ENTERTAINMENT
January 1993 • The Lambda • 9
Small show promises to deliver big
Fred Small
with special guest
Tracy Drach
Karen FfTnii
Febuary 7, 9 p.m.
Hanes Art Center
Available at the B-GLAD office,
the Campus Y and Internation
alist Books
Tickets: $5 for students, $7
in advance, $9 at the door
G reat music is like great
barbecue — its won
derfulness creeps up
on you a little at a time. You
start by wolfing it down, but
then you start to notice a sort
of tangy sweetness, and you
slow down and begin to ap
preciate the subtle interaction
of flavor and texture; your
admiration continues to build,
and before you know it, you’re
scraping the sides of your plate
for any dribblings you might
have missed.
Fred Small’s music is like
that. I first heard it when I was
visiting a friend in Stillwater,
Okla. She told me that I had to
listen to this guy, so I listened,
and said -something
devastatingly brilliant like,
“Yeah, that’s pretty good.” I
drove off a couple of days later
playing Small in stereo, and
for the first time really lis
tened to the songs. The first
time through the tape 1
hummed along, the second
time I sang, and the third time
through, it hit me what I was
singing. I burst into tears just
outside of Tulsa; 1 was much
too moved to worry about
mundane details like rear-end
ing the car in front of me be
cause 1 couldn’t see anything.
It’s not jusbme. He’s hailed
by Pete Seeger as one of
America’s best songwriters.
The New York Times said, “Fred
Small is doing what the best
topical songwriters have done
since the 1960s. He uses a
handful of chords, a sense of
humor, a sense of purpose
and an eye for revealing detail
to write songs that tell stories
with a political point... Small’s
affection and optimism are
contagious.”
His songs are poignant be
cause they tell true stories,
stories that are individual yet
universal. Children of Arabs
and Jews learning to live to
gether peacefully, an Ameri
can soldier who is saved by
Russians, a football player who
finds happiness driving a
school bus, a gay couple whose
children are taken away from
them, and a polar bear who
comes home to Alaska are a
few of the individuals whose
stories he has told. Despite
the seriousness of many of the
issues he confronts. Small
hasn’t lost his sense of humor,
as evidenced by the immortal
lines, “If I were a moose and
you were a cow, would you
love me anyhow?”
Of his own music. Small
says, “I choose stories that
illustrate people at their best
—stories about people taking
charge of their lives. My songs
offer lessons on how to take
power in our lives without
hurting people or being vio
lent ... Murder and rape can
be expressed easily in a head
line. But it’s much harder to
tell a story about love, cour
age, or community.”
After recovering my com
posure in Tulsa, 1 wondered if
Small had any other albums
on the market. I bugged record
dealers from Missouri to
Maine, asking them if they
had anything by Fred Small.
Nobody had ever heard of him,
and it was nearly two years
before I found him again.
Fortunately, you have the
opportunity to avoid this tragic
circumstance. At Fred Small’s
concert at the Hanes Art Cen
ter this very week, you can
partake of this penultimate
experience for a mere five
clams. Don’t miss it.
The staff and management of The Capital Corral ask that you:
if your'e driving. We offer a variety of non-alcoholic beverages
for your enjoyment.
Apple juice
Cranberry juice
Grapefruit juice
Orange juice
Pineapple juice
Tomato juice
Coca-Cola
Diet Coke
Ginger Ale
7-Up
Tonic Water
Club Soda
Coffee
La Croix Sparkling Water
Sharp's Non-alcoholic Beer
and
Blended Non-alcoholic Drinks
.^3 West / R|te|gh
755-9599 / A pHyate cliiB for men
(And if you have been drinking,and shouldn’t be driving, tet us.call a.cab for you. We want youjo ppme l?ack.J,:,
r 3fl.' v ’ /'