October 2, 2018
On September 25th, The Foundry hosted their Terrapin Tuesday Americana series featuring Cory Branan. He ended up putting on two shows that night. One show was the musical performance that people paid for. The other show was his personality (which was free.) Both shows commanded the stage at different times and both delighted the crowd until the climactic ending.
The unique venue has three stories with tables and chairs instead of standing room. The dimmed lights coming from the ceiling are the only things illuminating the room. The stage is on the lowest level and is the bright spot of the whole venue. The large red velvet curtain backdrops the stage, and commands the audience’s attention. There were only 20-30 people in the crowd, creating an intimate experience.
Opening act Austin Plaine only performed a 30-minute set, but used every minute to show off his skills. His relaxed performance was a blast of enjoyable foot-tapping melodies and relatable lyrics. Though Plaine seemed like he could perform forever without breaking a sweat, he finally took off his stylish hat at the end to wipe his forehead and say “Sure does get hot up here when you’re having fun.” The crowd hadn’t filled in while he was performing, but his rock and country songs received huge rounds of applause.
Branan took the stage and the personality show began. While setting up, he dropped a guitar pick into the opening of his acoustic guitar and spent at least a minute shaking his guitar trying to get it out. The crowd laughed loudly with him until he finally got it to fall out. He turned towards the audience with a smirk and said, “I guess it’s amateur hour.” It was such an intimate atmosphere that everyone was close enough to him to see each strum of his acoustic guitar.
His sound is a mix of country and folk, complemented by his clear and inviting voice. I would compare his music to Mumford and Sons because of the intensity and passion of his playing. He played mostly new songs off his most recent album Adios. My favorite songs he performed were “Sour Mash,” Muhammed Ali and Me,” and “Yesterday.” After the majority of songs ended, he would say “something like that.” As if to say he wasn’t quite doing them justice. However, his passion while playing was very enjoyable to watch and listen to.
Once he finished his set and thanked everyone for coming, a huge round of applause came from the audience. The lights came up in the venue, and quiet background music started to play as people began to get up and leave. Even Branan began to pack up his things until a woman shouted, “What about ‘Firefly’?” Branan smiled, then opened his guitar case and told the audio engineer to turn off the music. He walked down from the stage into the audience, and sat with the lady at her table. Branan told her “Now you have to sing it with me or else this wont be cool.” He then sang “Firefly” right there in the audience with no microphone or anything. The audience loved it.
I came into the concert expecting a generic country/folksy/rock singer, but I was impressed from beginning to end. Branan mentioned wanting to come back to Athens more often. I hope he does because he put on a hell of a show.
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