Grant Olsen and Orouni at the UFO Bar

By Oliver Peel

The names of the performers in the Parisian UFO Bar are listed on a chalkboard: Grant Olsen (USA) and Orouni (FR). The Genre is folk. The top of the board reads “Salle au sous”, which means the concert is taking place in the basement. Upstairs is the bar, where a tattooed bartender pours beer to quench thirsty throats.

Orouni, the smart young Frenchman who will be performing tonight, isn’t signed to Sauvage Records yet, but has connections to them. For example, Mina Tindle provided a song on his last album, Jump Out the Window. And the exciting project the Limes consists of him, Mina Tindle, David Simonetta from Toy Flight, John Hale and Brent Ballantyne. Definitely worth it to familiarize yourself with the above mentioned artists and their music. It will make your life more beautiful.

But how did the meeting of Orouni and the young American Grant Olsen come about? That happened through a French blogger who was also here tonight. He calls himself Indie Boy and proclaims himself to be a big fan of Grant Olsen, who he considers to be an immense talent. Somehow or other (modern communication, I assume) he got him together with Orouni.

And that's how the tall as a tree Grant Olsen came to greet me in a Parisian bar. I had met this nice guy already at the Fête de la Musique and was happy to see him again. He is the type of American we Europeans love and envy: very open, easy going and talkative right from the beginning. There is no uncomfortable silence because you don't know each other, as is often the case in Europe. No, he just says "hi", "what's your name" and "where do you come from" and the ice is broken.

As if we had gone to high school together, the gigantic Grant (he's 2 meters tall!) tells me about his day. "We were in the catacombs. I had to constantly duck so I didn't hit my head," he says with a smile. He also adds, "They checked our bags before we left, because apparently people steal skulls." He seems to enjoy Paris and plans to continue his trip in Europe with his two sisters to Switzerland and Italy. Oh, I would so love to pack my bags and go with them.

Ten minutes after our chat, things get going in the basement. As a courtesy, the American guest gets to go first.  Grant starts with his acoustic guitar, which in his giant hands looks like a ukulele. He has also brought his blonde sister, Hillary, which is a great addition for the concert. Similar to Mariee Sioux and Alina Hardin, she sings the lyrics quietly and lovingly and creates a warm feeling in my stomach. Oh, this is wonderful!  I feel just like I'm at home. My wife is here, other nice people complete the group, and Grant sings emotionally like a beardless Sam "Iron and Wine" Beam. Is there anything more beautiful? I am tired and exhausted, but the music, like red wine, is ointment on my stressed big city soul, and soon visions of the unbelievable vastness of the breathtakingly beautiful American countryside appear in front of my eyes. In the summer of 2005, I had the luck to visit Utah, the home of Grant. I will never forget the spectacular beauty of Arches and Bryce Canyon and the ever shining sun! And singer/songwriter Grant lets this same sun flow through his music. I loved “Terabithia” and “Waterland”, and if one were outdoors a campfire would be needed. But I don't want to throw around too many clichés, although in this circumstance they would all fit. Besides, Grant is now finished and Orouni will next perform his songs solo, before he and Grant play and sing together.

Orouni performs songs mostly from his atmospheric album, Jump out the Window, as well as some from its predecessor, A Matter of Scale. The best song is probably the mood-making “Panic at the Beehive”, which is normally accompanied by his charming girlfriend. The Frenchman’s stories behind the individual songs are also funny and interesting. Even his mother, who has finally arrived, finds them funny and has a big grin on her face.

After a brief break, things continue with Grant and Orouni. They first perform a wonderful cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “King of Carrot Flowers”. Next comes “Carolina”, a Simon and Garfunkel-sounding hit from Grant Olsen. I have since listened to it 2,700 times and it definitely deserves to be noticed.

Things joyfully continue. Orouni plays on his toy piano and has to constantly lower the microphone which Grant has set to his height. He even plays on a bizarre instrument that his mother brought him back from her vacation to Burma Faso. The piece is called a Kalimba and it creates pretty sounds.

In all, the evening is a great success for everyone. Outside, people talk shop and chat about what the English music scene has to offer. Two minutes after I praise the young singer/songwriter Thos Henley, he comes around the corner with a group of female hanger-ons (I wish I had such success with women!) and exclaims "Oliver, what are you doing here?"

Paris is sometimes a village! Homely and familiar. I like it here a lot. And a large part of that is due to the folk music scene.