BOB PERRY
Singer-songwriters Bob Perry and Julia Greenberg will perform separate sets at the cozy Hoboken gallery/performance space 503 Social Club, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.
“It’s been a few years since I’ve performed in front of people, so I’m full of nervous energy in anticipation of the show at 503 Social Club with one of my favorite songwriters and dear friend, Julia Greenberg,” said Perry, who is working on an EP with Tom Lucas of Sad About Girls.
“In the early 2000s, Julia and I — along with Birdy, Health and Happiness Show, The Other 99 and Chris Merola — formed and ran the artist-owned cooperative label Cropduster Records. There’s talk of some musical intermingling and perhaps a special guest. Very much looking forward to a room full of friends and familiar faces at this reunion of sorts.”
Perry will be accompanied by Chris Flynn on guitar, Paul Moschella on snare drum, his wife Stephanie Seymour (Birdy, The Aquanettas) on backing vocals, and Sean Seymour (no relation) on bass.
Greenberg will be joined by Jeremy Chatzky on bass and Will Holshouser on accordion.
I spoke with Perry, a member of the Jersey-based indie-rock band Winter Hours in the ’80s and early ’90s, at length in 2021 about his third solo album, the engrossing A World Like This. (He will be singing songs from that album, as well as 2018’s American Standardsville and others).
When making A World Like This during the pandemic, he sifted through his treasure box of previously recorded songs “from all different time periods of my musical life,” he said in 2021, re-worked his top picks, and also wrote some original tunes. Some of the material was written in collaboration with other artists, including George Usher and Edward Rogers. Stephanie Seymour performed on the album.
Perry released a black-and-white video for “Broken Sides” (watch below) in 2020. It’s a protest song that asks all of us to take action to oppose a world where “colors fly at the Capitol, bearing symbols and wearing white robes/lighting torches so everyone knows who you oppose.” The video shows clips of Perry, co-writer Rogers and others singing and/or playing instruments in home studios, protesting a world filled with hate.
JULIA GREENBERG
In addition to releasing two albums — Past Your Eyes and Greenland, both produced by James Mastro (who owns 503 Social Club) — Greenberg has worked in musical theater, co-writing the off-Broadway rock opera “People Are Wrong!” with Robin Goldwasser and the music for the off-Broadway play “Cavedweller” with “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” composer Stephen Trask. When she’s not playing music, Greenberg works as a health justice advocate, fighting against pharma greed and for health equity.
The last time I saw her perform, she sang a stirring rendition of Dory Previn’s “Lemon Haired Ladies” at a show in Jersey City. More recently, she has been curating Previn’s archives. Her documentary about Previn, “On My Way to Where,” will premiere at SXSW Film & TV festival in Austin, Texas, in March.
Greenberg discussed her days playing with Perry and others on the Cropduster label and said “we will revisit some songs (at the show) we all used to sing together back in those days, introduce some new ones, and I, of course, will have to play at least a couple Dory Previn songs.”
503 Social Club has recently showcased artists including Jill Sobule, Freedy Johnston, Diane Gentile, Karyn Kuhl, Jon Langford and Sally Timms, and Ivan Julian. Upcoming shows include Dave Schramm, George Usher and Steve Almaas on March 16; Richard Lloyd on March 20; and Mastro on March 23. For information, visit 503 Social Club’s Facebook page.
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