The Saga Thus
Far, Nutshelled
An
English baby boy with the veddy English name of Gregory Page sits on Paul
McCartney's lap in Barcelona, Spain, while his mom's band plays its opening set
at a concert featuring the Fab Four. Thus, in the wee wee years of his wee life
was Gregory's innocent, wee ass blessed. Whee!
Gregory's
journey through youth is happily saturated with music, thanks to the
proclivities and talents of many members of his extended family.
At
15 he moves from North London to North Park in San Diego, where his
grandparents happen to be living on Gregory Street. Moves back to England after
10 years, deciding he doesn't feel English anymore. Comes back less than a year
later in 1987, where he soon hooks up with Steve Poltz, joins the Rugburns,
and, soon enough, discerning San Diego music lovers join together and are
hooked for good on Gregory Page.
One Fan's
Prediction
Near
the end of 2005, most likely in early November, an older fan phoned Gregory
Page to share his latest revelation, a prediction the local legend hasn't
forgotten. 'Listen,' the fan whispered. 'I believe that 2006 is going to be the
Year of Gregory Page.'
Not
half over yet, the year has still to be christened, but Page's name does still
seem to be remaining there on the short list over by the incubator.
Uncommon
times demand uncommon heroes, and there is very little that is common about Mr.
Page.
Let's
try a little test.
Ask
just about any artist what his or her own favorite album is and you'll usually
get one of two answers.
A
fair number will reply (with a self-deceptive sense of poetic originality), 'Oh,
I still haven't made my best one yet.'
The
more common response (equally cliched and pathetically ignorant) would go
something like, 'Asking me to choose my favorite is like asking a parent,
'Which is your favorite child?' You really can't answer something like that,
can you?' Now how's that for a revelation, the artist thinks. Didn't think I
was so wise, so deep, did you?
Now
for some refreshment. Put the question to a certifiable original like Gregory
Page and you get a unique response, one that steals your breath for a moment to
pat its soft spot gently before floating it back into your chest.
'My
best album? It's the one I'm just finishing. It's coming out in September. It's
called Daydreaming at Night. I swear it's the best thing I've ever done. Best
album ever made, not to take anything away from Rubber Soul. No, I'm kidding.
(or did he say 'No kidding'?) It feels like I've spent my whole life working on
it.'
Daydreaming
at Night will be Page's sixteenth album, a number befitting a gorgeous debutante
with 15 remarkable seasons behind her - seasons of noticeable brevity,
actually. Averaging about three months each, from conception to completion, the
previous releases are beaten by the year's work invested in the upcoming crie
du coeur.
The New Show
He's
happy these days as well with his latest performing incarnation, the Gregory
Page Band, which gives focus to compositions seemingly plucked from another
era, anchored by the often top-hatted vaudevillian belter who may have once
wanted to be a circus clown but took a wrong turn somewhere. Complementing his
performing these days are the vocals of Erica Davies, the piano of Martin
Greaves, and the warm violin of Ray Swen. (Greaves and Swen are also heard on
Daydreaming at Night, as are James East on bass and Brian 'Nucci' Cantrell on
drums.)
The
union of Gregory and Erica on stage is the happy result of some weird set of
stars' lucky alignment, it would seem. There was the young man who'd frequently
seek out the wisdom and wares of old-time music's regional godfather, Lou
Curtiss, at Curtiss' Folk Arts Rare Records. There was Louis Brazier, sound man
and major domo at Lestat's, who'd frequently praise to Gregory the talents of a
young chanteuse, a young woman who seemed to have literally come from another
era, long ago. Curtiss himself, when conversing with Gregory, would remark on
the exceptional diva he'd recently heard around town, a lady with similar
musical interests as Page himself lately, as well as those of a frequent male
customer of his . . .
It
was all destined to sort itself out, and it did. The customer seeking musical
sustenance from Curtiss was a close friend of Erica's, doing the legwork as a
personal favor to her. Louis and Lou had both been enchanted by the same young
performer, as would be Gregory himself soon enough through their
recommendations. Audiences at Lestat's would soon delight in the wonder of the
blended voices of Gregory and Erica Ð something like a light, flowery dynamite...'I knew I'd really regret it
if I didn't approach her about singing together. I have a very strong habit of
trying to avoid tragedy,' Page confesses.
Worldwide Scoop
Speaking
of habits . . . when he isn't on some stage somewhere performing (believe it or
not, it's not a priority . . . really) or strolling solo around his favorite
section of Balboa Park (can't reveal the exact location, but it's east of Park
Boulevard), his 'habit' would be the primary focus of his life: making music in
his home studio. 'Home' isn't actually a correct term here. Six months ago he
set up shop apart from his residence in Kensington, within a spacious converted
garage of a very pleasant house among the foothills of Mount Helix in La Mesa.
What's immediately strange is that so much older equipment is in such constant
use by someone with such a remarkably keen ear as Page. He uses what
contemporary technicians would have every right to call 'old school' or even
'obsolete' equipment for two basic reasons. The first is that he's always liked
the gear and shuns the very idea of upgrading when he can get absolutely
anything he requires out of what he's got. The other (and perhaps primary)
reason would be that almost all of the equipment is donated, or on loan, from
angels he knows, angels with names like Rick Lein and Dylan Ankney and Rafter
Roberts who must understand the value of Page's art and seem pledged to
encourage it. 'I couldn't do it without their kindness,' Page stresses. 'I'm no
techno freak. I appreciate the capabilities of this older equipment and it's
like we're all familiar with one another. I see no reason to change just in
order to be 'cool' or 'up to date.'
Which,
of course, he's always been anyway.
Shocking Unknown
Fact
I
couldn't believe it myself when he told me. But: unlike during writing and
recording (two activities only slightly less natural to him than breathing),
when his concentration and focus are not easily jarred, Page becomes
terrifically vulnerable to attacks of nerves before performing a live show. 'It
begins right when I wake up on the day of the show,' he explains. 'The rest of
the day is a battle to control it, and I'm getting a bit better with
experience, I guess. But then, I'm a basket case once I arrive at the venue,
and it only gets worse the closer I get to going on stage. I can get physically
ill! The only relief comes with feedback from the audience and, suddenly, it's
as if all that nervousness, that fear, had never touched me.' With such an
enthralling body of work, Page can easily be forgiven for being an occasional
pussy, can't he?
It Will Go On
That
explains a lot. A clearer perception of an exceptional man and his exceptional
art begins to emerge. He's certainly earned the contentedness he's feeling
these days. Love Made Me Drunk is out now on international shelves, on friend-and-fellow
artist A. J. Croce's new label, Seedling Records. Recently, while shopping at
Walgreens, he saw it for sale and confesses, 'It's hard to describe the
feeling. I wanted to buy it.' When reminded that Walgreens also sells
cigarettes and rat poison, his giddiness remains untainted. One wonders if they
also carry Penthouse, that once-crusading, innovative journal for the
sophisticated horn-dog that carried a blurb and a lovely, kissable color photo
of his intellectual mug a couple issues back. Page is still unbowed. 'Well,
it's not like being Pet of the Month, I guess, but there's still time.' As this
is being written, John Doe of the X band is with him in Page's studio,
producing and recording the brilliant new album by Tom Brosseau. After that, Page
will put the final polish on his masterwork Daydreaming at Night and then
possibly take a break from recording for up to a year.
Sorry
to have to tell you this, Mr. Page, but that seems unlikely. We know what your
blood is made of and you can't survive without all the ingredients. And your
vaudevillian shows with your new band are becoming the hottest tickets in town,
particularly at your beloved Lestat's.
'Some
people can remain dedicated to both music and a spouse,' he tells me. 'I find
that quite difficult.' Difficult? Let me help you, Gregoire. I now pronounce
you man and wife. Music, you are now Mrs. Gregory Page. Your new child will
have a name now, Daydreaming at Night. Time to get back at it. Keep those
babies coming.
Does
he see himself leaving San Diego, where he's so comfortable with his recording
studio, his family, fans and friends, his daily walks? 'If I ever move, it'll
be to France,' he says. 'I've always thought of myself growing old in Paris
[where his father lives]. But . . . no. Here I've also got my mom, my sisters,
uncle. Plus I've got a good auto mechanic, a wonderful doctor and dentist. And
I've got Lestat's. The people who came out last night paid my rent for the
month. Some became emotional, openly weeping! No, this is my home. I feel like
I'm sort of needed, and I'm very grateful for that.'
It's True
For at least one person,
it has already become The Year of Gregory Page. The year 2006 will always be
known as that by that fan who had made the prediction over the phone late last
year, who can now see the cover he shot for Love Made Me Drunk in stores
wherever he travels, and who was fortunate enough to be trusted with the
writing of this piece.
Thanks, Gregory.
Gregory Page
Discography
1. The Romantic
Adventures of Harry (Bed Pan 1993)
2. The Romantic
Adventures of Harry (Bizarre Planet 1994)
3. Fare Thee Well
(Produced by John Doe 1997)
4. Flying Underwater
(Bed Pan 1998)
5. And I Look Up (Bed
Pan 2000)
6. Music for Mortals
(Bed Pan 2000)
7. Grace in Arms (Bed
Pan 2001)
8. Unhappy Hour (Bed
Pan 2001)
9. The Reality of
Dinosaurs (Bed Pan 2001)
10. Under the Rainbow (Bed Pan 2002)
11. God Makes Ghosts (Bed Pan 2002)
12. Love Made Me Drunk (Bed Pan 2003)
13. Live at Lestat's September 28, 2003
(Bed Pan 2003)
14. Happiness Is Being Lonely (Bed Pan
2004)
15. Alive in Australia (Bed Pan 2005)
16. Sleeping Dogs (Bed Pan 2005)
17. Love Made Me Drunk (Seedling
Records/International Re-Release 2006)
Productions
1. Jason Mraz In Love
and Sadness 2002
2. Robin Henkel Highway
Blues 2003
3. Jose Sinatra Knowing
Me, Touching Me (Bed Pan 2001)
4. Jose Sinatra
Education and Outreach (Bed Pan 2002)
5. Jose Sinatra Knowing
Me Again, Touching Me Again (Bed Pan 2003)
6. Carlos Olmeda
Sensitive Groove
7. Starbelly 2000
8. Sammy Lambert
Welcome to my World (Bed Pan/Two Pressings/ 2000)
9. American Folk
Singers Music from the Bad Old Days, Vol. 1 (Bed Pan 2002)
10. American Folk Singers Music from the
Bad Old Days, Vol. 2 (Bed Pan 2003)
11. Tom Bosseau The Blue Album (Bed Pan
2001)
12. Tom Brosseau North Dakota (Bed Pan
2002)
13. Tom Brosseau Five Songs (EP/Bed
Pan2003)
14. Tom Brosseau The Orange Album (Bed Pan
2003)
15. Various Artists w/Jason Mraz, Carlos
Olmeda, Lisa Sanders, Gregory Page, Tom Brosseau, Bushwalla, Anna and Lindsey
Troy, Atom Orr, Berkley Hart, Angela Correa, Dead Rock West, Patrick Dennis
Aspasia Aid (Bed Pan 2002)
16. Dave Easton Club Cilche 2002
17. Anna Troy Doll House 2004
18. Angela Correa Correatown (Bed Pan
2005)
19. Itai Ice Age Melt Down 2005
20. Jason Mraz Demos 2005
21. Lindsey Troy War (EP/2005)
22. Carlos Olmeda The Other American 2005
23. Tom Brosseau The Blue Album (Loveless
Records/Re-Release 2006)
24.
Tom Brosseau Empty
Houses Are Lonely (Fat Cat Records 2006)
Photos by Steve Covault