Erica Brown Entertainment
On this latest offering from Barstool Messiah the band exemplifies a certain sound that one heard more of in Denver around 20 years ago, but more refined with perhaps melodic punk vocal choruses akin to that of The Fluid, the irreverence of Warlock Pinchers, and all filtered through a love of Detroit proto-punk and Motörhead. For half of the songs, the band brought on board legendary local blues and R&B singer Erica Brown to bring a brash soulfulness to the music that really pushes it beyond any obvious influences, even though there is that punk and hard rock attitude and energy crackling through every song. What may surprise someone listening to the music on the surface is the literary quality of the lyrics. Yes, there’s songs about drinking and hard living but there is a disarming level of sensitivity and awareness informing Nick Plumber’s words even when it sounds like he’s singing a song with the band that would be a good soundtrack for a bar brawl. At a time when a lot of hard rock is boring and predictable, Barstool Messiah is not.
Erica was contacted by Living Blues Magazine Contributing Writer and Blues Legend Deitra Farr for an interview for a “Blues News: Artist to Artist” article for the September 2021 issue of the magazine. The Artist to Artist section spotlights Blues Women worldwide, and Erica is honored to be among that number!
I’ve lived in Denver for almost six years now, and along the Front Range for almost 20. But there are a few ways in which I have failed in the rites of Colorado residency: I’ve never toured the Denver Mint, nor have I been to the Molly Brown House. And until last night, I’d never seen Slim Cessna’s Auto Club play live…shame on me.
Following openers A. Tom Collins (who are rapidly becoming a favorite of mine, with their “Small Change”-era Tom Waits feel and lively stage act) and Drag The River (rather, the two members of Drag the River who could make it in the icy conditions), Slim Cessna’s Auto Club proved why, even after a solid decade of playing New Year’s at the Bluebird, they are still one of Denver’s most exciting live acts. On a stage decorated like an eccentric Victorian’s dusty parlor, the elder statesmen of Denver goth-Americana brought the feel of a tent revival to the Bluebird Theater.
Choosing to forgo a themed show (like last year’s “Popeye” New Year’s), Slim and the crew decided instead to simply dress for the occasion in vintage tuxedos. This simple choice let the music shine forth, especially with their classically evangelical delivery on songs like “Americadio” and newer choices like “A Smashing Indictment of Character.”
There is something so primordially Denver about the sound of Slim Cessna, a sound in which it doesn’t take much effort to hear echos of all great Colorado bands past and present. For this reason, it was as exciting as it was apropos when venerable Denver blues diva Erica Brown joined Slim for several songs, and when Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys was suddenly onstage accompanying the band for “This is How We Do Things In The Country.” While Slim Cessna’s sound is entirely their own, it meshes just as well with Brown’s bluesy wails as it does with Biafra’s “California Über Alles”-style bleating.
After a raucous, crowdsurfing finale with “Everyone is Guilty,”, Slim and the crew left the stage only briefly before returning for an encore. The band then finished out the night with “Thy Will Be Done,” and “He, Roger Williams,” a paean to the founder of the first Baptist church in the U.S. As the lyrics claim, Williams was a man of the cloth who nevertheless liked to rock and roll. With their intricate religious imagery and near-apostolic enthusiasm, Slim’s admiration for Mr. Williams seems particularly apt.
And on the night before new years, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club won one more Denver congregant to their fold: me.
Cassandra Schoon is a Denver freelance writer and regular Reverb contributor.
John Moore founded The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase in 2001
Read the originally published review here
https://www.westword.com/music/denver-musician-erica-brown-flashed-the-crowd-at-her-first-gig-9575677
Erica Brown has been selected for a chapter in the newest Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, entitled “I’m Speaking Now: Black Women Share Their Truth in 101 Stories of Love, Courage and Hope”. Erica’s story was selected from thousands of entries, and she is thrilled to be included, and now a member of the Chicken Soup Family! The book will be on sale June 1, 2021 at bookstores nationwide, and at the Chicken Soup website, https://www.chickensoup.com
Congrats Erica!!
Set in the dynamic landscape of present-day Denver, Honorable Disorder is a story of reconciliation, growth, and recognition. for a young black veteran.
DeShawn Foster (Theo Wilson) is a native of Denver’s Five Points neighborhood and a veteran from Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has had a difficult time readjusting to civilian life due, in part, to the loss of his commanding officer and father figure, Sergeant Gerald Sheffield (Chet Sisk). DeShawn holds on to the life lessons the sergeant taught him, a set of mantras and affirmations known to their platoon as the “Soldier’s Creed.” Justin MacDonald (Corey Rhoads), the only other surviving platoon member, lives in a tent in Curtis Park and has given up on society, the government and their creed. His only comfort in the midst of the despair of drug addiction and homelessness is his friendship with DeShawn. DeShawn lives with his mother, Nancy Foster (Erica Brown), an active church and community member who only wants the best for her son. Her brother, Bernard (Jeff Campbell), is her complete opposite. A former featherweight boxer, he imposes his womanizing and entitled ways into their lives. Nancy finds hope when Samantha Stewart (Devon James) moves into the neighborhood. Samantha is a social worker who supports veterans in her start-up nonprofit. Upon meeting DeShawn, she becomes convinced that he will be the success story she needs to transform her career and fulfill her life’s purpose.
“Honorable Disorder brings together a lot of what we have—and, crucially, haven’t—seen on the local news in a story that’s otherwise gone untold in Denver’s theater scene.”
On Saturday, January 25 at 10pm, KUVO’s performance series “On Stage” features Denver blueswoman Erica Brown!
Her bona-fides include sharing the stage with B.B. King, Al Green, Delbert McClinton, Big Head Todd and more! In 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, Erica won the “Best Blues Singer-Female” Award from the Colorado Blues Society’s Members’ Choice Competition! Her band appears regularly on Westword Magazine’s “Best of” list. Her soundtrack credits, collaborations and awards are many, including placing in the 2013 International Blues Challenge with Dan’ Treanor’s Afrosippi Band. Erica was dubbed “Denver’s Queen of the Blues” by the Altitude Network in their concert showcase feature.
We held on to a performance from 2004 at KUVO that blew us away. The Erica’s band was hot and the audience caught fire, too! The session was so good one of the tracks made it to a “Live at the Oasis” CD.
Tune in to “On Stage” for a LIVE and LOCAL blues session, rebroadcast as it was performed from KUVO’s Phyllis A. Greer Performance Studio. That’s Saturday, January 25 at 10pm. “On Stage,” a KUVO Jazz exclusive!
by Steve Chavis
Erica Brown and Theo Wilson in ‘Honorable Disorder.’ Photo by Celia Herrera/URBN Brands.
MEET ERICA BROWN
Erica Brown, who has been called “Colorado’s Queen of the Blues,” plays Nancy Foster, mother of a Denver military veteran struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the new play Honorable Disorder. This is the inaugural production by the new Emancipation Theater Company, and is being hosted at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre. Brown, namesake of the former Erica Brown Band, has worked with some of the finest artists in the world, including B.B. King, Al Green, Delbert McClinton, Tab Benoit, Kenny Neal and, most recently, Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
Hometown: Sikeston, Mo.
What’s playing on your Spotify? Any old guard blues woman such as Koko Taylor, Big Mama Thornton (pictured right), Memphis Minnie (or Erica Brown )
Denver Center Teaching Artist Devon James, left, and Erica Brown in ‘Honorable Disorder.’ Photo by Celia Herrera/URBN Brands.
Honorable Disorder: Ticket information
Remaining performances:
Cast list: