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MANSFIELD — Bowling Green-based musician, Boo Lee Corsser has had an epiphany.
Aside from performing most often in the Toledo-area, he has had shows in Indiana, Michigan, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
“Cleveland is like a second home. I love playing there, if I had to choose a music-scene outside of Bowling Green and Toledo, it would definitely be Cleveland.
But now, he said if he wants to make a go at a music career it’s time to expand outside of that.
“May be time for a tour,” he said.
Boo Lee Crosser will be headlining a show at Idea Works located at 40 West Fourth Street in Mansfield. The show will start around 7 p.m. A $5 cover, which will go towards supporting the artists, will be asked at the door.
Local musician and Mansfield Talent Show winner, Noah Jones, will open the event.
Martini’s on Main is offering $1 off beer and cocktails all night for those who attend the show.
The northern-Ohio musician admitted to being an emotional writer and uses emotion to connect his songs with his audiences.
“In the earlier days, it was something completely different that what (the songs) are now. The meaning of the songs have really shifted. I’m getting to the point where sometimes the song doesn’t mean anything, but it always carries emotion,” he said. “In my earlier days, when I was playing and writing, a lot of terminology and the subjects were based in drug use. They were based in personal torment and mental illness — struggling with anxiety, loneliness. I think that is a pretty easy topic to hit for a lot of people out there.
“After about a year, I became more focused on not writing for myself of as myself and writing for other people. That’s where songs like Death of A Southern Bell (a ballad about domestic abuse) and Freight Street (a ballad about heroin addiction). Now when I’m writing, it’s always open. There’s never really a target about which way I want to go in.”
Crosser said he aims to mimic Jonathan Coltrane’s record, A Love Supreme.
“I would really love to write something like that, with no meaning at all,” he said.
Crosser also uses modern-day affairs to influence his writing. He has written songs about Ferguson, Missouri and the mistreatment of minorities and about the heroin epidemic.
“There’s a certain amount of empathy that goes into it, he said. I don’t believe you can write about those topics with out really feeling distraught. I don’t really shy away from that. I do know that sometimes going in and playing in more conservative areas, that can be tough, but if you are going to write that kind of stuff you have to empathize, and feel sick about it to a certain degree.”
Crosser is excited to perform in Mansfield, he said.
“It’s always a pleasure to play in a new place. I will admit, I get nervous performing in new towns, for new people,” he said.
He plans on playing a set with “a good mix of the phases.”
“You’re probably going to see some from Folk Song Singing Cliche. You’ll get a lot of New Bedford, and you’ll see songs that I’ve been working on.”
Boo Lee Crosser and Noah Jones will bring their albums for purchase at the Idea Works show. Each album is sold for $10.
