Love hurts. And when Tim Hockenberry sings a love song, it is deliciously excruciating!  His gravelly voice growls out song after song with passion, pain, and absolute focus. The Tim Hockenberry Quartet recently jammed at the Empire Plush Room, and the local group delivered a surprisingly casual yet always captivating evening.

The Quartet consists of Hockenberry on keys and vocals, Gawain Mathews on guitars, Bobby Vega on basses, and Michael Fellows on drums. These talented musicians provide superlative backup, and the sound levels were precisely set, so they never drowned out the singing. Though Hockenberry generously defers to the band, as vocalist he commands the stage. Yet he keeps the showmanship to a minimum, instead focusing attention on crafting each song. His patter tends to be sparse and minimal, yet it never feels unfriendly. Simply put, the evening was about the beautiful songs, most of which were written by Hockenberry.

Establishing a casual tone from the very start (15 minutes late, ouch) the Quartet hit the stage wearing jeans! This was a clear departure from the Plush Room’s standard cabaret fare where the performers are decked out in elegant formal wear. Here instead was a relaxed group of musicians jamming for fans, friends, and family.  

Hockenberry started the program with a mellow composition titled “This Time by Me.” This soulful love song provided the perfect musical vehicle for Hockenberry’s heart-aching delivery.  Immediately following was “Howling at Your Window,” and howling was certainly the operative word here as he wailed out a surfeit of pain fed by the crueler side of love. In the ensuing number, “A Little Harder for You,” an eager paramour reaches out to a reluctant loved one. It featured a heavenly guitar solo by Gawain Matthews. Next up was a major highlight as Hockenberry got down with the oh-so-funky “Built for Comfort” (Willie Dixon.) Slowing a bit for “Surfacing” and “Your Lovin’ Arms,” he then delivered the most melancholy version EVER of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” You’ve never heard it sung like this before—aching, yearning, burning, and brilliant!  Some great instrumental riffs suffuse  “Two Steps Back,” and a hot samba beat propels “The One I Love.” Alone on stage for “Marie” (Randy Newman) and accompanying himself on keyboards, Hockenberry thrilled the audience with an image-packed tribute to a lost love. A major re-tooling of “Girl” (The Beatles) renders the song virtually unrecognizable, yet still enjoyable.

Speeding away from a broken love at “100 Miles an Hour,” the evening concluded. The Quartet re-took the stage for an encore, “Should Have Been Love.” Then Hockenberry, alone on stage, sang one more song, “Make Me Understand.”

Composer Hockenberry provided the majority of the evening’s music. If he uses his own life as grist for these songs, then the man has had his heart shattered…at least once! His subject matter returns relentlessly to men who loved big and lost bigger. Many of the songs share a common tempo, each thereby seeming too much the same. But when the sound is this good, is that a problem? He creates a tension within each song that communicates boundless suffering at the feet of love. And the audience is moved to respectful silence at the intensity of the lyrics and melodies.

Keep an eye out for future performances of this amazing local bluesman. Then pop a Prozac and bask in the hot, soulful sounds of a howling heart. Hockenberry promises that a CD (long-awaited by his fans) is targeted for March. If it captures the soulful fervor of the evening I attended, then it’s a Must-Buy!