| Songwriting is an art. It takes the combination of
poetry and music and somehow melds the two into something coherent and unified. If
you’re good at it, you may even get paid for it. For Adam Schlesinger and Chris
Collingwood, the art has been mastered. Schlesinger and Collingwood, the foundation behind
Fountains of Wayne (and for Schlesinger, Ivy as well), have an uncanny
ability to take everyday life and create songs that are extraordinarily beautiful and
quite real at the same time. They have become a combination that can at times rival the
great songwriting duos of yore. These two gentlemen possess the ability to take something
simple, such as a cartoon image ("Hat And Feet") or a very real place
("Utopia Parkway," the title track from their latest release) and paint a
picture of love and life that is very accessible and pleasing to the ear. Their abilities translate exceedingly well to the stage as well. Fountains of Wayne’s music is fun, energetic and all-around-good pop music, which feeds the crowd and keeps them in to the show. When VOX caught up with them at The Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, California, what impressed us most was their musicianship and the tightness of the band as a whole. Collingwood’s voice is true to form, and he talks to the crowd just enough to let them know what a particular song is about, without going into a diatribe or rambling on. Jody Porter (who recently left the group) is an excellent, though understated, guitarist, who made it all look easy. In fact, the entire group appeared quite mellow and relaxed.
Drummer Brian Young and bassist Schlesinger make up a tight rhythm section, and provided the perfect sonic foundation for Fountains of Wayne’s excursion through their music. Of particular note was the radio hit "Red Dragon Tattoo", which is simply a great song that goes over perfectly live. Overall, Fountains of Wayne provide a great deal for your concert dollar. Prior to their leaving the states for further touring in support of Utopia Parkway, the band’s second release on Atlantic/Scratchie Records,VOX had the pleasure of speaking with Adam Schlesinger. Read on… |
