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Since 2004, Gallows Tree has been exploring traditional music, presenting it through the filter of modern musical sensibilities and arrangments. Gallows Tree is the work of josh, multi-instrumentalist and founder of Narse (synthpop style electronica) and Pancreatic Aardvarks (abstract project that ranges from ambient drones, to post-rock guitar instrumentals and noise). Inspired by the film "The Wicker Man" as well as celtic acts like Silly Wizard and the Old Blind Dogs, josh decided to focus on the old music of Scotland. Gradually that focus shifted, learning English ballads, Irish pub songs and laments, as well as writing original music in the same style.
Recently, josh has begun exploring the traditional music of North America, understanding the changes songs have made as they've crossed the ocean, how they have grown in different ways and splintered off into regional variations as well as the songs that have grown anew from the land. The arrangements are growing, owing as much to the psychedelic folk music of the 60s and today, as well as the later works of bands such as Swans and Godspeed You Black Emperor.
America is an amalgam culture. Every wave of immigration has brought new and different traditions and history that have not just influenced, but become a part of our culture. With the advent of modern communications, the sea of influence becomes deeper as modern cultures from around the globe are reflected in the world as they are happening, but seen through a lens of distance. The music, as tradition, should reflect that. Expect everything as Gallows Tree's delving into americana develops, ranging from simple acoustic guitar arrangements, to modern sounding electronics and ethereal soundscapes. Rather than strictly preserving the songs as they might have sounded over a hundred years ago, josh is attempting to let the songs grow the way they are wont to; not holding to any strict rules of instrumentation or styles of arrangement. The recordings you hear now are basic demos, josh sketching down the idea for the song, so that he can hear and share the basic idea and use that to develop the songs further. Already you can hear influences from the embittered punk anger undercutting "Sixteen Tons" or the haunting melancholy of "The Cuckoo" dissolving into the intense heartbreak that the lyrics warn of.
New drafts will be posted as the recording process develops, sketches solidifying and songs revealing themselves. We hope you are as excited about this new direction as we are, and continue to watch this project develop until finally an album emerges.
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