Salvatore Boyd: Asbury Park and January Morning

My name is Salvatore Boyd. I went to Berklee from 2007 to 2011 and now I live between Asbury Park, NJ and Nashville, TN. For those of you unfamiliar with Asbury Park I highly suggest you check out Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 album “Greetings From Asbury Park” and then go over and email Scott Stamper, owner of the nation famous original music venue “The Saint”, book a no-talking Asbury Cafe show and come play us your songs. Shepard Fairey has flour pasted our promenade.

I am writing this post because there is a place in my heart that talks to me. It shares the stage with wonderful mentors and peers of mine such as Abigail Aronson Zocher, Steve Prosser, Natalie Bergman, Adrianne Lenker, and Hannah Read. When you step into this place it sounds like fiddle tunes in Jamaica Plain and zydeco music in Harvard Square; collecting tips in the tuba case. When I say this place “talks to me” what I really mean is it “speaks to me.” There is no real verbal or internal communication. We are talking about music. Music doesn’t just talk. It tells. And when you study it you learn more about yourself than the actual concept. While other young adults were studying Global Marketing and like… I don’t know… Human Resources?… there was always way more than just studying going on at Berklee.

Although I have been playing music all my life it wasn’t until Berklee that I learned to use music as a language. Not until I found myself in a room playing music with two Chinese guys and an Italian did I feel the power of this “universal” language. I do not speak Italian or Chinese and these guys spoke pretty good English, but to communicate is more than just to talk. We show emotion when we communicate. We can communicate emotion better through music than we can with just words. Especially when our words our “lost in translation” through bad accents and ignorant ears. To hear Autumn Leaves played by Suzuki trained fingers, and then Segovia trained fingers, then George Harrison trained fingers all in the same 7 minute pass is a level of rapid exposure that in my opinion is too magical to be analyzed any further beyond simple reflection and appreciation. You experience this type of reality and it just simply becomes you. You become humble and aware. Your vocabulary gets to be an encyclopedia of styles and examples from around the world.

As musicians I feel we are part creators and part messengers. We will always have our roots. For me, in my purist state, I sound like a kid who grew up going to punk rock shows in a town with a musical history I was unaware and in-complacent with because in the 80s, Asbury Park fell victim to riots and arson and there was no glory left. My own father had a club burned to the ground. I grew up having to watch my back. As apposed to the 70s when the town was full of endless summers, drag racing, circuit hopping, festival rides, and lyric heavy doo-wop sanctioned horn bands. That was the “Asbury Sound”. Big rock bands with super Staxy horns. My hidden identity. More on this later.

With time spent discovering the history of my hometown, time spent at Berklee, time spent in Nashville, and time spent on the road I have developed layers of style in which I can present my journey to you. I can send messages rooted in Greater Appalacia or Greenwich Village. Looking back on when I participated in the Guitar Singer/Songwriter Showcase led by my teacher and wonderful wonder-friend Abby Aronson Zocher my “Asbury Identity” was unintentionally there in full form. While we were exposed to Hannah Read’s wonderful fiddle fingers from the Isle Of Eigg and Adrianne Lenker’s wispy “10,000 Lakes” vocal sound there I was with my horn band arrangement of a guitar fingerpicking tune Abby and I chose for the night. Although if you go back and listen, it was more of New Orleans arrangement than an Asbury arrangement, I was still the only one to have brought a horn section to the singer/songwriter night. I bet Springsteen would have been proud. I didn’t realize it until now how obvious I made my roots that night and now 5 years later I look back on it and laugh. It makes want to pursue a masters degree in Musicology.

Please see demonstration of my process and arrangement of my 2010 GSSS performance.