One thing about childhood memories and early recollections are those that become etched in stone and remain with us into our adult years. As a nipper, I was taught by my mother to politely ask for what you want in life (and at that age, it was likely 45’s, sweets, or ‘fizzy pop’) – and as I continue to plod along many decades later, that trait remains with me. Always welcoming opportunities to chat with artists up north after attending their shows, I’ve frequently asked them to come and play down here in our part of the US, and some often do share hints or news of a future tour. But never had I encountered an artist that took that request to heart, and who then reached out (following a pandemic, to boot) asking how far away we were from a specific city, before offering a personal invitation to attend a show… Until now…
Many of our readers know that we are long-time fans of Canadian pop-rocker Emm Gryner, making it sweeter still to disclose that Emm was the source of that request and subsequent invitation. Learning about an upcoming performance at a backyard ‘barn’ concert in Wilmington, DE – before any public announcement – we promptly received a formal invite from the hosts once confirming with Emm that we would love to attend – and later learning that seats were limited to approximately 45 patrons, this definitely checked the both the ‘exclusive’ and ‘intimate evening’ boxes.
Following the release of her latest “Business & Pleasure” album back in April (reviewed here at GDW in May), Emm fulfilled another personal career goal – her desire to share and recreate an affinity for the Yacht Rock genre – those smooth radio sounds from the late 70s into the early 80s that blend soft rock, soul, and horns – lots of horns. Having had little opportunity to publicly perform this new material, what better place than a backyard gathering of friends and fans in a small Delaware community to take us all on a musical time-travel adventure! And with a pair of good pals in tow – Mark Plati (guitar/bass/vocals) and Doug Yowell (drums) – Emm (keyboard/bass/vocals) was more than happy to share several new album cuts over the course of two 40-minute sets.
“I love music because it creates opportunities for us to be together. We obviously missed that for a while,” Emm shared, following a rousing performance of “The Chance,” complete with era-appropriate key tones and a beautifully executed mid-tune change of pace. “I had a dream that Michael McDonald would sing on the song, so I kept lowering the key on it … that if I kept it really low, he might show up. But he never did. So, 2018, I remember coming here, and life was a lot different. I was dealing with a lot of hard personal things. And I remember listening to Man’s Search For Meaning on audiobook on the way here – that’s where I was at – and these song were not written alone, but were written with a poet and incredible writer named Michael Holmes.”
Cue the arrival of Michael Holmes – Emm’s life partner and co-lyricist on “Business & Pleasure” – who took time to share some tales about his inspiration for some of these new tunes. “It took about a year, we wrote the album, we went to Nashville and recorded it, and we did it during a pandemic,” Michael commenced. “And the thing that is significant is not the stuff that we all went through, [but] that the whole record was made for us imagining people listening to a record, and our only criteria was when writing the song, writing some lyrics, writing the music, that it made people happy. So, this next song was about Jack Wagner, because he was in General Hospital when I was a kid, and that made me really happy to think about writing a song. Also, in 1984, he had a song … All I Need … and that became the jumping off point for this song, because this is actually called All I Need Is A Little More Jack.”
Emm was equally happy to fraternize with her audience, and earned many a chuckle following comical tales from behind the scenes during the recording process of “Business & Pleasure” – one notable instance was discussing how producer Fred Mollin worked hard to not make the album track “Queen” sound like the theme from the television show Cheers. And offering a teaser of her next single scheduled for release later this year, Emm acknowledged that this would be a cover of a popular song. “We haven’t practiced this one at all, so if anyone wants to sing along, I know the version by Go West,” she added in jest, before the trio delivered a flawless and era-appropriate interpretation of the Alfons Kettner and Bobby Caldwell penned hit, “What You Won’t Do For Love.”
Emm is a solid musician and stage performer, but are you aware that she also dabbles with a little magic too? Okay, no pulling pennies from ears or rabbits from hats, but on this given evening, she had not one, but two neat tricks tucked away in her sleeve. The first was to introduce us to her good friend and Philadelphia-based radio personality Jim McGuinn, who she claimed not to have seen for 25 years, and who had also received an invitation to attend the show. “Emm and I have stayed friends over many years, I was totally stunned yesterday when she said, ‘why don’t you get up and sing a song with me? We’ll do it unrehearsed. You’ve never sung this song live before, and you’re not really a singer, but it will be great’,” Jim explained, earning laugher immediately as the plot was laid out. “What a way to get out of it,” Emm joked in response. “I did play in a band once,” Jim continued. “We were called Threat of the Banjo. We would put a banjo on the stage and we would force the audience to treat us nicely or else we would play it.” Jim would progress into a tale about his love for David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” before the four artists collaborated on this classic tune to bring the first set to a memorable close.
Of course, for the uninitiated, Emm and Mark Plati first collaborated together as part of David Bowie’s touring band at the end of the twentieth century – both also played together during Bowie’s memorable headlining concert at Glastonbury in 2000. So, with her second magical moment, Emm offered the floor to Mark to reminisce on those once-in-a-lifetime memorable moments. “[When] Emm and I met, I had been working with [Bowie] for a couple of years before that primarily as an engineer synthesizer programmer guy, and then I kind of ended up playing guitar on a show with him,” Mark recalled. “All of a sudden, I’m in the band, and then Emm gets in the band, and I’d been playing a long time, but playing with David, that’s another level. It really is another level. I’d never played a stadium show in my life – I’d played biker bars, and barns now, but never a stadium show.”
Pausing to soak up the feedback, Mark would continue his tale about that first big break with Bowie. “We went there [the stadium] and started with the song Life on Mars, which was David and Mike Garson, the piano player, alone – which was cool, because I didn’t have to go out there first thing. But then the second song, I had to go out and start it myself. In front of 80,000, 75,000, give or take 10,000 people. But you’ve gotta work through the fear, you know,” he shared. “So, Emm has this idea now that maybe I should sing that song. And I’m not a singer guy. I mean, we all like to sing, it’s fun, right? But I’m like, me? I can do harmony stuff, but I gotta do that? So, I was just as scared to do this when Emm asked as I was in 1999 in front of a stadium, and I felt that is all the more reason I have to do it. I have to re-live this. It’s a karma thing. I have to do this, so here we go…”
Mark would indeed take the lead to deliver Bowie’s “Survive,” a track found on the 1999 “Hours” album, and more than earned the applause that followed. Passing the microphone and floor back to Emm, the trio would share one more tune to wrap up this brief tribute to their mentor and idol, opting to turn the clock back to 1972 and perform “Kooks,” a tune taken from “The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars” album. Returning to “Business & Pleasure,” the trio would close the show with plenty of energy, cranking out the Detroit-radio inspired “Summertime,” before adding a non-encore encore with the album’s toe-tapping first single release, “Valencia.” This was both a fun and amazing evening in Delaware, and we express our eternal gratitude to Emm Gryner for thinking of her two pals in Southern PA when this show was confirmed, and the invitation that followed. Thanks Emm – let’s do it again sometime soon.
Set List:
- Burn The Boats
- The Chance
- (A Little More) Jack
- Queen
- 89 Days Of Alcatraz
- Space Oddity (David Bowie cover – ft. Jim McGuinn)
- Loose Wig
- What You Won’t Do For Love (Bobby Caldwell cover)
- Ciao Monday
- Survive (David Bowie cover – ft. Mark Plati)
- Kooks (David Bowie cover)
- Summertime
- Valencia
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
