MP3 Coney Island - FOLK: Folk-Rock

Elliott Smith on speed having a collision with Preacher Casey in a trailer park somewhere in upstate New York and then having a beer together and singing a few Woody Guthrie songs.

9 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk-Rock, ROCK: Americana

Details:
Liner notes:
A whole lot of memories can pile up in a place or a person, until a weight hangs in the air like haze in the summer sky. To clearly see the vivid colors of the present, some of the curtain needs to be pulled away, and in order to move it you need to get close enough to feel its velvet weight in your hands. Close enough to see the intricate weave of its fabric as you push it gently aside. The colors, sounds, and smells of Coney Island are dazzling when experienced with an open heart, clear of memory's dull, mourning drapery.

About the production:
This record explores some new territory for me, production-wise. Though I brought finished songs into the recording room, unlike most of my past records these songs weren't recorded live in the studio around my acoustic guitar and voice. The producer Koji would make a drum or rhythm loop and I'd play along. Then he'd mess with it to get it more or less in the ballpark of the song. Oftentimes he'd put a loop up and it would be way too fast or slow or something, and I'd say "hey, let's try the song like this..." So the rhythm would dictate where the song wound up. I love many artists who work this way as a habit. Peter Gabriel comes to mind in fact. So though the songs are still folky and still feature the acoustic guitar they also have different grooves then anything I've done before. What a fun thing it was to work in a totally different way then I'd ever worked before. I hope you like it!

About the songs:
Many of these songs have been audience favorites, such as Devil's Bluff, Witness, and Elliott, and others are pretty new such as Eleanor, Dying Gasp, and Listen. I think in these lyrics I've touched on some spiritual and human things that I've always been trying to speak about in my songs. I think listening to Elliott Smith obviously influenced this one a lot, but also many things I was reading such as William Blake and John Steinbeck, and what I was going through in my life. The time in which I've made this CD has been a time of great spiritual growth and hope for the future for me and I think that is reflected in these songs.

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