George Usher

What this episode covers

Interview with singer songwriter George Usher ! Stevensonville is a 12-part illustrated song-cycle that delves into the myriad goings on in itsnamesake locale. Each song and illustration represents a different inhabitant of Stevensonville.They sometimes reference each other in the manner of Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon RiverAnthology or Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. The characters who people dark, repressedStevensonville have their own very unusual and pressing issues to cope with, before they cangamble on leaving. George Usher’s poetic lyrics and folk-rock and chamber pop musical settingscombine with Laurie Webber’s colorful, magnetic illustrations for a stunning, uniquepresentation.George and illustrator Webber first conceived Stevensonville 30 years ago as a literate, artistic,musical project. However, Usher’s businesspeople were put off by the projected cost of recordingit and manufacturing album packaging that included the hefty booklet of illustrations in view ofits likely limited commercial prospects. The song cycle was performed live twice over the years,once at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City to an enthusiastic audience. Then, it was setaside and forgotten…until now, when Ahoy Larry Pursuits and Strothard Bulldog Productionshave joined forces to finally produce the album and booklet for George Usher’s Stevensonville,as it was always intended.Stevensonville was produced by Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith Group), with Andy York on guitar(John Mellencamp), Brian Griffin on drums (Brandi Carlile, Black Crowes), Andy Burton onkeyboards (Ian Hunter) and David Mansfield on strings (Bob Dylan, others).George Usher has been a vital part of New York City music scene since the late 1970’s. TheVillage Voice called him, “one of New York’s best pop craftsmen.” He led or was a member of anumber of NYC/Hoboken based bands including The Decoys, Beat Rodeo, The Schramms, andHouse Of Usher during the 80’s and 90’s.Usher co-wrote the title tracks to Bongos frontman Richard Barone’s “Cloud Over Eden” soloalbum and River To River EP with Barone. Country chanteuse Laura Cantrell recorded his song,“Not The Tremblin’ Kind” and made it the title track of her album debut. Over the years, George has released seven solo albums; a 2-CD Anthology 12” LP vinyl  isavailable on Bandcamp. He has recorded two collaborative albums with Edward Rogers as wellas two with Lisa Burns, including the critically acclaimed, The Last Day Of Winter.https://www.facebook.com/p/George-Usher-100063555302040/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/0t2r3lAo89AALlzzvpmwwr

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