Most people in the UK will probably know Everlast (real name Erik Francis Schrody) as the lead-singer of hugely successful Hip Hop group House of Pain, but he has had a long and varied career outside of that band as well.
Across various genres, he’s worked with a multitude of artists, including Santana who he picked up a grammy with for their song together ‘Put Your Lights On’. He has had time to fit in a now resolved beef with Eminem, was a key player with Hip Hop outfit La Coka Nostra, changed religions – and has of course had a successful career with his own material solo that has seen sales in the millions, as well as remix work for the likes of Madonna and Limp Bizkit.
Everlast’s solo career hasn’t been without its problems though – on the day that he finished recording his classic solo breakthrough album ‘Whitey Ford Sings the Blues’ he discovered after a tightening in his chest that he had a torn aortic valve, a really serious issue which thankfully he has obviously recovered from.
Wind on twenty-eight years and that brings us to his most recent studio album ‘Embers to Ashes’ released at the back end of August this year, his first in eight years and the reason for this packed instore show at the brilliant Jumbo Records (and a shout out to Aidan who does such a good job organising these instore events).
The lights are down and the air-conditioning is on, as the crowd expectantly file into the long space in the record shop. The area near the stage rapidly fills up and once people have stopped queueing to collect their record or CD, it’s pretty clear that there is a buzz in the air even at the back. Seeing such a legendary figure up close and personal with probably a hundred other likeminded fans isn’t something that happens every day.
The album, as he has seemingly done throughout his career, is a genre hopping beast, fifty-five minutes long and full of heartbreak, honesty, warts and all stories and tales painted in a straight up fashion in his lyrics, so it should come across well in a clearly stripped back setting for him and the one musician that joins him onstage.
Which is exactly how it plays out: his voice is great, it’s rich and a halfway house between slightly rough and yet melodic at the same time, he uses it brilliantly across what is a five song, twenty-minute set and while that might not sound a lot, it’s absorbing and the fans clearly love it, even if it does leave them wanting more.
Cap perched on his head and acoustic guitar in hand, he starts with the wonderful bluesy album opener ‘Losing Man’s Game’ and after a loud, short burst of applause it’s on with ‘Stones’, almost country in sound and the catchy “There ain’t nothing you can say/there ain’t nothing you can do” chorus shows why it was an obvious single.
Understandably, as good as the new material is, it’s the penultimate track ‘What It’s Worth’ that gets the biggest response. As soon as the first chords are played there is a small cheer of recognition and a few people in the room whisper the lyrics word for word alongside the main man. It’s his 1998 huge hit, a sprawling, epic three parter and it still resonates strongly with this crowd all these years later, but then good music generally stays with you once you’ve connected with it.
He closes with – not for the first time in his career – tackling a cover of the old Johnny Cash classic ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and certainly does it justice. The night isn’t quite over for the fans though; he duly steps behind the counter to fist bump and sign the records people have bought to gain entry to tonight’s event and judging by the queue everyone is sticking around to meet their hero.
They may not have been jumping around (sorry!) tonight, but it’s left a smile on people’s faces, and you can’t ask for more than that from an instore.
Photography by Jazz Jennings.
