In the Big Round is a group of musicians who came together prior to the pandemic to critique and inspire each others’ performances. COVID forced the meet-ups onto Zoom, but since then they’ve been back together. This weekend sees the group – Tracy Newman, Art Podell, Severin Browne, Ken Holme, Melinda Gibson, and John Zipperer – perform together at Boulevard Music, and Browne told the News what they have in store…
When did you start playing and performing?
I have been playing many, many years before getting together with this group of musicians. All of us in In the Big Round are solo performers and have been for many years. You must know something of the backgrounds of Art Podell and Tracie Newman, who have both had major successes. I was a Motown staff songwriter in the ‘70s and released two solo albums on that label. After that I quit the music business and moved around a bit, working as a messenger/driver, a groundskeeper on a Louisiana plantation, a computer analyst for MCA Records, and a cookie mogul before making another record. Since then, I’ve made four solo records and five albums with a group of friends called Tall Men Group. I just started playing with In the Big Round in the last year or so. They were already getting together on Zoom before I joined.
Describe your sound/style?
I play acoustic guitar and sing, writing songs inspired by my jazz-folk-rock-classical-R&B roots. My father was a jazz pianist and my brother is Jackson Browne, so I have picked things up from both those influences. I also listened a lot to Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Steely Dan when I was younger, so you can imagine my trying to tell people my genre.
What are your career highlights so far?
I mentioned my Motown youth and my albums. I have never entered a song contest, so I don’t have any of those credits. But I have judged a few over the years. In fact, I was judging one a few years back and was getting pretty discouraged, when all of a sudden there was a Tracie Newman song, “I Just See You.” She won that one hands down.
What recorded music is available — particularly the most recent?
My most recent album, Overdue, is self-released in the US. It was also picked up for distribution by a Japanese label, Vivid Records, and sold a bit there during the pandemic. Vivid also has a lot of American artists like the Immediate Family, and solo records by some of their members like Danny Kortchmar and Steve Postell. Also Lamont Dozier (from Motown) and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Also, my self-released albums “Lucky Man” (2011) and “This Twisted Road” (2001) are available.
Have you performed at Boulevard Music before?
I played Boulevard Music once as a solo artist once many years ago, but I don’t remember the year.
What can the audience expect from the set this time?
Because of the format of the show, we always have a lot of fun. We all enjoy each other so that makes it easy to enjoy us.
What else do you have coming up?
This week I will be driving to Prescott, AZ to do a couple nights right before our show in Culver City. I will be performing with a bass player and singing mostly original material there. They have a subscription series of shows that have pretty good attendance, so I am really looking forward to that.
In the Big Round performs at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 10 at Boulevard Music. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more information about the show, or severinbrowne.com for more about the artist.
Elsewhere this week
The Culver Hotel will be hosting the likes of Sylvia & the Rhythm Boys, and Scotty Bramer. Go to culverhotel.com for more info.
There’s a full program of music at the Cinema Bar this week, as usual. The Hot Club of Los Angeles plays every Monday, and Wednesdays are singer/songwriter and open mic night. Other artists performing this week include Rick Shea, Garrick Rawlings, Bruce Ray White and the Random Band, Dime Box Band, and Ben Vaugnn. Go to thecinemabar.com for more info.
