VIENNA, Va., February, 28, 2012—In hindsight, when Denison Witmer opened for William Fitzsimmons at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, it seemed like the obvious choice of venue for the performers. Synagogues, churches, or any other relatively old building for religious gatherings might not seem to be a good place to hold a concert at first, but they are perfect venues. The places are usually built with sound in mind, designed specifically to carry the voices of priests or rabbis unaccompanied by any sort of electronics.
So it turned out to be the right place for an acoustic singer/songwriter like Denison Witmer to perform. Granted, a louder, more aggressive performer or band probably would have overwhelmed the seated crowd, but it fed right into the hands of the unassuming Witmer.
It’s hard to tell exactly if Witmer is naturally this shy and reserved or it was just recent circumstances. About halfway through the set he revealed he and his wife just had a child, so it’s likely to assume he was slightly distracted during his performance, at the very least. Still, this gave his set, which started out with a jittery energy, some gravitas that might not have been there on a normal night.
Instead Witmer gave off a sense he was ecstatic to be there and allowed him to be loose. There were a few mishaps along the way out of his control, but he rolled with the punches to keep the show moving. At one point his mic had been disconnected and while this was clearly a frustrating development, Witmer allowed the crew to fix the problem while he launched into what may have been an impromptu Bob Marley cover.
This was the point Witmer was able to show off the synagogues acoustics. Despite the lack of any amplification of his voice or guitar, he was able to carry the song just as well, almost surprising the crowd. Eventually the connection was corrected in his mic, Witmer shrugged and went back to his set with slight joke.
The brief lack of electricity did highlight some of Witmer’s strongest qualities. At the start of the set he did come off as a bit nervous. This was also his last night on the tour before he returned to his wife and his newborn for two weeks, but eventually the nervous energy turned into one of his stronger aspects. He was able to let the vulnerability shine through rather than be a burden.
Treading on new ground in the field of singer/songwriters isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do and in most cases is impossible. Witmer doesn’t exactly buck this trend as he provides music everyone familiar with genre will recognize. What’s more important to the artists, and something Witmer does well enough, is connecting with the audience through their lyrical sincerity and how easy going their melodies are.
Ultimately that’s the best way to describe Witmer. He clearly wears his heart on his sleeve but isn’t overbearing in expressing it. Even though he seemed like nervous ball of energy up on stage he couldn’t hide his sincerity and it never detracted from the quality of his songs.
Witmer is affable and easily disarms the audience with slight self deprecation. Both aspects almost make his set come off more like a kind of storyteller singer/songwriter that he actually is. It’s that type of atmosphere he creates though that allows for his songs to go over as well as they did with the audience and despite all the bumps in the road, it was a solid way to end this section of the tour.
Stephen Bradley is an avid music listener. Read more of his work in Riffs at the Washington Times Communities .
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