PIERCE EDENS - STRIPPED DOWN, GUSSIED UP
2017 - Self Released
The music made by this man from Appalachia has a strangeness that will not only seem slightly spooky to us city folk but probably also to the people from whence he came! Even on those songs that have gorgeous melodies and sparse beautiful chiming guitars or mandolin (which is most of them!) you can't help but feel there is a pervasive darkness and great depth to these songs that very few people can match. Of the eleven beautifully conceived and written tales, some are deep and bluesy, others just as deep but with that old 'gothic' hillbilly spookiness that has most certainly been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, although you know it could just as easily slide off back into those early haunting and haunted days of characters such as Dock Boggs.
This is Pierce Edens fifth full length album and whilst none of its predecessors, at least the ones I've heard, were 'over produced' this one has a beautiful stripped down sparseness that really emphasizes the talents of Pierce and old friend Kevin Reese who accompanied him with lead guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmony vocals. Matthew Neilson played piano, percussion and backup vocals whilst Pierce himself takes all lead vocals and played guitar.
Of the eleven songs on the album ten were written wholly by Pierce, the other being Tom Waits Mr. Siegal, giving a clue to what can be expected from the vocal performances! In truth Pierce Edens vocals are much more flexible than Wait's but just as raw, deep and dark, sometimes veering from deep but melodic to a raw primeval snarl, but always being sympathetic to his incredibly detailed and often astounding lyrics. The music that Pierce makes is very much of today but I can't quite shake off the feeling that the atmosphere that is created on his songs has some of the primeval edge that the legendary Dock Boggs brought to his otherworldly, spooky songs and probably performances. For me, no one has ever even come close to matching Boggs early recordings for their power and links to an unknowable past but Pierce Edens makes an exceptionally good fist of forcing his way along that path further perhaps than most before him, albeit with a strongly melodic modernity that allies itself to that raw spookiness.
Despite having listened to this incredible recording numerous times it is still one of the most unpredictable albums I've heard. The listener can get to know the songs but there are little nuances or even seemingly altered individual notes that were not obvious on previous listens, something that is highly unusual in itself, but the generally sparse sound makes it doubly so. Perhaps it's because you find yourself concentrating on his vocal inflections and the stories that the listener is drawn into the world Pierce creates on every song, but it is a world that is totally alien to most of us, with his varied vocal inflections highlighting that world and the events that are going on in it. Adam Johnson, as producer, also has to take huge credit for the instrumentation and arrangements that he must have had some say in, by way of the sympathetic balance of the instrumentation with the vocals and stories, each feeding off the other.
A nice gentle acoustic guitar gets things underway on Sirens before the sound fills out then in comes Pierce's raw, evocative vocal supported by some sympathetic harmonies and eventually melodic electric guitars with a little distortion. Pierce's vocal has an incredibly soulful feel on this song as the sound and the intensity gradually builds to a crescendo before falling back again. On The Devil there too the intro consists of lovely chiming guitars before Pierce's treated raw vocal comes in. The lovely melodicism of the guitars provides an excellent counter point to Pierce's raw but soulful vocal, in fact the gentle guitars give the song an almost contemporary country feel, not something you would normally associate with this artist, certainly not on this album, despite the strong melodies. On The bells of Marshall things get going with an acoustic guitar and chiming mandolin before being joined by an excellent and evocative vocal from Pierce on a strong, beautifully melodic tale. The song gradually builds and there are some excellent supporting harmonies that help create a tremendous 'high lonesome' atmosphere and whilst there seems to be an easy going element to the song there is an underlying feeling of dramatic intensity. On Further down the guitar intro is so gentle that it takes a few seconds to filter through to the listener and Pierce's vocal actually has a gentle if raw edge that is eased as the harmonies join him on the chorus on a song that as with several others has the dark atmosphere of an old Appalachian murder ballad. I can't sleep is a fiery dramatic tale on which Pierce's vocal gets so raw that there is a feeling of losing control, particularly with the dramatic choppiness of the instrumentation but that vocal is, in a strange way, what anchors everything. I don't know how much moonshine he gargled with before recording this song but it certainly worked. To further add to the drama of the song the percussion and guitar sound are hard, melodic and intense.
This is an album that won't appeal to everyone, (nothing ever does!) certainly those who like their 'country music' mellow and polished, but that's their loss. This is an album that is as near perfect in its concept, creation, arrangements, balance and performances as you are ever likely to hear and is without doubt a recording that has to be categorized as 'real rural country music.' If we assume the evidence from almost a hundred years ago is correct, and there is no reason to suppose otherwise, the rural Appalachians from whence Boggs, Hutchison, Carson and the Carters amongst many others first presented us with recordings of 'hillbilly' music, is the true home of 'country' and not, as seems nowadays, Nashville! Assuming that is so, everything that followed was a series of developments, some going off at tangents, some making minor changes that would lead to yet more minor changes and even more 'sub genres' so that the links to the early days in many of those sub genres were erased. There are however, still a few artists making and releasing albums that have a direct link to that long gone past, rather than following a diluted and expanded thread and this is most certainly one of those albums. Off the top of my bald head I could'nt think of another album that is totally modern but also completely true to that eerie old tradition; prior to hearing Pierce Edens incredible 'Stripped down, gussied up!'
http://pierceedens.com/
The music made by this man from Appalachia has a strangeness that will not only seem slightly spooky to us city folk but probably also to the people from whence he came! Even on those songs that have gorgeous melodies and sparse beautiful chiming guitars or mandolin (which is most of them!) you can't help but feel there is a pervasive darkness and great depth to these songs that very few people can match. Of the eleven beautifully conceived and written tales, some are deep and bluesy, others just as deep but with that old 'gothic' hillbilly spookiness that has most certainly been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, although you know it could just as easily slide off back into those early haunting and haunted days of characters such as Dock Boggs.
This is Pierce Edens fifth full length album and whilst none of its predecessors, at least the ones I've heard, were 'over produced' this one has a beautiful stripped down sparseness that really emphasizes the talents of Pierce and old friend Kevin Reese who accompanied him with lead guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmony vocals. Matthew Neilson played piano, percussion and backup vocals whilst Pierce himself takes all lead vocals and played guitar.
Of the eleven songs on the album ten were written wholly by Pierce, the other being Tom Waits Mr. Siegal, giving a clue to what can be expected from the vocal performances! In truth Pierce Edens vocals are much more flexible than Wait's but just as raw, deep and dark, sometimes veering from deep but melodic to a raw primeval snarl, but always being sympathetic to his incredibly detailed and often astounding lyrics. The music that Pierce makes is very much of today but I can't quite shake off the feeling that the atmosphere that is created on his songs has some of the primeval edge that the legendary Dock Boggs brought to his otherworldly, spooky songs and probably performances. For me, no one has ever even come close to matching Boggs early recordings for their power and links to an unknowable past but Pierce Edens makes an exceptionally good fist of forcing his way along that path further perhaps than most before him, albeit with a strongly melodic modernity that allies itself to that raw spookiness.
Despite having listened to this incredible recording numerous times it is still one of the most unpredictable albums I've heard. The listener can get to know the songs but there are little nuances or even seemingly altered individual notes that were not obvious on previous listens, something that is highly unusual in itself, but the generally sparse sound makes it doubly so. Perhaps it's because you find yourself concentrating on his vocal inflections and the stories that the listener is drawn into the world Pierce creates on every song, but it is a world that is totally alien to most of us, with his varied vocal inflections highlighting that world and the events that are going on in it. Adam Johnson, as producer, also has to take huge credit for the instrumentation and arrangements that he must have had some say in, by way of the sympathetic balance of the instrumentation with the vocals and stories, each feeding off the other.
A nice gentle acoustic guitar gets things underway on Sirens before the sound fills out then in comes Pierce's raw, evocative vocal supported by some sympathetic harmonies and eventually melodic electric guitars with a little distortion. Pierce's vocal has an incredibly soulful feel on this song as the sound and the intensity gradually builds to a crescendo before falling back again. On The Devil there too the intro consists of lovely chiming guitars before Pierce's treated raw vocal comes in. The lovely melodicism of the guitars provides an excellent counter point to Pierce's raw but soulful vocal, in fact the gentle guitars give the song an almost contemporary country feel, not something you would normally associate with this artist, certainly not on this album, despite the strong melodies. On The bells of Marshall things get going with an acoustic guitar and chiming mandolin before being joined by an excellent and evocative vocal from Pierce on a strong, beautifully melodic tale. The song gradually builds and there are some excellent supporting harmonies that help create a tremendous 'high lonesome' atmosphere and whilst there seems to be an easy going element to the song there is an underlying feeling of dramatic intensity. On Further down the guitar intro is so gentle that it takes a few seconds to filter through to the listener and Pierce's vocal actually has a gentle if raw edge that is eased as the harmonies join him on the chorus on a song that as with several others has the dark atmosphere of an old Appalachian murder ballad. I can't sleep is a fiery dramatic tale on which Pierce's vocal gets so raw that there is a feeling of losing control, particularly with the dramatic choppiness of the instrumentation but that vocal is, in a strange way, what anchors everything. I don't know how much moonshine he gargled with before recording this song but it certainly worked. To further add to the drama of the song the percussion and guitar sound are hard, melodic and intense.
This is an album that won't appeal to everyone, (nothing ever does!) certainly those who like their 'country music' mellow and polished, but that's their loss. This is an album that is as near perfect in its concept, creation, arrangements, balance and performances as you are ever likely to hear and is without doubt a recording that has to be categorized as 'real rural country music.' If we assume the evidence from almost a hundred years ago is correct, and there is no reason to suppose otherwise, the rural Appalachians from whence Boggs, Hutchison, Carson and the Carters amongst many others first presented us with recordings of 'hillbilly' music, is the true home of 'country' and not, as seems nowadays, Nashville! Assuming that is so, everything that followed was a series of developments, some going off at tangents, some making minor changes that would lead to yet more minor changes and even more 'sub genres' so that the links to the early days in many of those sub genres were erased. There are however, still a few artists making and releasing albums that have a direct link to that long gone past, rather than following a diluted and expanded thread and this is most certainly one of those albums. Off the top of my bald head I could'nt think of another album that is totally modern but also completely true to that eerie old tradition; prior to hearing Pierce Edens incredible 'Stripped down, gussied up!'
http://pierceedens.com/