William Fitzsimmons

Comments (0) By Dan Gibson Thursday, Apr 28 2011

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If the giant beard and press photos wearing heavy jackets and such didn’t tip you off, William Fitzsimmons is a singer songwriter, of the sort like Sam Beam of Iron and Wine used to be before he embraced 70’s soft rock or Justin Vernon when he was still in the cabin, before he met Kanye. In the past he’s written songs wrestling with his own depression, etc., but his new album is actually themed to mental disorders, of all things, taking inspiration from memoirs of those who suffered from various psychological ailments. One might expect an album with that theme might have a little more variation to it, but this one really doesn’t. Fitzsimmons rarely raises his vocal above a whisper and the instrumentation is generally very twee and sweet. If that’s your sort of thing, you can stare up into his beard on the stage at Martini Ranch and fantasize of what Grey’s Anatomy slash fiction scene you’ll write with each song as a soundtrack. Get there early for Slow Runner, a piano based act lauded by Paste and who fall somewhere between Owl City and Ben Folds outtakes, although in the best possible way.
Wed., May 4, 8 p.m., 2011