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Current mood:  cheerful Category: Music
~by Brian Kelly, Pensacola News Journal
A few months ago, we introduced Sugarcane Jane, the singer/songwriter duo that has been steadily carving a name out for itself while earning a legion of fans all over Pleasure Island. From Tipseas Steam Shack in Orange Beach to venues in Gulf Shores, this dynamic duo is making quite a splash. And they'll appear at LuLu's at Homeport Marina on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Sugarcane Jane is the collective effort of Savanna Lee and Anthony Crawford. The pair met each other in a Nashville, Tenn., recording studio eight years ago. It was during that chance encounter that pure music magic would be born.
As Lee explains the name, Sugarcane Jane stems from a conversation about how her grandfather used to cut and give out sugarcane to the local children on Halloween. Somehow, the Jane part just seemed to fit. Lee recalls a road trip the two were on when the words came out of nowhere.
Crawford calls Birmingham, Ala., his native soil, while Lee hails from the rural area of Loxley. Both had lit out from their respective homes in search of musical fame and inspiration. Where? Nashville, of course. After seven years of cutting her teeth in the musical landscape that is uniquely Nashville, Lee said she arrived at the conclusion that home is where her heart lived, "and so I packed it up and headed back south and now I reside in the Orange Beach area."
And the music landscape has only witnessed a revitalization since their relocation. The two will perform on the heels of their recent appearance at two major venues in the last few weeks ago. And they've stayed busy night after night.
"We have been extremely busy lately, but we're not complaining. Of course, we just had our big shows, Bayfest in Mobile and the Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, which went great," Lee said. "We released our new album at the Shrimp Festival, titled 'Alright With Me.' The CD has a very organic acoustic sound that truly represents our live performances."
Part of Crawford's claim to fame is his close association with musical icon Neil Young, with whom he's toured. As Lee explains, that experience with Young now comes into play when it comes to Sugarcane Jane. "One thing Anthony learned from Neil Young is to not try to perfect a recording because in doing that, you can easily lose the groove of the song," she explained. "Vacating the box of Nashville standards, we opted to keep the new CD simple and real."
The CD contains some SCJ favorites, songs that are steadily becoming area standards such as "There is a Time," signature cuts such as "Sugar and Pedigree" and some new numbers including the title track, "Alright With Me," which Lee says "is one of those songs that just feels great to sing. The message could easily be our personal mottos.
"And then there is 'Home Nights' which is a personal favorite of mine."
On "Home Nights," Crawford flexes his mandolin muscles. He also breaks out his banjo prowess on another cut.
"Anthony breaks out the banjo on 'Butterfly,' " Lee says. "It's a song that is so cleverly written, it makes me chuckle when I sing 'I got myself an attitude I can't blame it on genetic code/my mama tried to send me send me off in the right direction but I took that other road.' "
Indeed, it's that kind of clever writing that makes "Alright With Me" a superb collection of numbers from this quickly rising duo. SCJ's appearance at LuLu's should be a real treat for fans familiar with Lee and Crawford and for those that have never sat before the magic of this duo.
"We have no idea what works or doesn't work for us," Lee says. "It's always just a guess, but we figure that persistence wins out in the long run so we just try to keep coming up with new ideas and testing them out. It's a process that hopefully will keep us busy for many more years to come. It's the secret of life we think; to be doing what you love to do in your own hometown, close to family and friends. We both moved out of Nashville wanting to be closer to our parents and found a lot of peace and serenity down here in Orange Beach. We can't imagine anywhere else we'd rather be."
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11:43 PM
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