A finely crafted and musically overflowing song cycle: from Pentecostal, snake-handling Gospel to dreamlike odes to Appalachian hoe-downs to achingly beautiful lullabies.

11 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Folk Rock, FOLK: Folk-Rock

Show all album songs: Songs from Candyapolis Songs


Details:
City Salvage Records proudly announces the release of âSongs From Candyapolis,â the debut album by songwriter Keith Morris. Produced exquisitely by Morris and Jeff Romano (Corey Harris, Devon Sproule, Paul Curreri, Old School Freight Train), and featuring phenomenal musicians cherry-picked from the fertile Charlottesville, Virginia music scene (Morwenna Lasko, Brandon Collins, the Hogwaller Ramblers, Richelle Claiborne, Paul Curreri, Devon Sproule, and more), âCandyapolisâ is, in CSR founder Andy Friedman's words, "a masterful sucker-punch of an album, all daring, original and organic, that grows on you like the kudzu it jumped out of."

The musical moods here run the gamut: from Pentecostal, snake-handling Gospel to dreamlike odes to Appalachian hoe-downs; from quietly whispered prayers to unhinged rave-ups to transporting lullabies. Apropos of the albumâs wide-open perspective and emotional honesty, "Candyapolis" also features a rocking and redefining cover of Daniel Johnston's "Casper The Friendly Ghost." It's a major album; one that rewards close attention and reveals more and more with each listen. The songs here were collected over 10 years of writing, with two years spent recording and crafting them with Romano at Greenwood Studios. ("'Songs From Candyapolis' grabs the listener by the collar and never lets go, drawing him into a world all its own."--Shannon Wells, Charlottesville Daily Progress.)

Morris, who's been writing songs for many years, "decided to make this particular record because it dawned on me that I had stumbled onto some odd, new musical territory here. These songs have their own voice--sometimes, they seem to be speaking in their own native tongue. For most of these songs, I didn't feel like I was 'writing' them, so much as 'receiving' them, and that's what makes them special to me. They came from another place.â

As accomplished songwriter Tom House (himself the subject of a raving 1997 critique by writer Greil Marcus) observes, "I was eight songs into the album before it dawned on me that childhood figured prominently in the material. But these aren't children's songs. I'd fail the test trying to figure what the âthemeâ of 'Candyapolis' is, but thatâs what makes it work for me. I can't think of anything to compare it to, but it's all very cool!"

"When we began work, Keith played tapes of the songs he'd recorded," explains producer Jeff Romano. "I heard gospel, I heard rock, I heard classical. It was a project with huge variety and scope. We brainstormed on musicians we know from Charlottesville, brought them in, then basically turned them loose, and things exploded exponentially....We finished the album over a year ago, and listening to it now, it's just a really honest, really fine record. There's never a forced moment or a note that doesn't care. It's a testament to the notion that fine art can come off the pen immediately with no distance between the imagination and the final sculpture. As a songwriter, Keith brings himself to bear so thoroughly, and it's infectious. You feel the inner life strongly in these songs."

("Few artists could walk you through the varied nooks and neighborhoods of Candyapolis and make them real, in all their grime and glory, and breathe them to life, without somehow stealing away their magic. Keith Morris leads this tour like a true street hustler/spirit guide."--Danny Schmidt, songwriter)

WEBSITE: http://www.keith-morris.com
CONTACT: keith@keith-morris.com
PHONE: 434-979-2749





Candyapolis Raves


âI thoroughly love this album. Voice, songs, production--all classic. I was engaged at first listen. It sounds like Ryan Adams fronting some kinda alt-country-Leonard Cohen-introspective-grandeur combo (and I mean that in the best possible way.) He's onto something.â
Shannon Wells
Music Columnist
Charlottesville Daily Progress


âDamn fine effort. Achingly beautiful melodies here and there reminded me of the feel of Kurt Wagner's (Lambchop) lyrics and delivery, but without the detached irony. I'd fail the test trying to figure what the âthemeâ of Candyapolis is, but thatâs what makes it work for me. As an album, it's hard to find anything to compare it to. (It's) all very cool!â
Tom House
Songwriter/Musician


âYou really HAVE to hear this album! It's so much fun. One of my absolute favorites.â
Paul Curreri
Songwriter/Musician


"Candyapolis covers all the important ground: I can make dinner to it, yes, but also, in the car, or under headphones, I can always find a new lyric, a new reference, or turn of phrase, to wonder at. Jeff Romano's production is wondrously loose and yet entirely bulletproof -- nothing I would change. If ballading Beck had roots as deep, had both driven a cab and taught English in a backwoods Virginia college, perhaps his whine would have the same transporting depth as Keith Morris'."
Devon Sproule
Songwriter/Musician

âFew artists could walk you through the varied nooks and neighborhoods of Candyapolis and make them real, in all their grime and glory, and breathe them to life, without somehow stealing away their magic. Keith Morris leads this tour like a true street hustler/spirit guide.â
Danny Schmidt
Songwriter/Musician