Songs & Stories: An Evening with Art Alexakis of Everclear & more
3Ten Austin
Austin, Texas
May 19, 2019
Written and Photographed by Stacey Lovett
Art Alexakis has always been there.
There through teen angst, through heartbreak, through pretty much every feeling in life he’s shared his song. And while that’s true of most all music, he shines that way a little more than most.
Not a stranger to overcoming his own darkness, he’s risen past that over the years stepping into an alternative leadership role among his fellow 90s alt-rockers, reminding the world that we’re all in this together – still. His Summerland tours bring the Gen-Xers out to relive that time in a different light, to enjoy the depths of these times at a more profound level of feeling now two decades matured. With the recent announcement of his diagnosis of MS, Alexakis enters this new chapter with a new outlook on the present, a new solo album, and a new tour: Songs & Stories. All, of course, with a little help from his friends.
Chris Collingwood, Max Collins & John Wozniak joined Art Alexakis onstage for a stripped down set of just that – songs and stories of their careers and their lives that influenced the music behind it. But the show was more than just an intimate unplugged performance, it was more of an intimate view into the camaraderie of these musicians and the community we all share through their music.
As with any new cycle in life the immediate view is sobering yet it must be met with positivity, embracing the moment and remembering that we all share an aspect of these same issues. Ultimately we shall overcome and write it into the songs of our own lives.
They collectively filled the stage, spinning the stories throughout the night that paralleled their four lives from their own sobriety to the tales of fighting for creative control in the industry, periodically breaking off individually to share the songs that came out of it all. It gave a glimpse into their personalities, the thoughts, and visions of the world that craft the songs we so deeply connect to. From Wozniak’s early affinity to Dungeons & Dragons and his observations in the New York Transit system, to Collins’ claimed indulgence in himself with his limited time center stage in the ‘start position,’ to everything Collingwood draws from the landscapes of life and Alexakis himself crafts from all of the genuine feelings it brings, it all curated organically into what it was in the moment. And not committed to a specific setlist they took casual requests from the audience which resurfaced some of the more obscure and early tracks not typically played. They even threw in a handful of covers, homages to other artists like Tom Petty, Warren Zevon, REM, and The Band, who also paved the landscape of the American refrain in their own respective times. The very essence of Songs & Stories is special as no two shows can ever be the same. The vibe of the room, the songs requested, the jokes that arose they all came together to make it what it was just in that night. The little touches, the feelings, reminded everyone there what it truly was about – the music and the life that creates it. For better or for worse.
The music of Everclear, Eve 6, Marcy Playground, Fountains of Wayne, as well as all of the other influential 90s alternative rock bands defined the feelings of a generation and continue to translate that, holding a special bond with anyone who shared their formative years with that era of music. As we all grow and change and experience our own lives we remember those who we’ve shared those moments with, if only in passing or a continued reunion, and are reminded that we all share this beauty of unity in life.
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