SAXAPAHAW— Like the songs Jake Xerxes Fussell plucks from history to record and perform — crafted from the rusted artifacts of centuries past, scrap metal and iron repurposed into something singular and picturesque — the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw carries the same parts and ethos.
In the early 1900s, the Haw River powered the Saxapahaw Spinning Mill, turning its water wheels and driving the machinery by harnessing the kinetic energy of flowing water. Several decades later, only the structural bones remained to rust, but a renaissance in the small community of Saxapahaw started to flourish.
In 2011, Chapel Hill’s Heather LaGarde envisioned a Shangri La of sorts, built from materials left behind, where artists, musicians, families and children could gather. Almost 15 years later, the Haw River’s kinetic energy powers not a cotton mill but the atmosphere at the Haw River Ballroom — one of North Carolina’s most popular live music venues for musical artists and patrons.
The location’s storied pastoral setting was the perfect fit for Columbus, Georgia’s Jake Xerxes Fussell. His performance last Friday evening harnessed that same kinetic energy from the Haw River and spirit of its past, something which, judging from his onstage countenance, sound and chosen songbook, had already brought with him.
It’s no surprise Fussell is the son of a folklorist, historian and photographer, given his brand of creative output, which consists primarily of traditional folk and blues songs. Still, not so much from the Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger bucket, but instead the calls and cries of fishmongers, people of the land and the common clay of old America. He’s a rarity at a time when nearly everything has been redone, rebooted, bought, sold and bought again. What sets Fussell apart is his complete and utter lack of pretension.
He’s a young guy, around 40 years old, who wears the same hat and sits on a chair, playing his guitar, singing old songs he wants new audiences to fall in love with the same way he did. But his following of fans is built on his interpretations and the way in which he presents long-forgotten ballads and refrains.
What captured the seated audience at Haw River Ballroom last Friday night was partly songs from previous records fans have familiarized themselves with. However, Fussell’s alternating of songs — choosing the thick, warm tone of a Telecaster-emitting a confluence of Mark Knopfler and Daniel Lanois- for one and his acoustic for others accompanied by upright bassist and timekeeper Ben Whiteley — left the room spellbound.
Between songs, some from his latest release, “When I’m Called,” Fussell engaged the audience with self-deprecating humor as a throwback while explaining the origins and backstories of the songs he chose, all of which are “traditional and in the public domain.” All but one. Three or four songs in, a few opening lyrics pricked the ears of some in attendance, but it wasn’t an old or traditional tune. To everyone’s surprise, it was Fussell’s take on Nick Lowe’s “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass” from his 1978 release “Jesus is Cool.”
Whatever history, magic or mythology already existed at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw before Jake Xerxes Fussell performed was only elevated by that of his very own.
