Last year started with a plan to take a month off in the spring, packing my Volkswagen, and heading out to destinations unknown on a hippie quest. Like many, my 2020 plans were dashed. This summer, I’m taking a musical journey instead of a physical one.
Tall Tall Trees starts that journey in fine fashion, as the Asheville, North Carolina-based brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Mike Savino performed on a stream sponsored by the Heist of Ripon, Wisconsin.
The powerfully stark “Expectations,” from his 2020 release A Wave of Golden Things, provides the first peek at Savino’s talent. A combination of banjo, electric bass, and brushed snare drums only enhances his vocal.
The second song included from the Heist TV set was another selection from A Wave of Golden Things. In this setting, “Seven Shades of Blues” is stark, barren yet descriptive and powerful. The studio version employs electric guitar, bass, drums and an electric piano to build the tension. For this version, Savino almost matches the intensity of the original with just his five-string banjo. That’s no small task.
The final song from his Heist TV set was “Ask Me Again,” another selection from Tall Tall Trees’ most recent release, and it feels custom-made for this COVID-19 era. Mike Savino and his banjo sum up what many of us have felt over the last 15 months. The intensity and frustration displayed by Savino is immediately identifiable, even though the lyrics reflect a much more personal relationship struggle.
Tall Tall Trees’ set for Heist TV makes me look forward to when I can see music live and start my cross-country music adventure. For now, this will do just fine.
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