|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
VHF 166LP
|
"VHF debut and second widely-available LP by Liam Grant, part of a new generation of underground 'American primitive' guitar players serving the traditions and smashing them up simultaneously. Prodigal Son is a portrait of an artist on the road, changing fast, recording things as they spring from the fountain. The sound here is raw -- grass and dirt instead of pre-fab; homemade/handmade instead of high-tech, etc. There's a visceral quality and immediacy of culture that's being lost every day in modern life -- Prodigal Son is a chance to grab some of it back. 'Palmyra' has Liam on weissenborn-style lap steel, the sound fuzzed out and distorted by the guerilla recording technique. 'Salmon Tails Up The River' stretches out to nearly 13 minutes, a dense meditation on 12 string that sustains a dark and heavy mood for the entire duration. On the B side, 'Insult to Injury' reverses the mood, with an elegant and unhurried 12 string sequel of deep beauty. Liam's unexpected take on Loren Conners' 'A Moment at the Door' is a perfect translation of Loren's reverb-heavy electric drift to unadorned acoustic (and tape hiss) -- a frozen moment of absolute grace. Wrapping things up is a take on 'Old Country Rock,' with fiddle and banjo, just a brief taste of the barnstorming old-time sound of Liam's touring trio."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
FTR 740LP
|
Co-release with Carbon Records.
"It's my great pleasure to introduce you to guitarist Liam Grant and his debut album, Amoskeag... It's one of those records that critics, fans and musicians alike will look back at and say, 'This is where it all started'... [Liam] has since played with folks like Mike Gangloff, Glenn Jones, Trevor Mackenzie, Buck Curran, Dave Shuford, Joseph Allred... the list of heavy-hitters is already long and continues to grow. Every song on this album taps into raw, rich veins of sound that are simultaneously dense but easy to enjoy; vintage and modern; new yet timeless. The album kicks off with a monster track entitled 'Stratton-Eustis' -- one of those complex yet flowing tunes that makes you think overdubs were involved or the player has grown an extra set of limbs. Then there's 'Kenduskeag,' a raga-esque group recording in an abandoned New England Conservatory building with Ethan WL and the long-standing anonymous drone collective The Suncook Symphony that showcases his already masterful skills for composition and band leadership. The title track, 'Amoskeag,' is a powerful, overflowing whiskey glass full of deep, raw soul, drawn from ages past and times present. The closer, 'Androscoggin River Ragg,' is exactly that, an old-timey blues rag sucked straight from the ether of hundred years past, with Grayson McGuire on banjo and Mike Gangloff on jaw harp. This old, worn-out dog can't begin to express what an honor and privilege it's been to work with Liam and the other various musical misfits and mysticks that he's drawn into his circle. This album captures all that magick and then some. It's not just a good album... nor just a great one... it's a fuckin' important, much-needed beacon in the dark seas of overproduction, ephemera and watered down, easy-to-sell dullness of today...." --Rob Vaughn, 2023
|