Often with the following friends: Jen Grady: Cello/Vocals, Tim Wright: Percussion, Jake Mann: Bass/Drums, Carey Lamprecht: Violin, Amber Lamprect: Oboe, flute. Sometimes with: Safa Shokrai: Upright Bass, Matt Bauer: Guitar/Banjo/Percussion, Keith Carey: lap steel, Derek Thomas: Effects.
Influences
Richard Brautigan, Leonard Cohen, Neutral Milk Hotel, Henry Miller, Tom Waits, Otis Redding, Ernest Hemingway, Joanna Newsome, John Steinbeck, M. Ward, Smog, P.J. Harvey, Nina Simone, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Hunter S. Thompson, Joni Mitchell, Joseph Campbell, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Nick Cave.
Sounds Like
"Another great singer/songwriter from San Francisco. Powerful with a light touch, Garrett will rip your heart out one moment and have you dancing the next." - Tony DuShane, SF Gate
"Garrett’s talents as a performer and a songwriter are undeniable." - The Bay Bridged
"Loving the beautifully recorded, moodily mythic tunes on the SF songsmith's new All Masks" - Kimberly Chun SF Guardian
"A dynamic, ephemeral collection that continually contracts and expands" - East Bay Express
"Wow! Bay Area troubadour Mr. Garrett Pierce has continued to nurture and refine his songcraft in a big big way. All Masks blossoms and flourishes onwards from his previous two releases... Some of the songs on his latest album verge on the epic yet still maintain his intimate earthy heart." - Aquarius Records
Garrett Pierce - And The Ghosts Boarded Trains - Directed by Matt Amato
Deep into All Masks the faint hum of cicadas and guitar picking
accompany a voice inquiring, "If songs are a world / if you think they
resonate indefinitely / if you think they echo past the end of me /
then why are you so scared?" These questions are answered with images
of ghost trains moving through the Mojave – endless tracks rolling
past the mind's comprehension.
"I wrote the whole song half asleep after a conversation about art and
ego," Garrett says about the track. "The idea that my songs might go
on forever with the help of fame or a hit single has no appeal to me.
I keep writing because I love sharing these stories with a live
audience. That brief connection is all that I'm interested in."
With the Internet swallowing up physical connection and attention
spans, musicians like Garrett are fighting to continue telling these
stories through songs.
Garrett Pierce moved all over the San Fernando Valley as a child,
occasionally dipping into his father's collection of Joni Mitchell and
Van Morrison records. He wrote and sang for rock bands throughout his
youth, but returned to a more hushed and literary style of songwriting
once he moved to the Bay Area. Garrett first released In His Arms in
collaboration with producer/mixer Eric Ruud (Sholi) – a bare bones,
confessional of "earthy pop gems" (S.F. Aquarius). His next record
Like A Moth (Crossbill Records '06) featured diverse arrangements and
contributions from former S.F. luminaries Jolie Holland and Matt
Bauer, and is "filled with the sort of oblique yet emotionally
satisfying wordplay that is reminiscent of a Murakami novel" (Santa
Cruz Metro).
"He manages a mix of the delicate, the folky, and the starry eyed" (SF Weekly).
His newest record All Masks is a dedication to ceremony and ritual.
Many of the songs reminisce classical myths, while others are
traveling tales from their author's personal life. "I'm interested in
ancient mythology, mainly because that style of storytelling has been
waning in my lifetime, and some of the most powerful images and
performances I've seen involve masks," Garrett said. I think they're
an incredibly important metaphor at explaining our place in nature."
Though he spends much of his time in San Francisco, Garrett chose to
record this third record in the seclusion of the Sierra Foothills. He
enlisted a large group to collaborate at Tim Wright's Barn in
Columbia, CA, a small gold rush town near Yosemite. With the help of
engineer Casey Sweten, and production tips from Bay Area musician Jake
Mann, the gang converted the barn into a recording studio equipped
with a tape machine and a vocal booth in the hayloft.
All Masks challenges the listener to take part in these stories,
whether torrent or calm. The strings, played by Jen Grady and Carey
Lamprecht (Emily Jane White Band), have a sad-peacefulness joined by
Amber Lamprecht's soaring oboe-work. Tim Wright (Wilderness, Ted Leo)
played Tom Waits-inspired percussion when he wasn't pressing record,
and Jake Mann contributed both bass and drums throughout the album.
Despite all of the textures and layers throughout the record, the root
of Garrett's songs remains his voice. Pages of lyrics are anchored in
Garrett's sweeping vocal range – some moments evoking darkness – in
others, a Motown-like playfulness. But more than anything does the
collective energy of Garrett and his musical guests drive the album's
compositions.
All Masks exists as a testament to the individuals who gathered around
these stories: one barn, many good friends and a little too much
whiskey at times. But altogether, the album represents a time of great
creativity, engraved in wax or performed on a stage not too far from
you.
Hey, I played "Mud Under My Feet" on my radio show on KDVS this week. You can check out the playlist and stream the show here: http://kdvs.org/shows/view/show_id/800