Jacques Brel, Mississippi John Hurt, Arvo Pärt, Nick Drake, Thomas Tallis, Brian Wilson, Scott Walker, Jim O'Rourke, Chet Baker, Aaron Copeland, Steeleye Span, John Renbourn
Sounds Like
20th Century North American and pan-European popular and folk music
I record music in my home studio, Shabby Road, with a phalanx of musicians and erstwhile n'er do wells. My current CD, The Truth About Ants and Aphids, is available through Amazon, Darla.com, iTunes, and other fine retailers.
Here is what some have said about The Truth About Ants and Aphids:
"As soon as I put on the adorably titled Truth About Ants And Apids, I was immediately swooned by his beautiful Stuart Murdoch-like voice and the soothing folk-pop melodies underlying it. I definitely recommend him for fans of Sufjan Stevens, Belle & Sebastian, and Tanakh." -whoneedsradio.com
"Chamber pop anthems aside you have aisle after aisle filled to the top of the ceiling with cerebrally challenging indie folk. Lush arrangements with never sparse instrumentation propel this album to the top of influential records to come out this year. Blended woodwinds, strings, and brass horns make you at peace and yet give you an understanding of the complexities of being a conductor in the orchestral pit. Rarely will you find a more daring, beautiful, and layered album." -smother.net (editors's pick)
"Despite such an obscure array of sounds and influences, The Truth About Ants & Aphids is a delightfully well-put-together album. Hume has shown a mastery in crafting an album that flows perfectly from one song and one movement to the next." -fensepost.com
"Kevin Hume's The Truth About Ants and Aphids is an astonishing piece of work ... musically adventurous in every respect. His music weaves in elements of guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel (my favorite instrument of late), cello, violin, harp, flute, trumpets ... these songs embody both the fragile beauty of Spring and the melancholy haze of night. Thematically coherant yet transcending boundaries of folk, jazz, and classical music, The Truth About Ants & Aphids is easily one of the most intriguing releases of the year"
- Seldom Heard Radio
"Hume is clearly a talented composer and arranger — look no further than the lovely “Glacier Bay” for proof" - Exclaim! (Canada)
"...it’s not a record that is overly busy, just quite haunting, tender and good. The string-saturated intro which leads into the gist of the Arcade Fire-ish “Curtain Number One” is a good example of this as no words are uttered but none are needed. And the song never cuts through the tension, just winds itself around a gorgeous melody."
- Popmatters.com
"Hume blends classical music, folk, indie and general craziness to create a concept album comprising four suites that explore the nature of love and humanity, and the nature of various garden-dwelling insects and plants. The listener is steered along a sonic path that is beautifully crafted and pleasantly evocative of gentle sunny rural landscapes – both in terms of the music, and Hume’s gentle philosophy within his lyrics.
In this humble writer’s opinion, “The Truth About Ants and Aphids” is certainly one of the stand out albums of 2007 so far. So go forth and investigate..."
- Whisperin' and Hollerin' (Ireland & UK)
"The Truth About Ants and Aphids fulfills the expectations of a folk-pop album, but like a blue jay singing in a ray of sunlight, offers touches of the unexpected to create a serene journey into a world of acoustic guitar, woodwinds, violins, soft brass and the occasional electronic highlight."
-Alibi
"...a totally charming, listener-friendly, feelgood piece of work that really engages the ear the moment it starts out on its journey. Kevin embraces a wide range of musical genres in his writing, but the folky-classical-indie vibe predominates. It's a sequence of gently crafted pieces that move easily between the chamber-folk classicism of the opening beautiful instrumental tone-painting (Curtain Number One), with its rippling summery demeanour (think the halcyon days of Tales Of The Riverbank!), the enchantingly quirky imagery and busy eight-fingered picking of Fanfare For The Common Wolf Spider, the robust indie-pop of Towns Where We Live, the folky chamber music of Glacier Bay and the clouds-racing soundscapes of Pink Chrysanthemums and A Good Tailwind."
-Netrhythms (UK)
