Middleground

I’ve been wanting to write this for a long time, a review of the two-man team, Middleground.  I’ve seen them play quite a few times and every time, I think, wow.  But that doesn’t seem like an appropriate response to a small, local group, so I’ve gone back again and again to make sure I’m being objective.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Barbara and Mark Armbrecht have obviously been playing together for a long time, 35 years according to the Jazz and Blues Website (http://www.jazzbluesflorida.com/Middleground).  This makes sense, because their interplay is funny and entertaining.  Mark plays bass for a huge variety of local bands, but when he plays with Barbara the collaboration is brilliant.

One of the main reasons they’re so entertaining is that they have this staggering repertoire of songs.  Mark’s intro to Rickie Lee Jones’ song, “Easy Money,” is a classic, like nothing I’d ever heard before. Listening to this opening just proves what I’ve always said, bass players don’t get enough credit.

Barbara Armbrecht has obviously had a long and amazing career of interacting with musicians, some of the most famous in history.  She played with Doc Watson in college.  On Saturday at the Brew Spot, the duo even played an instrumental Barb learned from Chet Atkins.

And the variety of songs these two play – unbelievable.  Tried and Tempted, by the Wood Brothers, Well I'd like to be the wind / Don't want to be the sail / I'd like to be the train not the rail (http://www.thewoodbros.com/). 

The lovely Landslide by Stevie Nicks - And can I sail through the changing ocean tides/ Can I handle the seasons of my life? (Songwriter Stevie Nicks, Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC). I saw Stevie Nicks perform recently with our Gainesville hometown boy, Tom Petty, and Barbara does a fantastic, very original version of this sweet song. 

So just when you think you got it figured out – you know, kinda folksy, kinda bluesy, kinda oldschool – what do you make of Mama’s Broken Heart, made famous by country singer Miranda Lambert in 2011?

Go and fix your make-up, girl it's just a breakup / Run and hide your crazy and start actin' like a lady / 'Cause I raised you better (Written by KACEY MUSGRAVES, SHANE L. MCANALLY and BRANDY LYNN CLARK, Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.)

I mean, who does that?

But the humor is what becomes most distinctive about the group. When you hear them do Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues (Written by IDA COX, Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group), or a mashup of Joni Mitchell’s Brand New Key with Harry Nilsson’s Put the Lime in the Coconut, and you hear the audience laugh, you realize their brilliance.  Although, I have to say, even Mark seemed surprised by this last choice of Barbara’s, as did their impromptu drummer, Michael Hitchcock, who played the cajón drum box, a box-shaped percussion instrument.  Barbara made a joke about not getting the name of that instrument wrong and both guys laughed.

Middleground at the Brew Spot, Gainesville, Florida (one of these days I'm going to find a camera that works in the dark...)

But you can also learn from this band.  For instance, they played a song from 1923, Don’t Advertise Your Man (https://archive.org/details/Clara_Smith-Dont_Advertise_Your_Man).  And then Barbara launched into a tune that was so similar it startled me – and there I was singing along to, “You can get anything you want / at Alice’s Restaurant.” Yes, artists steal.  Surprise!

They got asked to perform Lyle Lovett’s “If I had a Boat” twice.  It’s such a strange song -

Whenever mystery masked man was smart / he got himself a Tonto /'Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free / But Tonto he was smarter and one day said Kemo Sabe / "Well kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm going out to sea" (written by Lyle Lovett, Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, MICHAEL H GOLDSEN INC). 

I pride myself in knowing a lot of songs, but I’ve never heard this one before I heard Middleground do it.  Obviously, the rest of the audience felt the same – how many times are musicians asked to do the same song twice in one night?

Altogether an entertaining evening.  So I think it’s safe to say I can give an objective review.  Or  not. :)