During his distinguished musical career — which is now reaching into its sixth decade — Randall Bramblett has explored raucous rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, and soul on his many recorded releases.
But in 2010, Bramblett decided to make a “quiet” album, “The Meantime,” which focused on the multi-instrumentalist’s more gentle side, primarily featuring sparse arrangements with little of the up-tempo accents he’s best known for.
“My wife Lenore actually suggested that I take these very melodic songs that I was never going to record with the band and make a record out of those songs, just a simple thing with just piano, upright bass and drums, basically,” said Bramblett during a recent phone interview. “That was her idea and that’s how it came about.”
Bramblett said the 12 songs on “The Meantime” — a number of which were co-written with Davis Causey, Bob Jones and/or Jason Slatton — are both old and new and are a departure from his usual compositions.
“The songs were written over a long span of time. but they are similar in that they’re melodic, sort of quiet and simple,” he said. “We wanted to keep it simple.”
Recorded and mixed by John Keane and released on Bramblett’s own Blue Ceiling label, “The Meantime” won critical praise but didn’t find mass appeal, perhaps due in part to the artist’s unfamiliarity with the business end of music.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Bramblett, whose career is marked by his collaborations with Gregg Allman, Steve Winwood, Bonnie Raitt and Widespread Panic, among many others. “I’d never released an independent thing like that or tried to release a record on my own before. So I didn’t know a lot. I didn’t expect it to jump to the top of the charts, but I did hope it would get more response than it did. It just didn’t get much notice and I don’t know what all the reasons are.”
It’s 10 years later, and “The Meantime” is making a comeback on vinyl (remastered by Athenian Jason Nesmith at Chase Park Transduction) and CD, thanks to George Fontaine, owner of New West Records, which is based in Nashville and Athens.
“George Fontaine at New West helped with the original (release),” said Bramblett, who added that the re-release contains two bonus tracks. “He always loved this record. He suggested we put it out on New West to get it out to a bigger (audience) because when I put it out, I had some help with it with promotion, but it didn’t reach out very much and it’s not exactly a rock record. That’s why I wanted to do it.
“George suggested we re-release it on New West to get it out there more because he believes — and I do, too — it’s got value and it’s a unique record for me. It’s totally different from any of my other records.”
Bramblett, along with bassist Chris Enghauser and drummer Gerry Hansen (who has also produced several of Bramblett’s albums), will celebrate the 10th anniversary re-release of “The Meantime” with a concert at 7 p.m. on Feb. 22 at Hotel Indigo’s Rialto Theatre.
The concert will be somewhat similar to a performance Bramblett gave when “The Meantime” was originally released.
“Last time we did the release party, it was there and it was filmed by the UGA Music Business students and we had a string quartet and horns and everything on that little stage,” said the Jesup native, who added that Athens-based drummer and entrepreneur Seth Hendershot and former Classic City vocalist Betsy Franck will sit in. “This time, we’re not going to try to bring in tons of people. We’re going to play the record and some other things, too.”
Bramblett, who is currently putting the finishing touches on his next album, said the past decade has enabled him to appreciate even more the performances on “The Meantime.”
“After I work on a record for a long time, I don’t listen to them for a long time,” he said. “I just recently heard it in the car … and it sounded great, beautiful and better than I ever remembered it.
“Chris Enghauser’s bass playing is beautiful and Gerry Hansen’s drumming is just what the songs needed. There were other things we added, like string arrangements. It’s just a beautiful thing. I’m really proud of it and I’m glad we got it out again.”
Aubrey Entertainment and New West Records present a concert celebrating the 10th anniversary edition of “The Meantime” by Randall Bramblett at 7 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the Rialto Theater in the Hotel Indigo. For more information, visit https://randallbramblett.com/shows.
In concert
