Live Wire: The Fawns to play their eighth Transformance
NORTHAMPTON — Each August, Transformance offers local musicians the chance to shed their own identities and engage in some roleplaying as national and international stars at Look Park.
Each year organizers choose a theme for the acts. With this year's theme being "Immigrant Song," Lesa Bezo of The Fawns chose Australia's Courtney Barnett. She explained why in a recent interview with The Republican.
"I was driving home late one night years ago and WRSI played 'Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party.' I was like, 'Who is this?' I became a fan instantly," Bezo said of her first encounter with Barnett. "It was one of those songs you hear as a songwriter and wish you had written."
Transformance (formerly known as Transperformance) serves as a fundraiser for the enrichment of arts programs in the Northampton Public School system and parent-teacher organizations, and will be held at Northampton's Look Park on Aug. 19 at 4:30 p.m. Other acts this year include King Radio performing as The Hollies, Wildcat O'Halloran as Rory Gallagher, Ex-Temper as Björk, Lucia Dostal as ABBA, Soul Magnets as Toots & The Maytals and The Friendship Band as The Clash, among many others.
Tickets are $11 for adults, and $9 for seniors, students and veterans. Children 8 and younger are admitted free.
Since first hearing Barnett, Bezo has collected all of her albums and has seen her perform six times at local shows at MassMoca, Iron Horse Music Hall, Solid Sound, and the Green River Festival. Bezo said some of Barnett's musical nuances can make playing her songs faithfully a bit formidable.
"The most challenging part of performing these songs is her phrasing of the many lyrics," Bezo said. "Her guitar playing is totally unique as is her lyrical phrasing. To me she is raw, powerful, and authentic."
The Fawns are veterans of Transformance. Bezo and her band have played the annual fundraiser seven previous times, but it's been nine years since the group's most recent performance, when they played as The Pretenders in 2016. They have also played as such acts as Joan Jett & the Blackhearts in 2007, Blondie in 2005 and even Johnny Cash in their first appearance in 2003.
Bezo said that whether she plays at the event or not, she looks forward to seeing all the other local bands.
"As with every year, this lineup is stacked with so much talent," she said. "One of my favorite things about Transformance is being able to see so many acts that put so much into portraying some of their favorite artists and I am looking forward to seeing all of it."
Over the years, many acts have been notable to Bezo, but she couldn't pick a favorite. A few that popped immediately to mind, however, for her were Spouse as U2, Philip Price as Neil Young, Aloha Steamtrain as The Doors, School for the Dead as The Monkees, Drunk Stuntmen as Pink Floyd, Young@Heart Chorus as Led Zeppelin, and King Radio as Steely Dan.
The Fawns normally play their own original music, which Bezo writes. Although the band released an EP a few years back, the last full album was "Goodnight Spacegirl" in 2016, and before that it was "A Nice Place to Be," in 2006. Are there any plans for a new album soon?
"I'm currently writing, and we have been working on arranging some new material in preparation for recording," she said. "I'm not really sure why it has been so long between albums. I guess life just gets in the way."
Read the original article on MassLive .
