Willy Tea Taylor, with Ryan Joseph Anderson, J.Aubertin
Cortado — Saturday, March 25 at 8 p.m.
New baristas on the block Cortado (26 S Clinton St) will host their first live music event this Saturday, March 25 at 8 p.m., in partnership with Little Village and Dead Coast Presents. Singer-songwriters Willy Tea Taylor, Ryan Joseph Anderson and J.Aubertin perform; tickets are $15.
“Sound here travels very, very well,” says Yochai Haral, owner of Cortado. “I think everyone will be surprised by the acoustics.” He pointed to the exposed brick walls and wooden floors, which helps tunnel sound in the long, narrow coffee shop. This layout lends itself to natural amplification — reflecting another feature of the cafe: no house wifi.
From the rodeo country of Oakdale, California comes Willy Tea Taylor’s confessionals, which push and tug the listener through his melodic nuance. His four-stringed tenor guitar hypnotizes through simple chord structures, his voice steering the mind like a sage storyteller; he offers syncopation akin to Bob Dylan, with the familiar rasp of Willie Nelson. These pressure points of guitar and vocals have come to define Taylor’s roots-driven, baseball-blues music. His latest album, Knuckleball Prime (2015), tussles with the filial, the landscape and his (rather) late-budding career.
Supporting Taylor is Ryan Joseph Anderson and J.Aubertin. Anderson has been through the ranks of various music scenes in Chicago. From Americana to garage rock to psychedelia, he has traversed further than many of his contemporaries. His debut album, The Weaver’s Broom (2014), showcased his impeccable Tom Waits-esque delivery and grooves. His next album is forthcoming this year.
Aubertine’s folk tunes shapeshift between the romances of France’s fields and cities, bellowing and moaning across these landscapes. His sound balances American- and French-based roots music. This young buck performed a couple of weeks ago alongside Taylor at Buffalo Records in Kearney, Nebraska.
