Monday, 15 December 2008

Matt Bauer - Twelve Grooves of Christmas Part 3

Matt Bauer is a musician who makes you sit up and take notice. Looking like a grizzly bear but sounding like a majestic eagle, his banjo picking, accordion squeezing tunes sent a shiver down my spine on first listen and have regularly been on repeat play since, especially during those those 'burning the midnight oil' sessions.

‘The Island Moved In The Storm’ was released in September 2008 and is his second full length studio collection. It's beauty lies within the timeless quality of the songs, which break free of passing whims or influence of contemporary trends. These tunes could have staked a place in the repertoire of the great American songbook at any time in the last hundred years.

It feels like authentic sound of the backwoods, crafted from a run down shack, fuelled by maudlin evenings sat in front of the open fire, downing illicit liquor and recounting unnerving tales passed down through the generations.

The facts of the back story of this project are inspired by the tragic tale of an unidentified body found in 1968, near to where Matt grew up. It's the emotions he evokes that are important, lost and bereft in the moment of the tragedy and so the listener is drawn into each vignette, as the mystery of the tale unravels, piece by piece. A ghostly, dignified tribute to the missing girl.



http://www.myspace.com/mattbauer

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