Legendary, American R&B/Soul artist Bobby Womack had a Q&A, meet and greet, and performance for his album ‘The Bravest Man in the Universe’ this evening at the Apple Store in Soho, NYC. The album, his first in 18 years, was produced by XL Recording’s Richard Russell and an oh so familiar face to my youth and music friends, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz.
I literally found out about this event thanks to friend in San Francisco, who texted me the info, 2 hours before the event was to happen. The second floor had already spilled out onto the staircase when I arrived at the Prince Street store, but I was lucky enough to snag a spot just behind the sound guy, right in the middle and back of the room. With my tiny camera and itchy finger, I snapped away as Womack, Russell, and Albarn talked about the making of the album and shared some anecdotes from Womack’s life, including a story about Janice Joplin, a collaboration, and a song about a Mercedes-Benz. Womack also shared a story about how he tried to replace a guitar string on his dad’s guitar with a shoelace. Hmm…wonder how that sounded.
After some more reminiscing, the audience had an opportunity to participate in a Q&A right before their first ever live performance. Womack performed with Albarn on piano and Russell on a drum machine.
The whole event was taped, but I don’t know if it’s posted yet on Apple’s site. When it does, I hope to have a link for it. Until then, here are some shots from this evening. And where can I get that jacket???
The TEAR-N TAN Files 