This column must begin with full disclosure: Nathan Towne is a longtime friend. He played music at my wedding, actually, and has always been the most virtuosic among my musician buddies.
So you can understand why I was more than a bit excited when Towne announced that he was releasing his first solo album, Renditions, which features his solo guitar work. I also had to ask, why did he wait so long to release a solo album?
“Uh, I don’t think I waited that long, I’m young yet,” he said. “I’m only 27.”
Born on the Central Coast and raised in Orcutt, Towne currently lives in Northern Michigan. He sometimes performs with Blind Melon,* but in between shows with the group he’s a full-time performing musician as a solo guitarist.
His regular haunt right now is the Terrace Inn and 1911 Restaurant in Petoskey where he plays dinner music. He had quite a bit of interest from diners there who inquired if he had a CD to sell. That’s what inspired Renditions, he said.
“It’s all one take all the way through these renditions, and every take was different,” he said. “Originally, I just wanted to have something to sell here at the restaurant.”
Towne said he sprung for licensing on several popular covers, like “Eleanor Rigby” and “Rainbow Connection,” to provide a real snapshot of an evening of his dinner music performances. He just started selling the album online to offset the costs of the licensing, he said.
The album features Towne playing his 1951 Vicente Sanchis classical guitar, an acoustic nylon string worth thousands of dollars. He’s a finger-style master in many genres, and Renditions displays Towne’s range of expertise, from top 40’s to classical or jazz to bossa nova. There’s no accompaniment or other instrumentation, just Towne and his guitar.
“It’s all dinner music, which is kind of what I geared it for,” he said. “There’s like 12 tables at this little terrace that I play on, and it’s just background dinner music.”
The term “dinner music” shouldn’t be seen as playing down the quality of Towne’s performance or album. He’s a humble guy, so even his idea of dinner music is at the level of genius. The album could definitely be used to class up a wine tasting room or restaurant, but it’s also something you would want to play on repeat in your car.
Renditions is available to download on Towne’s website for locals, like myself, who know and miss the artist. But it’s also a chance for Central Coasters ignorant of this homegrown master to get acquainted with his work, even though he’s all the way across the country.
He won’t always be that far away from his native home though, he assured.
“I’ll be back,” he said. “My whole family’s there, so I go back a few times a year.”
Managing Editor Joe Payne recommends you listen to Towne’s version of “Round Midnight.” Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
* Editor’s note: This story was edited from the print version for accuracy.
This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 7, 2017.