Tom Lynch

Rhode Island songwriter Joel Thibodeau invokes the classic folk stars of yore--plus a little Geddy Lee--with Death Vessel, an off-putting name that's quickly forgotten once the folkish acoustic guitars, lap steel and Thibodeau's intense, childlike soprano kicks in, which will, without a doubt, be the first thing people notice this Monday and Tuesday when the band opens for The Books.

"I was coming out of sort of a transitional phase," he says about his time forming the band and writing the record "Stay Close." "I was playing in a band with my brother for six or seven years, so this was the first time I was going out on my own. I had to figure out how to handle all the duties by myself."

The songs are carefully crafted--balancing Thibodeau's high-pitched croon with an assortment of toned-down instruments. The songwriting is successfully stable in its consistency. "I think in a sense I got more comfortable over the course of several years," Thibodeau says of songwriting. "I kind of knew the idea of how things are presented or written, with ideas bouncing. For this, things were up in the air. I was trying to be open to trying other things as far as instrumentation."

Thibodeau--who holds both Tom Waits and the Magnetic Fields as influences--couldn't have a more different vocal delivery than the gravel hurricane that is Waits and the deep, deep baritone that comes from the Fields' Stephin Merritt. "When I was initially first aware that people made notice of my singing, it was something that felt a little strange about. I wasn't sure how I could avoid that, or if I should avoid it at all. You never want one [part] to be overbearing. But I decided that I hadn't really thought about it--there was no effort on my part to try and sing in a different way. I realized I'm aware of the fact that people found it interesting, which is great. But hopefully there's a lot of other things that are getting through to them than just that the vocals are a little bit different."

Death Vessel opens for The Books March 13-14 at Schubas, 3159 North Southport, (773)525-2508, at 9pm both nights. $12-$14.

(2006-03-07)

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