Alternative acoustic country and alt.country music with pop inflections.

5 MP3 Songs in this album (19:39) !
Related styles: COUNTRY: Alt-Country, POP: Quirky

People who are interested in Sting Gillian Welch Alison Krauss should consider this download.


Details:
Here's how I approach songwriting and arranging--my greatest strengths: All the best music has, somewhere, an irresistible hook-line. Whether it's Sting, Alison Krauss, Michael Jackson, Beethoven, Ani Difranco, Dierks Bentley, Nirvana, The Stanley Brothers, Eminem, Stevie Wonder, Puccini--anyone--it's got to have that special passage that grabs you, draws you in, addicts you, and leaves you breathless, wanting more. For me, a song that doesn't have that something that reaches out and grabs you by the heartstrings isn't really a song.

I've been immersed in music--all kinds of music--from a very young age, and I think there's great music (along with, unfortunately, a whole lot of garbage) in every genre: rap, country, rock, folk, metal, classical, and everything in between. I grew up listening to my dad play old-time fiddle, my mom playing Bach on the piano, and, when I discovered how to work the sound system, every kind of recording I could get my hands on, from the Beatles to Vivaldi to Ricky Skaggs to the Police.

I started writing songs at age 14, and joined my first band in New Zealand at age 15. In the meantime, I've performed and recorded in literally dozens of genres, including pop, classical, hard rock, country, blues, afro-pop, tango, and merengue. I've devoted my life to music, even going so far as to get a Ph.D. at Yale, where I fronted a ten-piece world-music band, while writing a dissertation on opera.

I've written and arranged music in every genre I've played in. In cl8n8, I've obviously taken a turn in the direction of alternative country, but listen close enough and you can hear traces not only of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, but also of Alison Krauss, Peter Gabriel, maybe even Bach or Palestrina (check out the bridge to "Grey"). What I'm most proud of is having been able to pull these many divergent styles into a easy-to-grasp, coherent, sound, a catchy, cohesive and irresistible
string of songs with obvious hit potential.

Last but certainly not least: I sure am lucky to have found an extraordinary group of musicians to work with: Clayton Carden is downright astonishing as a singer and Dobroist, Joey McGill is nothing less than a prodigy on the bass, and Catherine Naiser, whose musical potential seems limitless, and whose stardom seems practically assured.

Here's hoping you enjoy the music.