Lipbone Redding, guitarist and songwriter from North Carolina, filled the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Thursday, Sept. 24 telling charismatic tales through his original music entertaining the audience with lip-tromboning, his innovative skill of making trombone and trumpet sounds with his mouth.
Redding's performance was the second concert of the fall in the Sundilla Acoustic Concert Series, which started 22 years ago as a place where local music lovers could gather to hear great musicians, according to Bailey Jones, president of the series.
Redding said he plays an American style of music because it combines styles. Jazz and blues based, he said it also incorporates latin and Middle eastern styles.
Redding's music involves beat boxing and making throat sounds and said when playing his music, he makes sounds with his mouth catering to the topic of the song, such as a dog howling or jungle noises.
"Nothing is forbidden in my music unless it sounds bad, because the main focus of my music is to tell stories," Redding said.
Ken Autrey, a member of the audience, said he has been attending Sundilla concerts for two or three years.
"I come when I can, because I have never been disappointed at Sundilla," Autrey said. "Many of the musicians who come through here say that they love playing here and that Sundilla is a real gem of a place to play and that Auburn is lucky to have it."
Autrey said he thought Redding's performance ranked as one of the best solo performers he has seen at Sundilla.
"He has sound effects that I've never heard coming from any other musician, and he uses it so well that you'd swear at times there was a small orchestra behind him," Autrey said.
Redding tells a story through his songs and Autrey said some are funny, while others are touching.
"He strikes a nice balance between humor and pathos, or touching stories," Autrey said.
Redding said his music career started in 1999 when he decided to go to New York City. He said he wanted to play music, but needed to learn how to make a living in music.
Redding started playing music in a subway and said he eventually made enough money to live.
"People donating money into my thing, I guess they liked me enough," Redding said.
Redding continued to play in subways for a couple of years until Sept. 10, 2001, which he said was his last day.
"And then 9/11 happened after that," Redding said. "And then, you know you couldn't really play in the subway anymore after that, but the airfare got really cheap because no one wanted to fly, everyone was scared to fly after that, so they offered a lot of cheap airfare, and I thought, 'Well, I'm not doing anybody any good here in New York City right now, let me go.'"
Redding said he started playing music in South America, India and Europe.
"I didn't realize I had a career at that time," Redding said. "I thought I was just having fun and doing my thing, you know, I really loved what I was doing, and I still do."
Rachel Sharp, Sundilla volunteer, said she offers musicians a place to stay in her home when they come to play for the concert series.
Sharp said she enjoys listening to Redding's music.
"He's amazing," Sharp said. "He is the story. He's great."
Redding released his album, "Esmeralda," last year and has been on tour. He said he just returned from Iceland and Germany, where he was playing his music.
"When you make a song, it's like making a child," Redding said. "You put so much love and so much effort into it."
Redding said he will take the next three months off to write music.
The next performance in the Sundilla Acoustic Concert Series will be Friday, Oct. 2 where Sally Barris will be playing.
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