Veteran Twin Cities musician\/songwriter Terry Hughes celebrates the release of his new CD \u201cIn The Blink Of An Eye\u201d at the Dakota Jazz Club June 19<\/p>\n
(May 1, Minneapolis) \u2013 For the past two decades, Terrence Hughes has been a staple of the Twin Cities jazz and world music scenes, lending his expert piano chops and good energy to various projects, most notably his own solo work and the Brazilian music ensemble The Mandala Trio, which performed its sweet bossa nova on area stages for much of the \u201890s.<\/p>\n
Now the ever-curious Hughes is exploring his various musical alter-egos yet again \u2013 as the surprisingly seasoned songwriter behind his new solo CD \u201cIn The Blink Of An Eye,\u201d which Hughes and his band will celebrate with a release party June 19 at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis show is about me morphing from Terrence Hughes to Terry Hughes, and I\u2019ve got something to say,\u201d said Hughes, a California native who spent the early \u201880s singing and playing in bands in the Bay Area before relocating to Minneapolis. \u201cI\u2019ve had the songs, and I\u2019ve been waiting to step out until I had the band. Now I\u2019ve got the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Backed by Marco Kielholz (guitar\/vocals), Jonathon Thomas (bass\/vocals), Owen Davis (guitar\/cello\/vocals), Josue Hertado (drums), and Marc Anderson (percussion), Hughes will perform the bulk of \u201cIn The Blink Of An Eye\u201d and more June 19 in what amounts to a one-night-only-with-many-more-to-come coming-out party.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t listen to rock, or songwriters, or anything like that for years,\u201d said Hughes. \u201cBut I was driving with my daughter one day and she was playing Elliot Smith, and something happened. I couldn\u2019t believe the depth, and it was inspiring. I hadn\u2019t sung for 40 years, but all of a sudden these songs started coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weird and weirdly timeless, \u201cIn The Blink Of An Eye\u201d is a welcome addition to the fertile Twin Cities songwriter milieu, and beyond. From the jubilant opening singalong \u201cI Never Knew Your Name\u201d to the ruminative title track and the cathartic dark epic \u201cFree At Last\u201d and seven more, it\u2019s clear that Hughes is just now coming into his own as a heart-exposing soul singer and as a delicate, wizened songsmith \u2013 at the ripe young age of 58.<\/p>\n
But \u201cIn The Blink Of An Eye\u201d is hardly the work of a first-timer. These are lived-in songs steeped in adult experience. As such, the sum of the record wouldn\u2019t sound out of place in the canons of, say, Joe Jackson, Brian Wilson, Steely Dan, or Big Star.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could say I\u2019ve found happiness,\u201d sings Hughes at one point, and he sounds like it. For the rest of us, that sound is nothing short of hopeful, rocking, and infectious. Listen up.<\/p>\n
WHAT: Terry Hughes, CD release party for \u201cIn The Blink Of An Eye\u201d<\/p>\n
WHEN: 7 p.m., June 19<\/p>\n
WHERE: Dakota Jazz Club 1010 NICOLLET MALL DOWNTOWN MPLS<\/p>\n
BUY TICKETS: Dakota Tickets online<\/a> or CALL 612.332.5299 <\/p>\n CALL: 612.825.9205<\/p>\n