Steve Tibbetts - Live in New York, May 9th 1992

What is it?  Jazz fusion? World rock? I have no idea, take a listen or two and try it out.  I own most of his studio work and I highly recommend it, particularly the early stuff.




Download the show.

Visit Steve Tibbetts on the web

 

Aaron Sheppard - Two new releases

Aaron Sheppard has rather quietly released a couple of very nice works that I think you should check out!  One is very traditionally acoustic and the other is a much more progressive approach to guitar playing.  You probably know Sheppard's name from his piece's on Imaginational Anthem 4 : New Possibilities and Beyond Berkeley Guitar, both from the Tompkins Square label.


 

Sean Smith – Huge Fluid Freedom

Guest review brought to you today by Andrew Hammond

This rather ambitious sounding album title provides the first clue as to what you’re in for once you hit the play button on your CD player, or for you cool cats, release the turntable needle. Through Huge Fluid Freedom Sean Smith demonstrates that he is clearly a man with little concern for genre boundaries and refreshingly he seems determined to create the soundscapes he wants to hear, rather than worrying about album continuity or our external expectations. The album is also a reflection of where Sean Smith is in his career. He’s probably best known for his American Primitive acoustic guitar work, but a quick look at his discography reveals he has, in recent years, usually had an electric guitar strapped around his neck. This album is the latest, and perhaps boldest, in a line which has gradually introduced electric guitar to acoustic guitar and given the pair a free reign over 35 minutes of soon to be disturbed silence.

The album introduces itself with ‘I Know You’re Tired, But Come. This is the Way’. A slow ambient droning intro is interrupted by a rather ugly and disjointed riff reminiscent of Shellac at their most abrasive. It feels as though its role and responsibility is to grab the listener and shake them hard, dispelling any preconceived idea that Sean Smith will be performing an acoustic track today.

With that out the way the track embarks on an exploration of the ambience that can be created with several overlays of electronic feedback and vocals, anchored by simple acoustic riff whose insistence and attitude becomes a real centrepiece for this darkly cinematic track.

If track one is the ‘fluid’, then track two is the ‘huge’. The acoustic takes a step back here as ‘The Real’ opens with an incredible wail of dissonant electric guitar.  Throughout the piece Sean demonstrates the control he has over a whirl of feedback, reverb and phase as he slowly reigns in the electric guitars allowing for moments of calm, before releasing yet another wall of sound.

Just as we’ve forgot about the acoustic guitar the album turns surprisingly to a solo acoustic track with a lovely clockwork feel. The undertones of dissonance are still there, but it’s overlaid by far more sweet melodies than we have been treated to so far, the melodies springing out of the second movement of the piece being a particular favourite of mine. At 10 minutes long this track explores several different ideas and is more like a mini musical suite of its own.

Not to be outdone, the final track is an example of how an electric guitar (with a few overlays and effects) can hold its own in a solo setting. Fittingly for the album titled track, the anthem like riffs found at its center are perhaps the most original on the album and most likely reveal the style of future Sean Smith albums, unless he finds yet another corner of music to explore first.

Overall, the album is a surprising, perhaps hard to get hold of, mix of sounds. Whilst it might not tickle the average Delta Slider reader in all the right spots, it’s great to hear an acoustic artist showing what they are capable of in other areas of music. Perhaps only Glenn Jones, via Cul-De-Sac, has a history of branching out this far from traditional folk.  Huge Fluid Freedom is certainly going to stay near the top of my music collection as I find myself wanting to listen again to the grit of ‘I Know You’re Tired, But Come. This is the Way’ and indisputable size of ‘The Real’ amongst all the other gems in there.

Pick it up at Strange Attractors Audio House
Visit Sean Smith on the web
     

Kirill Nikolai & Colin Treiber "Three Studies Of October & The Cemetery For Mt.Vernon In Spring"

The name Kirill Nikolai may (or may not) be familiar to you. He is a member of Still Light an experimental folk trio featuring the considerable talents of Lucy Hague and Sand Snowman. Still Light released their "Lything" debut album first on Apollolaan Recordings and then reissued on vinyl on the wonderful tonefloat label.

For this superb release Kirill has collaborated with guitarist Colin Treiber. This two EP set contains recordings from October 2010 and Spring 2011. The first EP has three acoustic pieces. The second EP contains five tracks, consisting of three acoustic pieces divided by two field recordings. In Kirill's words "a kind of homage to John Fahey".  This double 3" cdr set comes in a selection of rustic handmade cloth pouches.

"Three Studies Of October" EP
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
Kirill Nikolai - acoustic guitar, electric guitar Colin Treiber - acoustic guitar Recorded October 2010

"The Cemetery For Mt. Vernon In Spring" EP
1. Pt. I
2. Pt. II
3. Pt. III
4. Pt. IV
5. Pt. V 
Kirill Nikolai - 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, field recordings Colin Treiber - acoustic guitar Recorded Spring 2011

Made in a limited hand numbered edition of 50 copies.

Available now at Reverb Worship  Scroll down to the Feb. 2nd date to find more info and ordering details.

Kirill and some of his associates opened for Arborea when they went through Denver.

Iain Chambers – Rituals and Pastimes

Rituals and Pastimes is a solo guitar effort from Iain Chambers.  Chambers started playing guitar in Southampton (UK) in his late teens. He didn't hear John Fahey's music until much later after being introduced to it by a friend.  Discovering Fahey opened the door to the range of influences running through the so called Takoma School (Fahey's circle of fellow American Primitives) from Charlie Patton to Bartok. He particularly admired Charlie Patton's use of slide – how his music seemed focused and aggressive. 

Despite, or perhaps because of his influences, it seems to me that Chambers isn’t trying to be someone else.  His playing is his own and you can tell that he is comfortable with his stops and starts, his pauses and tempo changes.  They are his; he is not emulating some other player just to be like them.  Chambers is feeling his music as he plays it.  This is an effort defined by pieces that refuse to be easily categorized or labeled.  This isn’t a sterile recording, strings snap and rattle, there’s the sound of deep body thumps and a slide hitting the fretboard.  All of this pleases me.

Glenn Jones after hearing a demo of “Rituals and Pastimes”: “The best tracks possess deeply expressive qualities, and make me remember why I wanted to take up the guitar..

Let’s get to a song or two…I know the title says “Port Authority Bus Station Blues” but this is a guitar calling me from a hidden cave on a craggy mountain top. It calls me to seek it out, scrambling up the mountain side to seat myself at its feet with my questions, and when it is done I can’t remember the answers or even the questions, only the journey.  Then “Ed Mark” issues forth from the mountain again on track five, calling me back with the lure of the slide, I can’t resist.

Chambers shifts easily in tempo, style and approach throughout the effort and within the songs themselves.  It’s not a quick and simple listen, it’s not background music, it’s not slick and glossy…that’s why it’s a good one.

BUY:
Transformed Dreams
Amazon UK Vinyl
Amazon US MP3
CD Universe                              
          

VISIT: MySpace

LISTEN:
  

   

Arborea – Red Planet

Red Planet opens with a short instrumental track of solo guitar, The Fossil Sea, that rather fittingly sets the tone for the whole CD. Subdued, tense, mysterious and teetering on the edge of this world and another.

You can count on Shanti Curran’s instantly recognizable vocals to complete the transition into the other world. Between her vocals and the excellent treatment they get in production, you are gently yet firmly escorted into gauzy ether.

Buck and Shanti will play anything and everything with strings to get the sound and feel that they want. Shanti’s banjo style is minimalistic and restrained no foolish light speed pickin’ here! And a lot of the attraction to this effort for me is the diverse line up of stringed instruments.

Spain is a particularly stand out piece. Helena Espvall’s haunting cello is in perfect synchronicity with the guitar work, precise and yet so achingly human. An absolutely beautiful piece and probably my favorite vocal work by Shanti.

In fact everything on this disc is so well fit together, melded into a musical whole that you dare not play only a select song or rearrange the track list. Please do not put this into shuffle on your player, you might well rend the time and space of our universe!

They aren’t afraid to stray from the plucked song, Red Planet is a soundscape that continues the tension and mystery of the effort as a whole, ideally placed between the vocal efforts that bookend it.

After 51 minutes of being under the Arborea spell you might wonder where you’ve been. It’s a time spent in another world, it feels a bit frightening but irresistible.

Careless Love by Strange Attractors

An interesting local note for me is that Taylor Mesple is credited with taking part in the engineering of the disc. Mesple’s father owns a local guitar shop and headed the band Wind Machine for many years. Taylor and his brother were members of the band at a very young age when I saw them playing and I was impressed with how good the two were, they had to be in their early teens. Glad to see he’s keeping good company.

Buy from Strange Attractors Audio House  Get your vinyl fix!
Arborea Blog
MySpace
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Anonymeye - I Am Feeling Very Olympic Today

Review by Andrew Stranglen


Loops, drones, and more loops, synthesizer, acoustic guitar, and possibly a Harmonium or Shruti Box as well, briefly sums up what Anonymeye is all about. These four live performances are precisely irrepeatable, but repeatable in their essence. That is the roundabout way of saying they won’t sound exactly the same way with each execution. But this is the nature of this kind of improvisational work. Fans of Jim O’Rourke’s solo work will definitely like what Anonymeye is doing with guitar music. At times Faheyesque, but also going beyond what John Fahey ever did in this vein; Anonymeye is certainly carving new territory with the CD “I Am Feeling Very Olympic Today.” There are Synthesizers laying down loops on top of which guitar is also played and looped.
It almost sounds as if the whole thing could be done with a Line 6 (DL4) digital delay, or a couple of Delay/sampler pedals.
In the first video below Andrew uses a synthesizer, guitar, and apparently a laptop for loop manipulations.

See him (Andrew Tuttle) at work here

An interview here

This may be challenging listening for some, but I found the experience rewarding. It’s also similar to some of the things I have done, and therefore piques my interest. Give Andrew Tuttle/Anonymeye a chance, you might just like it!
I’d give this effort a solid 4 out of five stars!
Andrew Stranglen

Anonymeye on Bandcamp
  

Andrew Stranglen - Doggone Gone Dog

Folks, I'm proud to present to you a recording by Andrew Stranglen, available for download.  If you aren't familiar with Stranglen's work you need to check it out.  This is an older one that was never released for sale.  But he has those too, be sure to check the links at the end of the post.  His "Harken" release made my Tops of the Decade list.  So without further ado, take it away Andrew...

Doggone Gone Dog

Def.1   An American colloquial expression of exasperation

          at the impermanence of life;   An expression of loss of

          a close friend or relative.  “Doggone it, the doggone

          dog is done gone!”

Def.2  A collection of experimental music recordings ca1999,

          by Andrew Stranglen using two Teac reel to reel tape

          decks in an endless loop setup, a la Steve Reich, or

          Fripp & Eno, earlier pioneers of R2R 2 R2R audio tape

          music experimentation. 

Conception

     Doggone Gone Dog was originally conceived while playing around with two Teac reel to reel tape decks.   And 12-string acoustic guitar with all lighter gages tuned DGGDGD.

Deck 1 is the record & supply deck, and deck 2,  set some few feet away is the playback & take-up deck which plays back into deck 1 opposite channels.   This creates a delayed repeat or long echo that slowly fades as new audio material is continually added, creating riffs that morph throughout time.  Other noisemakers on this collection include an electric guitar(Harmony Gibson S-G copy), kalimba, jaw harp, tambourine, voice, whistling, electronic cicada toy, and on the Bonus track (Jivas extracted from Splendor)  I bring a harmonica into the mix. 

Formerly an extremely limited edition

     Here is the new and improved “Doggone Gone Dog” album originally made in 1999 with a limited issue of probably no more than 20 cdrs ever produced.   I've remastered it for normalization and elimination of some pesky resonances.   It sounds better than ever, and I still enjoy it a lot!    I'm happy to give it away, and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

  

Notes on the cover art

      Front cover: Dog + Lightning = Electrik Dog => Lectrikdog(as currently).

A collage of a lightning sky turned upside down, midground is a blue disc shaped birdbath

sized fountain in front of which: a wolf type dog is eyeing us whilst licking his snout for a better whiff.

           Back cover: another collage I made, “Magic Dust”,  it's what the little girl has in her container, which she's opening whilst looking apprehensively at the undulating reddish-orange blob which is creeping towards and over the boardroom table, or is it creeping away?        

   Is Mr. Executive attempting to warn her?, or is he simply freaked out about his own situation?  There is a radio telescope array seen outside the windows of the boardroom. 

Notes on the Songs

1)     “Doggone Gone Dog, Gone Dog”

Yamaha slotted head acoustic 12-string with custom light gages tuned all mid-high register D-G-G-D-G-D(Dog-Gone-Gone-Dog-Gone-Dog).

2)     “Tropical Force Pt.1”

Title inspired by a pre-Katrina hurricane Floyd(mid September 1999).

Electric guitar in Standard tuning plus assorted other instrumentation.

3)     “Tribal Interlude”

a respite?, from the chaos of tropical storms, maybe.

4)     “Electric Gone Dog”

The original theme of track 1 is reiterated here using a Harmony “Gibson SG” copy tuned DGGDGD.

5)     “Tropical Force Pt.2” 

See Track 2.

6)     “Tribal Interlude(Conclusion)”

See Track 3.

7)     “Gone Dog”

Straight 12-string no tape loop manipulation, Fingerpicking with slide DGGDGD.

8)     “A Song For Jon”

Straight 6 string – again no tape machines, tuned DADFAD(Dm open)

Bonus Track 9

            “Jivas, Extracted from Splendor”

            This piece was made in 2000 also using the dual reel to reel technology. 

To me it sounded like music to accompany Jim Woodring's “Frank” in his world of the Unifactor, see http://www.Jimwoodring.com , or

http://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2009/02/04/jivas-and-yuels/ 

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiva

Guitar 12-string, jaw harp, harmonica, voice.

Ralph Johnston said recently upon hearing Jivas,

“'Twas a curious little field holler performed by nanobotic nematodes while creating  the magnificently monolithic ice crystal cathedrals of the Skapa Flow”.

then:

“Andrew...hiowdy!  I indeed love "Jivas"!...check out Scapa Flow on Wikipedia...they will give you a much better, detailed description than I ever could...at first my impressions were of my late pooch Kyri ecstatically rolling around in my back yard...enthralled with a cookie treat and revelling in my rapt attention to her canine antics...but then...sinister images began to appear...images of nanobotic nematodes and huge chrystalline ice structures being constructed in places where humans labored and fought...for truth...justice...and the...American way...sorry...I loved the 1950s Superman TV series starring George Reeves.”

I figure if Ralph likes it, well that's a job well done then.

ENJOY!

Andrew

Download it HERE includes all artwork.

If you enjoy this please visit Andrew Stranglen's CD Baby page or iTunes 

Arborea - Red Planet - Update, Almost There

Update - Hey folks, just wanted to let you know that the project is doing well and as of this writing is only a few hundred dollars from funding.  So if any of you fence- sittershave been meaning to throw a little support their way, now is the time.

Buck and Shanti Curan, the duo also known as Arborea have a Kickstarter project going on and I think you ought to check it out.

This project needs some funding to get off the ground. If you like their music, just visit the KICKSTARTER page to see how you can help. The project needs funding and there's a deadline.  Check it out!!! If the project doesn't fund, you owe nothing. 

Buck Curan most recently curated the Robbie Basho tribute release, We Are One, In The Sun.  If you haven't heard much Arborea, check out their cut from that release.

Blue Crystal Fire by Arborea

Keep up with news via their FaceBook page.

BUY Arborea from EMUSIC

We Are All One, In The Sun: A Tribute To Robbie Basho

I often hear people criticize tribute compilations though I’m never sure why, I like them and often seek them out and here’s why. If there is an artist out there that loves Robbie Basho and considers him an important influence and in fact important enough to interpret or re-interpret Basho’s music…I want to know who these people are!

Often these tributes are several artists and it is a great opportunity to find new artists that listen to and value what I listen to and value. What better way to discover like-minded musicians?

We Are All One, In The Sun: A Tribute To Robbie Basho is just such an opportunity.

Buck Curran deserves a lot of credit for assembling a tribute that is much more than just a collection of cover songs. It’s more adventurous and daring than that kind of tribute. And why shouldn’t it be? Isn’t that the spirit of Robbie Basho? These collections serve many a purpose, not the least of which is the obvious, a tribute. But what good is it if it doesn’t bring the fans of Basho to appreciate new artists? And just as importantly are the fans of any of the participating artist’s in this effort: it’s an opportunity to discover the roots of their music. I have found so much good music when I begin to discover my favorite artist’s influences. And a tribute collection puts it right there for all to see and every single artist is an opportunity to head off in a new direction!

So let’s dive in, one of the things I noticed first is that all the vocal covers are by women. And that may be a good thing for the budding Basho fan. Basho’s vocals were…unique…shall we say? The women convey the intensity and passion of a Basho song without raising the eyebrows, a common occurrence when Basho sang.

The covers by Arborea and Meg Baird are both pretty straight forward interpretations of Basho’s compositions while Fern Knight begins to stretch out with multiple instruments on "Song for the Queen."

Arborea, with Buck Curran on guitar and Shanti Curran providing the vocals, slow down Basho’s “Blue Crystal Fire” just a bit.  Buck Curran adds a very tasty slide solo in place of Basho’s fingered break and Shanti Curran’s vocals are delicate and beautiful.

Meg Baird takes on “Moving Up A Ways” keeping it pretty straight, though chooses a 6 string instead of the 12 string that Basho played for this piece.  As is the case with the previous song, Baird’s vocals seem a perfect fit for Basho’s song, strikingly lyrical.

Fern Knight expands on Basho’s “Song for a Queen” with multiple instruments that create a landscape around the lyrics of the song throwing in everything from the harp to the strangled distortion of an electric guitar.

Ultimately, all the vocal pieces take the listener on a journey to a beautiful and mythical land where you are temporarily lost in the music.

Undoubtedly all the artists are to be commended for capturing the spirit and feel of Robbie Basho. Some took the route of loosely interpreting existing Basho works and others went the straight ahead route. Still others took merely an idea or a line from a lyric as a launching point. Case in point is Cian Nugent’s "Odour of Plums." For a guy like me that likes the more straight ahead approach to guitar playing I love this piece by Nugent. He very nicely interjects tension and mystery that captures the spirit of a Basho song.

Curran manages to mix a little of everything into the release with the obvious (and obviously necessary) inclusion of Steffan Basho-Junghans and Glenn Jones as well as the unanticipated. Unanticipated? How about oud player Rahim AlHaj and cellist Helena Espvall?

Rahim AlHaj was included to touch on Basho’s intense love of Persian music. And don’t think for a minute that Espvall’s work is your average cello piece.

Digital version songs include Joseba Irazoki "Bashorentzat," Cameron Deas "Waters of Kvaloya" and an alternate version of Yair Yona’s Skinny Fists.

Deas' work on the 12 string is not to be missed by any fan of intense, raw and powerful solo guitar work.

Yair Yona is one of the new torch-bearers of modern American Primitive.

Eric Wallack - Stella Says

Eric Wallack has been making music for years and he has been quite prolific. He doesn’t seem to let genres hold him down, flitting from one sound to another in the course of his recording output. The most recent example of all of the above is his 12 For Nothing project where his goal is to put out one new record album a month for a year.  Oh, and for free.

And this isn’t his first foray into a self-imposed artistic flurry of production. He once worked something he called the 365 project where he wrote a song a day for a year. Wow, that’s just nutty! And awesome!

Stella Says is the debut of the series back in April, so I’m already a release behind!

Wallack feels it definitely falls into the American Primitive style and I have to agree with him. He describes it as "a bit raw but honest and spontaneous."  Wallack performs and records a lot of improvisational music and this effort is no different.  Since it’s free there’s no reason for you not to give it a listen.

All I know is that any guy that starts off a CD with slapin’ and poppin’ on a de-tuned Stella (that cost him a mere $30) has got my attention.

“Angst and the Small Aquarium” is one of those beautiful and simple tunes that captures the listener.  As is “Waltz in F# Purple,” with simply lovely melodies.

The tunes are about half standard tuning and half open D.  All dropped just a bit from concert pitch.

I love the simple feel of this effort. If you liked the C. Joynes that I posted I think you will like this as well. This has become one of my favorite listens lately.

Wrapping with “Get in the Graveyard” is a song that is a great closing tune that just leaves me wanting more.  Love the creepy title.

Download Stella Says

Visit Eric Wallack for the latest project updates.

Also be sure to check out his last FM site for other delights for the ear.
   

Quonset - Excursions in the Career of Ragtime Ralph

Ragtime Ralph recently sent me a recording of one of his other musical efforts.  Quonset was a bass/scrap metal percussion duo based on Savage Republic.


Here's what Ralph said about this recording. 

Quonset is my personal favorite of anything I've done: acoustic or electric...it's me on 3 string drone bass and Ed Frey on drums and scrap metal percussion...similar to very early Savage Republic...in fact we do a Savage Republic cover (Exodus)...performing rights graciously worked out with Savage Republics lawyer before release...and all it cost me were 6 copies of the CD!  I'm planning on re-releasing this CD (with extra cuts) on Empty Square at some point in the future.

So this obviously is not the kind of stuff I normally post but since Ralph's music has been prominent in this blog I think it is relevant to present his other work.  I think it is one of those things that remind me that all of us are very multi-faceted individuals and it is easy to form perceptions about artists when you know them for only one aspect of their artistry. 


I know there is a strong connection between the American Primitive audience and the experimental genres.  So many of you may find this interesting.  I hope so.  


Thanks again Ralph!


Download Quonset

    

Beyond Berkeley Guitar

This release is the follow up to the 2006 Tompkins Square release of Berkeley Guitar. This time Sean Smith expands the concept with more guitarists from a wider region geographically as well as musically.

I have to admit that I wasn’t too impressed with this disc the first time I gave it a spin. Or the second or third. But the compositions have grown on me. I suppose that I was taken a bit off-guard by the expansion of styles and Smith notes the danger of such an endeavor. I’m very partial to the Takoma style and I don’t have the background that many of these artists have in electronic music. They are obviously coming from a different place than I am musically. And I’m sure that affects what I hear. To me, the electronic/solo acoustic connection is a mystery.

Anyway, the CD starts off great with the promising young Aaron Sheppard. I found Sheppard on MySpace some time ago and was reminded of him by Mike Fekete recently. They met during Fekete’s latest tour through the area. Sheppard is a guy I will be keeping my eye on and I’m looking forward to a Gnome Life release.

“Dream of a Distant Summer” starts as a quiet piece that builds in intensity until the notes are like the blinding Sun as it shimmers on a rippled pond. Richard Osborn has great chops, but the improvised composition begins to fall apart near the end. Nonetheless I’ve come to enjoy this piece.

Trevor Healy deftly veers the feel back toward Takoma-country with his 12 string work. This one is strong on melody and Healy takes his time. Like I said, merely veering towards Takoma, this isn’t Kottke.

Chuck Johnson completes the return with a very nice Takoma-style performance full of pertinent pauses and nuances that really make this piece work.  Tompkins is offering this as a free mp3 downlod.  "A Struggle, Not A Thought"

Sean Smith checks in with cut #5. As is usual with Smith, he doesn’t disappoint. Modern American Primitive as I have come to expect from Smith. This one lasts eleven plus minutes but you don’t notice it.

Lucas Boilon’s “Studies Of The Oak As Pertaining To Drudic Rites Of Passage” is almost longer in title than the piece itself. However, Boilon’s playing turns out to be a rather compelling performance recorded in his living room.

And wrapping things up is Ava Mendoza. I applaud the intention by Smith but I just don’t see how this piece of music fits into this concept. It’s jazz. Now, before anyone gets bent out of shape that I’m not gushing over Mendoza’s inclusion in this project (as many are) and suggests something foul: I have taken lessons from three very good guitarists over the last few years. Two of them women, specifically: Mary Flower. So don’t even…ok? I just don’t think it fits into the concept, no reflection on her playing or style.

That wraps it. If you are looking for old-school Takoma playing, look elsewhere. If you want to expand your listening and discover some new musicians, look no further.
 
I highly suggest that you pop over to Work and Worry this week. They have scored an interview with each and every one of these artists and will be running one a day all week.

Cam Deas European Winter Tour

Hey you people across the water!

Cam Deas is on tour

Take note!

Take time!

And go see this guy!

I'm running this a bit late, so sorry, he's on the road, NOW!!
I took this info from his newsletter, you should sign up too!
Tour Dates with Jack Allett (formerly Spoono):
Jan 13th - Oslo; Sound of Mu
Jan 14th - Gothenburg; Cafe Ana
Jan 15th - Copenhagen; Lygten Station
Jan 16th - Hamburg; TBC
Jan 17th - Prague; The Brick Bar
Jan 18th - Vienna; Celeste (Vienna Institute of Improvised Music)
Jan 19th - Stuttgart; FFUS
Jan 20th - Mainz; Walpodenakademie
Jan 21st - Krefeld; Unrock @ Kulturrampe (With Good For Cows)
Jan 22nd - Den Haag: The SCSI Cell (With Basshaters)
Jan 23rd - Tilburg; Vatican Analog
Jan 24th - Louvain La Neuve; Ferme De Biereau
Jan 25th - Gent; Villa Drashhoek
Jan 27th - Rennes; La Bascule
Jan 28th - Cherbourg; Studio Chaudelande

Ok, Cam has also restocked his supply of My Guitar is Alive and It's Singing CDr and you should buy it, I did and it kicks ass. Yeah, really. Go to his MySpace and listen to The Waters of Kval0ya, fantastic tune.
I had it here for d/l but you really ought to support him so go check out his MySpace page for all the details. Lot's of other cool stuff to buy too, including that ridiculously popular black stuff with grooves.
Why are you still here? Go.

Cam Deas - My Guitar is Alive and It's Singing

Have no doubt when Cam Deas tells you that his guitar is alive and singing.
While the comparisons to James Blackshaw are numerous and admirable, they miss the mark. But only by a little bit. Granted, they both play a lot of that fancy 12 string. But Deas plays his guitar with such raw urgency and crisp production. Not really as lush as Blackshaw, it's playing that is hard to define.
Deas will spend nearly 10 minutes on the opening track luring you into a quiet and beautiful world before he really unleashes the picking attack on his guitar. A fantastic piece spanning nearly 20 minutes. The other two pieces are equally compelling in originality and passion.
This CDr has three pieces.
1. The Waters of Kval0ya
2. My Guitar is Alive and It's Singing
3. As Spring Fell From the Leaves
A prolific artist, he has put out a dozen works. Check his MySpace site for what is available now. He tends to sell a lot of his music on vinyl. So you need a turntable or to look close for the CDr releases. That's what I picked up, a simple digipak with cover art by Jake Blanchard. If you hear something you like you better grab it quick because most of it is printed in very small runs.
That is the case with this release, all sold out!

So Cam has been nice enough to let me post it for download.  I think he is still a nice guy!  It's just no longer available for d/l!


Cam Deas - My Guitar is Alive and It's Singing
Cam has re-issued/re-released, whatever, this effort so it is no longer available for d/l.  Please go to his site and buy it!