A seasoned veteran of the New York music scene and ace guitarist for Gogol Bordello, Pelekh has toured around the world, sharing stages with iconic artists spanning from Aretha Franklin to Philip Glass to Wu-Tang Clan, a clear breadth of connections indicative of his life’s work.
Sea shanties had a bit of a resurgence last year (which was a nice surprise!), so it’s great to hear artists like James Kahn utilizing them within their music. The Risin’ Of The Sea is the title of this track, with the lyrics having a link to the current refugee crisis, making it rather topical in nature. READ MORE…
Steven Denmark – “Only Home I Need” b/w “Crazy Over You”
Steven Denmark doesn’t get much rest these days. Between his day—and night—job as a cattle rancher in Northern California, his life as a husband and father of three, and his career as a brilliant roots/Americana singer-songwriter, Denmark simply doesn’t have much down time. It’s fitting, then, that Denmark’s new singles, “Only Home I Need” and “Crazy Over You” were created in less than five hours from start to finish. “It was the fastest process ever,” says Denmark. “I think if you sit on a song for too long or keep reworking it, you can change it over and over into something else. I really like the idea that a song is just a snapshot of that moment, a photograph of who was in the room and what we were feeling that day.”
Despite his busy home life, Denmark has steadily been building up his reputation in the Americana world since he embarked on his solo career in 2016. In that time he has released an LP, 2017’s Cold Wind, as well as 2021’s Babylon EP, produced by Beau Bedford (Delta Spirit, Ruby Boots, The Texas Gentlemen), and a handful of other singles. His authentic-yet-original style of rootsy Americana has enraptured audiences and allowed Denmark to share bills with numerous acts including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nikki Lane, Sam Outlaw, Susto, Kody West and many more. Now, Denmark is set to embark on a new chapter of his career as he prepares his sophomore LP, and “Only Home I Need” and “Crazy Over You” serve as the epilogue to the first phase of his solo arc. “These are two songs that I felt didn’t really fit with the new album that I’m working on, but I really like them and wanted them to have their own place,” says Denmark. “I’ve been really figuring out who I am as an artist, and these are the last of the songs where I was just experimenting with different genres and styles to see how they felt.”
Denmark recorded these new tracks at Tiny Tape Room in Nashville alongside engineer Kyle Monroe before teaming up with Grammy Award winning mixing engineer Brandon Bell (Alan Jackson, The Highwomen, Zac Brown Band) and mastering engineer Sam Moses (Sadler Vaden, Billy Ray Cyrus) to put the finishing touches on each single. Though Denmark wrote, sang, and played guitars, keys, and bass on each track, additional contributions were made by Steven Christopher Lucas (lead guitar), Bryson Nelson (drums), Sam Wilson (pedal steel), and Lynn Marie (vocals on “Only Home I Need”).
“Only Home I Need” opens with brief atmospheric keys before Denmark’s emotive vocals propel the track forward, ushering in layers of sparse guitars, quietly thumping percussion, and reverb-washed pedal steel as Denmark chronicles the lifespan of a romantic relationship from its wanderlust-fueled beginnings to the unavoidable reality of mortality. “My wife and I have been married for nine years, so she’s been dragged along on this dream of making music my whole life, and with that comes some ups and downs,” says Denmark. “But for us, that journey of living out our lives together is all that has mattered to us. We’re going to live our lives day-to-day and whatever comes our way will happen and we’ll be in it together and be thankful for it.”
Meanwhile, “Crazy Over You” finds Denmark picking up the pace, channeling shades of his background in punk music into an upbeat, fuzzed-out roots-rock track that came to life in roughly the length of the song itself. “I feel like the songs that I write, or at least the good ones, are the ones that come to me quickly,” says Denmark. “Lyrically, I always liked the idea of leaving things to the imagination, but I think I did it too much. With these songs, I deliberately sat down and tried to write in a way that was more immediate, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone a little and try writing songs that were a little more straight forward.”
If immediacy is a staple in Denmark’s music, it acts as a counterbalance to his zen-like approach to his career and long-term goals. “I once heard somebody say that becoming successful—or whatever your version of ‘making it’ is—for that to happen, is a complete miracle, and all you can do is make yourself available for that miracle every day. So if I’m doing everything I can to make myself available for that miracle, I’ve done the best I can do.”
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Silver People – Gnome Country (out July 1st, 2022)
If Jake Reeves’ clients had to occasionally wait a bit longer to see their attorney(which, he is quick to point out, none of them ever complained about!), that’s a small price for them to have paid to help him create music as his alter ego Silver People. “Once the day’s primary lawyering was done,” he says, “I would close my office door and just get onto YouTube, taking these deep dives on all these amazing free tutorials that are out there,” he says of that period, as he started dabbling in music production on the side of his full-time job as a lawyer.
A few years down the road, what began with that simple research has now come to full fruition in the wondrous album Gnome Country. Part singer-songwriter exploration, part production wizardry, and every bit an homage to a somewhat-forgotten era of music, the album is striking in such a way that you’ll wonder how all those disparate sounds came out of what was largely a one-man operation by the Atlanta-based musician.
“I started doing a little bit of that production stuff and started recording and got an idea to make a humble, acid-folk record,” Reeves explains of his inspiration for Gnome Country. “Also, I’m a big sci-fi fantasy nerd. I thought it would be really fun to do an album that had those touches, in a tongue-in-cheek way. There was this period from about 1969 through 1972 when all of these British musicians discovered and became fascinated with The Lord of the Rings. I wanted to do something with that influence, kind of an otherworldly, mystical kind of thing.”
“That was the original concept. As I got into it, I was learning how to produce, trying to make the stuff as professional as I could. And I was also mixing it as I went, trying to focus on the songcraft without becoming too overwrought.”
The music drives the bus on this album, as instrumentals like “Dosed” and “And The Clocks Were Striking Thirteen” feature a heady mélange of Eastern-tinged guitars, spy movie keyboards and swaggering rhythm sections that keep the music eternally groovy. Closing track “Gnome Country For Old Men” sounds like the processional music for some very cool yet dangerous Middle Earth regent.
At times, Reeves considered adding lyrics to those instrumentals, but ultimately liked them the way they were. “I thought it would be challenging,” he says of the decision. “I know people love lyrics and I know that’s how some people connect to the music emotionally. I didn’t want to have that. I wanted to challenge myself and the listener. It’s like there’s no added sugar.”
What words there are on the album, found on enchantingly retro folk tunes like “Fiddler’s Bill” and “Sons Of Avalon (The Wind Was On The Weathered Heath),” hew to aphorisms that suggest that listeners (or, perhaps more likely, Reeves himself) keep the ego in check, live for today, and, as Reeves puts it, “Eschew petty bullshit and focus on what really matters.”
While you can hear the influences of trippy rock bands such as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and Pretty Things, as well as the echoes of early British folk heroes such as Nick Drake and Bert Jansch, Reeves’ innate originality keeps the music from sounding too indebted to any one source. “I didn’t want it to sound pastiche,” he explains. “I didn’t want it to be mimicry. I wanted it to be loving and influenced by those genres, but I didn’t want it to sound like a tribute band.”
Although Silver People is mostly Reeves playing the instruments and twiddling the knobs, he does get some help from his friends, most notably Nicole Chillemi providing ethereal vocals. She figures on two of the record’s three, out-of-left-field cover tracks: A desolate version of Jackson Frank’s “Milk & Honey” and the strangely compelling “Flower Of Love,” originally by Turkish musician Bari? Manço. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it take on Twink Alder’s “Gandalf’s Garden,” which opens the album, rounds out the surprising selection of cover material on the album.
As eclectic as the album is, it could have been more so, if someone close to Reeves hadn’t intervened as he tried to include even more of his favorite sounds. Reeves says, “My wife Kimberly said, ‘You’re going to have a 30-song album that’s going to be unwieldy in all different places. I think you need to get back to where you started.’ I pared things down and decided to get back to the original idea.”
Considering the sci-fi leanings on the record, it’s fitting whom Jake Reeves credits for his overriding philosophy on letting these tracks live in all their unkempt glory. “George Lucas said, ‘Art is never completed, it’s abandoned,’” Reeves explains. “So a guiding principle was to not tinker with this thing and turn it into something hyper-produced or obsessively polished. It just wasn’t going to be one of those records.”
SoCal singer/songwriter, Emmy-nominated TV writer-producer & novelist James Kahn’s seventh album, By the Risin’ of the Sea, turns our expectations of traditional sea shanties on their heads by confronting our modern environmental struggles. The album was a finalist in the International Acoustic Music Awards, and the music video of the title song has won several film festival awards, including Best Music Video at the Global Film and Music Festival. READ MORE…
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After nearly a decade in New York City, alt-country rocker Whitney Lockert finds refuge and renewal in Los Angeles and classic country/rock songcraft on his sophomore LP, Long Way to California (out July 15). The record plays like a series of musical postcards from pasts and futures, both real and imagined, and draws on Lockert’s varied work with artists like Nigerian reggae star Majek Fashek, and former lead guitarist of The Black Crowes, Marc Ford.
Long Way to California is about recognizing where you are and searching for something new, learning from mistakes and triumphs, and seeking contentment among the confusions of modern life. Lockert pens wry and deadly honest lyrics, lightened with occasional touches of levity. His musical brilliance stems from an encyclopedic knowledge and reverence for stalwart Americana bards like Neil Young, Tom Petty, Merle Haggard, Steve Earle, and Buck Owens. He toys with classic country tropes, subverting them with humor and modern insight, while blending them with anthemic folk rock, psychedelic guitar leads and the occasional Bakersfield lilt.
Album opener and title track “Long Way to California” lays out the album’s themes of seeking contentment and a place in the world. It contemplates leaving everything behind and hitting the road “in an old dirty car,” in search of a place to “build something old.” It’s about looking for love, stability, and room to grow. The song basks in Lockert’s layered guitars and velvety, baritone vocals. The subdued organ, punchy guitar leads and synced piano melodies build into an anthemic love letter to a Golden State of the mind, free of the cramped confines of the city.
“I grew up in the Bay Area, then lived in New York for a long time,” says Lockert. “Through Hurricane Sandy, good and bad roommates, and many other ups and downs, I sometimes felt more connected to humanity than ever, and sometimes more isolated… I came to see the dream of California and the frontier of the West in ways I never had before, the appeal of its open spaces, its freedom from a certain kind of history. I was also imagining finding the right person to settle down with, and it just worked out that long after writing the song, I found that person, packed it up and headed west.”
“Girl On a Train” is a New York love song, a tale of gentle flirtation across subway platforms. There’s hope and melancholy in Lockert’s voice as he sings of two strangers, who never were and never will be, sharing a moment before going on to lead their separate lives. The “Girl on a Train” video finds Lockert drifting in and out of consciousness in a theater, dreaming about what could be. Hypnotic found footage and classic horror film clips simulate the subway experience as strange characters, some beautiful, some disturbing, come and go. Lockert makes peace with his journey as a gorgeous harmonized chorus lulls him to sleep. The transient, warm pedal steel brings him back to life as he reaches his last stop on Myrtle Avenue.
Album closer “Staten Island Blues” was written after Eric Garner’s murder at the hand of NYC police officers on July 7, 2014. Sadly, the song seems only to gain relevance with the passage of time and further events. Lockert’s guitar speaks as poignantly as his lyrics on this song, building from quiet lyricism to a full-on howl of emotion at the song’s climax.
“I Think I Blew It” is driven by a mellow yet propulsive guitar hook coupled with lyrics full of humorous hindsight; its wry self-effacement and psychedelic touches suggest the hazy rock of Kurt Vile. It’s a song about laughing at one’s own “a-ha moments,” realized just a little too late. Grunge-infused cosmic country track “Not to Judge” stems from an off-handed comment thrown out by a companion in a New York taxi cab between bumps of cocaine. It’s about the choices we make in the moment and their consequences.
“Everyone Makes A Mistake or Two” is an alt-country ballad about learning emotional intelligence, wrecking relationships and cars, and maybe drinking too much along the way. “We Were There” reflects on growing older and nostalgically looks back at growing up in a small town and simpler times. “This Disguise” continues the theme of growing up and figuring out “how to live” in a chaotic world. It pulls no emotional punches, showcasing Lockert’s undeniable ability to make his guitar sing with its own tragic voice. He invokes the spirit of Duane Allman jamming with Crazy Horse as he strangleholds blue notes that dance and shriek with transcendent ecstasy.
“The Desert and the Sea” finds Lockert envisioning life in Los Angeles, while still unsure if it’s time to go. Its gentle, West African-inspired fingerpicking and country pedal steel complement Lockert’s lulling vocals in this vacation-ready ode to rebuilding. Contemplating the push and pull of relationships, Lockert sings, “You want to go and I want to stay/And sometimes it feels like it’s slipping away/But I come around every once in a while/Back to the place that I found in your smile.” Maybe the time for construction is over for Lockert, who says that he wrote this song for a friend, as he settles into his new life of temperateness and relaxation.
“Lockert‘s music gracefully swings between rock, folk, and country with the sweeping sounds of Laurel Canyon … a sharp songwriter who excels at wringing irony from three chords and the truth – no matter what the music sounds like.” – Wide Open Country
“A deep appreciation for old school country.” – Adobe & Teardrops