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Over the years Warn Defever, the native of Livonia, Michigan, who’s been the brains behind His Name is Alive for nearly two decades, has demonstrated an almost schizophrenic array of musical directions, using his group to enfold his interests in pop, soul, country, folk, rural blues, and electronica, among many other things. I’m always a bit skeptical about such eclecticism. It’s natural for people, and especially musicians, to be interested in lots of stuff, and curious about things they haven’t experienced, but there’s a big difference between being interested in something and deciding to practice it. Defever is a dilettante with a capital D, and sadly, lots of his cross-cultural endeavors have come up rather empty.
HNIA plays Schubas tomorrow night, but I expect they’ll draw far more repertoire from a new album of original material, XMMER (Reincarnate)—which I haven’t heard—rather than the Marion Brown tribute.
