Garrett Klahn’s Oct. 27 Wilkes-Barre stop comes in the middle of his fall tour, sandwiched between performances at New York venue Mercury Lounge and Cambridge, Mass.’s Middle East. Klahn plans to play songs he performed with Texas is the Reason, the influential ’90s emo act he fronted and still returns to on rare occasions, but the bulk of his set will consist of material from his self-titled solo debut, released Jan. 15. Recording a solo album was never a defined goal for Klahn, but once he decided to step out of his comfort zone it was an “all-in situation.”
“I moved back to my hometown to make a record and the songs were basically fully-formed, but I was lucky enough to have a crew of musicians that were able to help me flesh everything out,” Klahn said. “These were definitely songs that I’ve had that had been floating around, some for as long as 10 years, that I held back for whatever reason. No specific reason, just wasn’t right for whoever I was playing with at that time.”
The difference between playing as a band member and a solo artist is night and day to the singer/songwriter, although that could be attributed to his novel approach. In recent years, Garrett Klahn shows consisted of the man, his guitar and a pick-up band at each stop that was sent music to learn just ahead of Klahn’s arrival.
“It definitely kept everybody on their toes and it kind of inherently allowed the songs to morph and change just by default, just by different human beings playing the instruments they’re going to sound different anyway but it’s a lot easier to just kind of let the songs do their thing,” said Klahn in regards to his pick-up band shows.
This time the accompaniment came along for the ride, collaborating on-stage with Klahn as they play the 10-track solo record in its entirety, along with Texas is the Reason tunes and, if time allows, a few covers. Klahn said playing with a full band makes it a lot easier to keep the crowd’s attention, and he personally guarantees they’ll be “grooving” by the time they hit the stage at 119 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre venue The Other Side.
“It’s going to be lively and we’re going to get people moving,” Klahn said.
Adam McIlwee (ex-Tigers Jaw), University Drive and Spur will join Klahn on the bill. Music starts at 7 p.m. and admission is $12. For more information, call the venue at 570-970-9570. For a crash course in Klahn, check out his self-titled solo album on iTunes or Spotify, along with Texas is the Reason’s 1996 release “Do You Know Who You Are?”
