Mankato-No
whining tunes about a lonely life on the road, thank you.
Brian-better
known as gb Leighton admits to having a fondness for a view from
a tour bus window or the window of a hotel room with a freshly
made bed.
Good thing
the longtime Twin Cities singer-songwriter and bandleader tours
like a salesman with a quota determined by a psychotic.
It’s been
this way for 10 years that Leighton, still anchored out of the
Twin Cities, has put his band on the road and it hard-harder
than most bands can handle any more than a year or two before
self-destructing.
Leighton
attributes the stamina not to any multi-purpose higher calling
or particular muse-but to a lack of options.
“I get
frustrated sometimes as to where I’m at, but I more have a
fear of ‘What else would I do?’
I could get away from this for a week or two, and I know
I’d want to get right back in it again.”
That dense
road schedule has about 30 dates and thousands of miles from
August to October throughout Minnesota and hitting Chicago,
Kansas City and the downtown block party Saturday in Mankato.
Leighton is
part of a band lineup of Minneapolis bands performing outside at
the Barmuda Triangle Block Party on the 500 block of South Front
Street between Pluto’s Pub, South Street Saloon and T.J.
Finnegans.
Sharing the
stage with other bands provides for Leighton exactly the
motivation a songwriter needs.
“Usually
if I have another band playing, I get inspired,” he said.
“I’m like ‘Push me-write a better song than I’ve
written so I can get to work on a new one.”
His
songwriting is at his strongest, he says, on the new disc “It’s
All Good,” his fifth album.
To be released in stores this month, the album will be
available at his live shows.
The disc
seems a radio-ready collection of impeccable Minnesota
rock-clean production, catchy material and a rootsy sound that
recalls the appeal of Lucinda Williams’ “Car Wheels on a
Gravel Road.”
“I think
it’s the most mature album we’ve had yet, mature as far as
producer, as far as music, words, packaging, everything.”
Leighton
collaborated on many of the disc’s lyrics with Nashville
songwriter Richard Fleming, who Leighton credits with helping
him hone the lyrics into more direct fashion.
“You can
be vague and people will still know what you’re talking
about,” Leighton said, “but there’s nothing better than
hitting it straight with the most powerful line you can get.”
Still
determined to go national, Leighton is shooting for less than
celebrity status.
Through
contacts in the industry, he has seen from the sidelines how
celebrities are forced to conduct their lives-usually surrounded
by 20 people whenever in public-and has no desire to join the
ranks.
Touring the
country at the First Avenue level, he said, would be perfect.
“Intimate, but not overwhelming.”
The
Barmuda Triangle Block Party goes from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday in downtown Mankato. Cost is $5.
Bands performing in order of appearance, are: Six
Mile Groove, The Delaineys, Scott Laurent, and gb Leighton.
