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by Seth Rogovoy
WILLIAMSTOWN
A spirit haunts Jim Infantino's latest recording. The album, ``More Songs About Me,'' credited to Infantino's band, Jim's Big Ego, is peppered with direct and oblique references to the late grunge- rocker Kurt Cobain.
Some might find this very odd, given that Infantino is rightly or wrongly usually grouped in with some very un-grungy, contemporary-folk singer-songwriters. But Infantino finds nothing at all unusual or uncharacteristic about his obsession with Cobain, the former leader of the alternative-rock group Nirvana who took his own life in 1994.
``I think that it's not a very far stretch to Kurt Cobain from contemporary singer-songwriters,'' said Infantino earlier this week in a phone interview from his home in Boston.
``The day after he died I was at the Iron Horse opening for Patty Larkin,'' said Infantino. ``Patty walked in and she hadn't heard the news, and when I told her she had to sit down. It really hit her hard. And I think of her as being pretty squarely in the new-folk tradition.
``I think it hit all songwriters real hard because of that honesty thing he had, the thing we all strive for but maybe we don't have the guts to do.''
As for guts, it's an open question as to how much Cobain - who left behind his wife, rock star Courtney Love, and their baby girl, Frances Bean - really had. But as far as writing emotionally honest songs, Infantino himself could give Cobain, who indeed was no slouch in the air-your-neuroses-in-song department, a run for his money.
Local audiences will have the chance to check out Infantino's dirty laundry for themselves, when the singer-songwriter performs at North Adams State College on Tuesday night and Wednesday of this coming week. On Tuesday at 8, Infantino - who is bringing his band with him for both shows, which are free and open to the public - will play at the ``NASC Cafe'' in The Grove at the Ansler Campus Center. On Wednesday at noon, the group will hold forth in the ``Music to Munch By'' series in Hoosac Harbor.
Infantino, who is 30, began playing guitar at what he described as a ``leftist summer camp'' at age 14. ``I started out wanting to be Bob Dylan,'' he said, ``at a time when none of my peers liked him,'' referring to Dylan's so-called born-again period of 1979-80.
Living in New York's Lower East Side at the time, it was just a short walk to the Greenwich Village folk clubs through which Dylan passed on his way to international stardom. Infantino retraced those steps, performing at the Speakeasy and Gerde's Folk City. At Haverford College, where he majored in philosophy, Infantino continued performing. Around that time he was doing ``weird performing pieces,'' he said. ``I was really into Laurie Anderson, performance, cerebral stuff, spoken-word stuff, mostly because I didn't have a real big handle on the music.''
After college, Infantino moved to Boston, where he knew there was a thriving if competitive contemporary folk scene. He worked his way up through the ranks from the subway to the folk clubs, and by the early- '90s, he was winning notice in the city's annual Acoustic Underground competition and the Boston Music Awards.
Last year, Infantino was named Artist of the Year by the National Academy of Songwriters. He records for two different independent labels - one for his solo work and the other for his work with his band.
``Jim's Big Ego is more pronounced, more exaggerated and more irresponsible. And more fun,'' said Infantino when asked about the difference between his group and solo work. ``I think the real egotistical one is Jim Infantino the solo singer-songwriter. The name `Jim's Big Ego' to me is really ironic. With the band I have to take a step back and let them take over. So I have to have a little less of a big ego with the band.''
``More Songs About Me'' (Tangible) features 14 original tracks (plus one hidden bonus track) that range from folk-like ballads to old-fashioned rock 'n' roll, Nirvana-esque grunge-rock and hardcore folk- punk. It's an edgy, anxious mix which, like the cover painting and album art featuring photos of Infantino with a big cup of coffee, seems to have too much caffeine coursing through its veins.
In fact, Infantino attacks the very subject of caffeine in a number of his songs. ``Someday Cafe,'' a spoken word piece on ``More Songs About Me,'' is a humorous, bitter look at the internal contradictions inherent in ``alternative fashion.'' On a song called ``Stress'' off last year's solo album, ``The World of Particulars'' (Gadfly), the singer adopted the persona of a modern-day junkie whose addiction, fueled by caffeine, is to stress itself.
It's a territory with which Infantino is intimately familiar. Most who have made it as far as he has in the singer-songwriter world have a manager to help organize their careers. Infantino has yet to surrender those reins. Moreover, he juggles the responsibilities of being a solo artist and a bandleader, and he also continues to work as a designer (he has produced many CD booklets for his fellow singer-songwriters), photographer and spoken-word artist.
``It's unhealthy,'' he says of the pace of this life style, ``but I think there's a thrill that comes from knowing you're just really busy. It's a kick to complain about it, but it's a kick, because there are these other times when you're just a complete waste watching the tube endlessly. They're both just bad living.''
(This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Feb. 18, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All Rights Reserved.)
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