When singer/songwriter Reggie Garrett and cellist Christine Gunn were both part of the Seattle music scene years ago, they admired each other’s talent. Garrett thought Gunn’s band, Trilliun Green, was good enough to make it big; he later learned she felt the same about his group, Reggie Garrett & the Snake Oil Peddlers.
Photographer – Georges LaFontant
While their paths sometimes crossed, they rarely played together. That changed a few years ago after Garrett had moved to Olympia. He had an upcoming gig at New Traditions Café, but rounding up his Seattle band seemed daunting. A friend told him Christine Gunn had also moved to Olympia. Why not give her a call?
She said yes. According to both musicians, about halfway through their first set, they looked at each other and understood: they would do this again.
“It was great musical chemistry,” Gunn said recently. “We both knew we would keep playing together.”
On Saturday, October 24, the acoustic duo of Reggie Garrett & Christine Gunn will perform for the fourth time at New Traditions, this time celebrating the release of The Road Taken, their first collaborative CD.
“We’re always so moved and engaged by both of them,” said New Traditions co-owner Jody Mackey, who expects the event to sell out.
For Gunn, her musical chemistry with Garrett is all about tone. “He goes for rich, round tones,” she said of Garrett’s guitar playing. “And I’ve always loved the tonal quality of his voice.” They’re also both comfortable with emotion. She admires Garrett’s songwriting, which creates “worlds I can visualize.” Her cello then adds “washes of color that blend it together,” she said.
The two share a similar musical sensibility, according to Garrett. “Christine is one of those musicians for whom the thing that’s important is the song,” he said. “There’s not a lot of ego involved. She listens, plays what the song calls for.”
The new CD includes several of Garrett’s original songs, two of Gunn’s, two collaborations and a cover. Inspiration for his songs can come from anywhere, Garrett said, including people, books and relationships, though recently he’s been compelled by social justice issues. His musical influences include folk, gospel, blues, Latin and Celtic, although a critic once described Garrett’s style as “urban acoustic folk soul.”
“I have no idea what that means,” Garrett said. “But it sounds like what I do.”
In a review from the “New Folk Initiative,” critic John Platt said, “Reggie sings in a mellifluous voice that draws you into the song… If Martin Luther King’s prediction that “the arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice” is right, it may be that messengers like Reggie Garrett showed us the way.”
Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Garrett grew up in a musical family with siblings who loved singing together. And while he discovered his love for guitar at an early age, he had a varied career, getting an MFA in painting and later working as a systems engineer at IBM. After moving to Seattle, he focused on music, his first love, performing solo and starting his band.
Born in Longview WA, Gunn fell in love with the cello in grade school and never looked back. “Everyone loves the sound of cello vibrations,” she said. “It’s soothing and centering. I instantly fell in love.” As a teenager in the late 1980s, she was working at Seattle’s Pike Place Market when she realized that buskers made more money than she did. She picked up her cello and dove in, playing five or six hours a day at the market with an ever-changing roster of bands ranging from ’70s rock to Venezuelan folk. Like Garrett, she plays mainly by ear, and picked up tunes quickly.
“I couldn’t ask for a better musical education,” she said.
Noted for her expressiveness and versatility, Gunn has performed widely as a solo artist, creating musical tapestries using a looping pedal. She’s also accompanied hundreds of bands, orchestras, musical theaters and solo performers. About playing with Garrett, Gunn says, “What he’s doing is already beautiful. What I do is make it so you can’t not hear it.”
Recently returned from a West Coast tour, the duo is pleased to play again at New Traditions, which they appreciate for its intimacy with the audience. As for what’s next, Garrett said: “I’m trying to push this duo as far as I can. And I’ll keep playing and writing as long as people are willing to play with me.”
WHAT:
CD Release Party for The Road Taken by the acoustic duo of Reggie Garrett & Christine Gunn (Food and drink will be available at the Soul Cafe)
WHEN:
Saturday, October 24, 7 to 9:15 p.m.
WHERE:
New Traditions Café; 300 5th Avenue; Olympia
TICKETS:
$30/$18 for students, those of low income
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
360-705-2819
contact@traditions.life
https://www.reggiechristine.com/