Local and Live - Hopeless Semantics

Some people come to music at later points in their lives, and perhaps they focus on a specific thing and work at that one thing…blues guitar, for instance…or maybe just ram through the intro to Honky tonk woman. Maybe they just want to be able to play Tiny Dancer on a cheap electric piano and thereby consider their lives to be fulfilled.

More power to all of them. Those of us who are mentally irregular learn everything they possibly can about music theory, listen endlessly to various genres of music and spend hours comparing and relating 1930s jazz with 1980s electronica, etc. they even learn how to build guitars…all of this instead of actually practicing and learning to play worth a damn… if you’re one of those, welcome. We have t shirts.

Neither of those extremes, however, are Linda Null. Linda picked up guitar late in life and killed it. She plays smoothly and naturally and also happens to sing like a bird. Those of us with voices that go flat every time we have to change chords…well, we may hate her a bit right off the bat.

But it’s actually impossible to hate Linda at all, and those of you who are less mentally irregular will find her smooth, intelligent approach to jazz and folk and singer-songwriter pop enjoyable and at points, amazing.

And that’s if you see her alone. if you see her with her spouse and second half of Hopeless Semantics, Mike Sussler… well, let’s talk about Mike before we get back to hopeless semantics as an entity.

Mike plays guitar (6 and 12 string) like a consummate professional, which he is. His musical catalog and pure mastery is so deep and spans such a massive breadth of American music, it’s difficult to get your head around. He sings and performs like someone who’s been doing it for a living for a long time, and he also pulls off a cowboy hat that would make me look like a stooge with pure class and cool.

But that’s not even what you have to know about Mike. He also plays mandolin. In fact, he plays mandolin so well, he was given the nickname Mandolin Mike.

He was given that nickname in Nashville. I’ll give you a minute to let that simmer in while I tell you that he is easily the best mandolin player I have ever seen live. Now, I can imagine a certain wiseass bartender who will retort “oh yeah? How many mandolin players have you seen live?” To which I would respond…”shut up, that’s how many”.

And would remind you…Mandolin Mike. In Nashville.

So that’s Linda and Mike, the people. Now, Hopeless Semantics the musical event.

They have been playing the general area quite a lot, and I caught their set a couple weeks ago at the Garryowen Pub on a Friday night. Mike has three guitars and two mandolins, linda has a keyboard and a guitar that’s worth more than my truck. Clearly, they aren’t here to screw around.

And they do not. Their set is varied and complex, running through old country, 90s pop and alternative, and much 70s singer-songwriter material. They go back and forth with the vocals…linda’s is sublime with a range no one should have. She can bring it hard and even give you a blues queen growl, or she can just as comfortably roll out a Streisandian trill- and-roll. She’s one of the few singers I could happily just listen to her sit down and sing songs with no accompaniment at all and still be completely happy.

But, accompanied she is. By one Mandolin Mike. It’s an art in itself to accompany a great singer. As great as he is just soloing on his instruments, he’s equally great building the house around Linda’s vocals and rhythm. Conversely, when he takes the mike to throw up some Bob Dylan, or (bless his Stetsoned soul) a Harry chapin tune, linda works around him with her keyboard or guitar that adds a fullness to his undeniable virtuosity. Both incredibly talented musicians, but Hopeless Semantics is still more than the sum of its parts.

On top of all that, they’re a fun time to see perform. As ive said before, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to live music talent in gettysburgh. Much like with Neil and Shannon, catching hopeless semantics’ set is an event that will make your day. It reminds me of when I was a kid and had tickets to a concert a few weeks hence and every time I thought about it, I got a little thrill that improved my mood in that moment. When I know I’m going to see mike and Linda later in a week, whatever BS is presenting itself to me at the moment is less nettling somehow.

That’s what music is for. We’re lucky to have artists like this available. So, catch them whenever you can. Try to stump Mike on some obscure folk band for the 70s, or mention a request to linda and see her smile while she calls up the chords in her mind…or watch her roll her eyes when mike’s being a knucklehead before he jumps into “friend of the devil” . you’ll likely see other local musicians in the crowd, just as you do with a neil and Shannon set, or if Peter Wile, or Matt Morriss is playing ploughmans.

The community is a gift to be around, and they show how great they are by events like the recent Guernsey Beat Rocks. Hopeless Semantics is another example of an act that you can catch regularly all around town, and you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t check them out.