74
summer
|
fall
Irion’s tongue-in-cheek paean to the ladies
of the Village – and the instrumental
“Pierre Lafond”, which the guitar-wielding
musician wrote at the piano “thinking
about surfing and State Street and the
whole energy in this area,” not actually
over a cup a coffee at the bistro. And
there’s the unrecorded facetious one he
co-wrote with Guthrie about asking Oprah
Winfrey if their kids can cut through her
Montecito yard.
“I’m always writing about what’s
going on and pulling at me,” Irion said.
“Montecito is such a beautiful town, and
the 192 around Palma Park and then down
Sycamore Canyon Road is one of my
favorite drives on the planet. But it doesn’t
matter where I am, it’s going to show up in
the music.”
The music also showed up all over town
recently, as U.S. Elevator played all the
same venues where Sarah Lee & Johnny had
performed earlier, plus established month-
long residencies at such places as the 7 Bar
in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone last February
and, more recently, at the Ty Lounge at the
Four Seasons Biltmore in Montecito at the
end of June.
“I love the idea of doing something like
The Beatles at the Cavern Club,” Irion said.
“It’s great to create a vibe like at Cheers,
where everybody knows your name and
keeps coming back to see you.”
The timing for U.S. Elevator worked
perfectly, because Guthrie had herself
arranged a long-lasting opening slot as a solo
artist – on her father’s 2015-16 tour, which
began with the 50th anniversary of Alice’s
Restaurant.
“There’s been a part of me that’s very
connected to my family and rooted in (folk)
music I wasn’t really ready for when I was
younger,” she explained. “In order for me
to dive into who I really am, I needed to
spend more time with my dad, especially
coming back to it at a different angle, solo,
which I’d never done before. Doing the first
thirty minutes of my dad’s show every night
PROFILES
