Trevor Hall Plays the Boulder Theater Tonight, 5/11

97.3 KBCO & Z2 Entertainment present an intimate evening with Trevor Hall with music, stories & inspiration at the Boulder Theater tonight, May 11th, 2012. Tickets are $17.50 General Admission seating and $23.50 Reserved seating.

If Trevor Hall’s 2009 self-titled Vanguard Records debut represented the young musician’s struggle with finding himself, his follow-up, Everything Everytime Everywhere (August 23rd) is a courageous affirmation that he has become the man he had been seeking. The warm linearity of his prior work gives way to a mature artist hitting his stride, an image that persists throughout this body of work, from the easy reggae slide of the opening “The Return” and the anthemic “Brand New Day” straight through to the momentous closing track, “The Mountain.” Hall’s signature blend of catchy pop/rock songs infused with tasteful shades of reggae has made this diverse 24-year-old one of the most lauded up-and-coming musicians on the American music scene.

“With the last album, I was exploring more,” Hall says from his Southern California home. “I was going through a struggle with myself, and all that grittiness came out. With this one I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had much greater conviction.”While on Trevor Hall, the singer wove Sanskrit chants into pop- and rock-laced songs, he now feels that the underlying themes of devotion and community remain while he focuses less on making them feel so apparent—he never sacrifices his music for a message. Rather, his music is the message. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the upbeat “Brand New Day,” in which he confidently casts aside his former self to welcome new possibilities.

While Hall spends his days listening to Indian devotional music and Golden Era reggae from the 1960s and ‘70s, his music is modern and immediately recognizable. The eleven tracks on Everything Everytime Everywhere are guitar-driven gems that fit right at home in the catalog of his influences. Created with a host of incredible musicians, including longtime Matisyahu guitarist Aaron Dugan, bass player Brian Lang and drummer Aaron Sterling, Hall’s stellar guitar playing and distinctive voice is backed by a crew of sonic experts.

Like the events in his life, each song is a complete journey itself. The ska- and calypso-influenced “Different Hunger” was inspired after touring with the legendary Jimmy Cliff, while “The Return,” a smooth and relaxed percussion-filled track reminiscent of Jack Johnson’s early work, represents getting back to his own divinity—yet in no rush to arrive. Then there’s the playful “Dr. Seuss,” the album’s most driving track, which Hall co-wrote with producer Jimmy Messer. “I walked in one day and he had this beat going,” Hall says. “It was awesome, and I said we had to come hard lyrically on this. That became the first line of the song. Then I realized that so many people come hard with their attitude, and never step back and enjoy the variety that exists in life. So while I was developing this theme, Jimmy said he had read Dr. Seuss to his son that morning, and that became the theme to the song: not worrying about what’s better than another, but enjoying the variety of life.”

Beyond his years in sound and maturity, Trevor Hall has accomplished what great musicians do when presented with such circumstances: he created lasting art to inspire and comfort others. Everything Everytime Everywhere is the testament of an inner warrior trying to lift himself and those around him out of the everyday maladies that plague our lives. There are songs to fall asleep to, songs to wake up by, and songs to feel good about yourself. They encapsulate life and make you a part of Trevor Hall’s world, while his music becomes part of yours.