Solo musicians Ian Ethan Case, Nicholas Farrar and Adrian Bellue performed at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on April 21 for a show that resembled a TED Talk mixed with acoustic and jazz music.
“What we’re going to start out with tonight is a little unusual, but I think that is why you’re all here because you want an unusual music experience,” Farrar said to the audience right before a gong was struck accompanied by throat-singing and ringing of the Tibetan bowls.
18-string acoustic guitarist Case and his drummer G Maxwell Zemanovic joined in with a percussive brush upon the back of Case’s guitar and crescendo of Zemanovic’s cymbals.
When Case and Zemanovic played their own set shortly after, there was a constant wave of blissful melodies and bright layers that filled the room.
“I feel that the real reason why I am doing music is to try to hopefully help other people in some way,” Case said. “As much as I love to play music and do it anyway, it’s really about being transparent to something that is already there in terms of really making life choices and pursuing them.”
The next artist to share the stage was Adrian Bellue from Sacramento. Bellue is also an instrumental acoustic artist but stands out with an extravagant harp guitar.
Bellue’s sound was very rhythmic with huge chords and incredible finger picking. He shared a story of how he headed down the wrong path during early adulthood. He found peace again through martial arts and his acoustic guitar years later.
He also shared a tragic story about losing a friend of his and how it affected him. He devoted his life to music full time and is grateful for his fans.
After Bellue’s set, Farrar’s jazz and funk set was next. Farrar has suffered from Lyme disease for most of his life, and he survived premature complications when he was only months old.
Farrar noted how his faith, parents and music are big saviors in his life. His music blended upbeat melodies that were both soulful and dark. He played intricately all around the neck of his bass.
After Farrar’s set, all the musicians got together on stage and improvised together on one of Farrar’s song. It was tremendous the way all the musicians fed off of each others’ style of playing. They all gave glances to one another, showing how much fun they were having. It was the perfect way to end the show.
“This just blew me away. I’ve never really heard anything like this before. I am still in awe,” said Steven Brocco, Butte College student.
Tom Sundgren can be reached at [email protected] or @tom_sundgren on Twitter.
