Photo : Carol Kershaw
Les Tombées de la Nuit present
Michael Chapman
Michael Chapman
(UK)
Music
After fifty years of travel and writing, innumerable encounters (Nick Drake, Mick Ronson, John Fahey, Thurston Moore, etc.), bold experiments and all the excesses that come with it, the La Chapelle du Conservatoire will be ringing to the sound of one of British folk-rock’s most esteemed and uncontainable figures.

It is hugely tempting to put him up there on a pedestal alongside other rock legends, but that would mean setting the name and extensive song writing of Michael Chapman in the cold stone used for temples and commemorative plaques. That would be no tribute to the pioneering and rebellious spirit of the undefinable genius who has epitomised British folk rock for some 50 years. Like Richard Thompson, another songwriter and guitar ace, Chapman is a giant whose humility shines through. If you ask him how he learned to play his instrument, he answers, “Slowly. In fact I haven’t finished learning.” And yet, the self-taught musician from a working-class family in a suburb of Leeds had what it took to shine in pop aristocracy. They say that after the release of his first album, Rainmaker (1969), the great Elton John tried to get him to join his entourage. Chapman was more in sync with the more daring Nick Drake, Mick Ronson and John Fahey. He preferred releasing an abundance of wide-ranging albums with everything from poetic Bob Dylan-esque drawls to hints of folk jazz, psychedelic flourishes and Middle-Eastern arabesques, embracing all the styles that made his era so wonderfully rich. He was too modest to push himself forward in the dog-eat-dog world of the music business and was marginalised by a way of living that could politely be referred to as the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, which gradually dragged him out of the spotlight until the ’90s. Then, fresh from a heart attack, he discovered a strong fan base of guitar players in the United States, including frontman Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), the late Jack Rose, and a new generation including William Tyler and Steve Gunn (producer of his latest album, 50). Much more could be said, but this is the story of this unconventional troubadour. It’s no surprise that one of his masterpieces is called Fully Qualified Survivor. Yet with his solo sets, the young 76 year-old offers more than a lesson on survival. He shares the timeless truth of a man who has experienced it all.

BIOGRAPHY

MICHAEL CHAPMAN

Michael Chapman began his career in the jazz and folk clubs of Yorkshire, where he was born, before joining the London scene. Though he is often compared to John Renbourn, John Martyn and Bert Jansch, he has escaped the label of a folk musician with an eclectic career spanning 56 referenced albums that began with Rainmaker in 1969. In 2012, the prestigious New-York-based Tompkins Square Records released a tribute album that includes contributions from Lucinda Williams, Thurston Moore, Bridget St. John and William Tyler.

DISTRIBUTION

Michael Chapman : chant, guitare

La chapelle du conservatoire, Rennes
8:30 pm

1h
8 €
250 people
Lignes a-C1-C5-9, arrêt ou Station Sainte-Anne / LE vélo STAR : Sainte-Anne
cognitif malentendant moteur def_visuel
Book your place 24h before. Contact: Marion Poupineau - 06 03 40 90 41 - mpoupineau@lestombeesdelanuit.com
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