSVP and for information visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/192357907923474/
or email: SilverCityLive@gmail.com
About Gurf Morlix
Gurf Morlix is touring in support of his new record The Soul and the Heal
Visiting planet Gurf has always been an enlightening experience. After all, this Gurf Morlix fellow – Buffalo born, Texas bred – has provided us with countless indelible musical moments in the last 40-plus years: his exemplary guitar and production work with Lucinda Williams; his instrumental accompaniment to artists ranging from Blaze Foley to Warren Zevon; his production of watermark albums for artists such as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen and Mary Gauthier – and, since 2000, a series of eight solo records that have a singular worldview and can be both harrowing and heartening, often at the same time.
Now, prepare yourself for “The Soul And The Heal”. Gurf Morlix’s ninth album is another chapter in a songbook that pithily relates the human condition. But though Morlix’s signatures are still present on this masterstroke – lyrics that don’t waste a syllable, instrumentation without a spare note – there is also a hopefulness and vulnerability not always readily evident on his recent releases. The fact that “The Soul And The Heal” is pivotal for Gurf is immediately clear from the striking front cover image of a heart-shaped cherry with its pit exposed, and from the stark title that he says speaks to “the healing of the soul from all the damage we inflict on ourselves”.
It would be too easy to attribute Gurf’s evolution to the fact that in February 2016 he suffered a heart attack while dead stopped in the fast lane, in a traffic jam, on his way to a gig. In fact these new songs were all written before this episode, from which he has fully recovered. But there’s no doubt the emotions stirred by the unexpected December 2014 passing of Gurf’s musical mate, rock keyboard legend Ian McLagan, contributed to the career pinnacle that “The Soul And The Heal” is for Morlix.
The album was recorded at his Rootball home studio. Morlix comes by his musical minimalism naturally: “It’s the way my brain is wired. I like to hear everything clearly.” It’s a solitary sound, different from the sonics he brought to his outside productions – but, as always, it’s anchored by Morlix’s sinewy, expressive guitar. The other constant is drummer Rick Richards – who shares Morlix’s straightforward aesthetic (and whose rhythms Gurf echoes with two foot drums during his almost 100 solo gigs a year).
This batch of songs yields the expected Morlix darkness and humor, but woven between are numbers imbued with a warm light. The call to positive action on “Move Someone,” the mindfulness of “Right Now” and the sensitive finale “The Best We Can” balance this focused collection, an album that manages to run the gamut of emotions without being cloying or obvious.
With “The Soul And The Heal” Morlix continues to create his own singular musical universe, but the yin and yang of his outlook has never been as in sync as it is now, making it even more inviting to join him on Planet Gurf.
About the Silver City School House:
The growing Comstock community of Silver City built a one room schoolhouse in 1867. Soon a south wing was added, making room for as many as 166 students. The building continued in use as a school for almost a century. In 1957 the town stopped using the building as a school. It was soon turned into a community center and housed the Silver City Volunteer Fire Department. Following construction of a new fire station in 1991, the building was renovated for exclusive use as a community center.
The schoolhouse was destroyed by fire in 2004, and in 2007 the Silver City Community Center was rebuilt in the same architectural style as the old schoolhouse, using many materials salvaged from the original structure. Today, managed by the Silver City Historic Preservation Society, the Silver City School House is the center of community activity in town. It hosts town meetings, soup socials, holiday gatherings, a thriving kid’s summer camp, sock hops, art shows and now concerts.
Father and daughter team, Robert Elston (Yellow Truck Productions) and Evangeline Elston (Evangeline Presents), co-producers of the event, share a passion for live music and performing arts. Robert is an archeologist and musician and he and his wife Cashion and their family have lived in Silver City for nearly fifty years and were part of the wellspring of intellectuals, musicians and artists that came to the area in the 60s and stayed to build their lives in the town of Silver City. Evangeline grew up in Silver City and is a music promoter and artist manager and agent who recently moved back to the area. She runs a small agency with a stable of nationally touring artists and she also directs the Valhalla Art, Music & Theatre Festival at Lake Tahoe.
They share a vision to develop a thriving live music and performing arts scene in Silver City. The Silver City Historic Preservation Society, which manages the Silver City School House Community Center and Silver City Arts, a group of local artists who seek to encourage the arts, build community, and share the unique beauty of Silver City, will assist with the production of the event.
The event It is a fundraiser for the School House operations and music programming.
