It’s a damn shame that the grinding squeal of metal-on-metal of a train coming into the station, thick steam billowing out through the waiting crowd of gunslingers, priests and thieves is imagery so co-opted by generic Americana bands and Morricone-wanna-be’s, because that is the stuff of poets. Guy Clark’s “Desperados Waitin’ On A Train” and Leonard Cohen’s “Ballad of the Absent Mare.” I’m talking about Nick Cave’s “The Proposition,” (not any of that Young Gun’s shit) the stuff with the kind of grit that stays under your nails when you die.
And that brings us to Luke Elliot. This New Jersey native’s first full-length record, “In Our Embrace”, has all of that grit in every crack and crevasse of its runtime. And not in any sort of pedal-steel parody way, but in the way of withered waltzes, barreling ragtime, and hypnotic piano dirges underpinned by literate narrative that coats each melody like chipped paint on a broken down jalopy. There are some easy comparisons to the aforementioned Cohen, and occasional shades of Dylan (Ballad of a Thin Man, perhaps?), and maybe some of those real piano-y Tom Waits’ albums that still haven’t gotten their due (“Foreign Affairs” or “One From the Heart”). But that doesn’t really get to the heart of it. Those guys color the prose of everyone who’s written a song in the last 40 years.
He’s channeling something much older and creakier than those guys, and still delivering it a way that connects him with a very short list of modern writers. Jagjaguwar’s Simon Joyner, perhaps, or Josh Pearson since he’s left the cacophony of “Lift to Experience” behind him. Basically, Luke Elliot is creating a sound without a whole lot of direct lineage, yet it still sounds lived in and familiar, the words streaming by as you try to catch up and parse the meaning like you almost knew the song from a dream. You know, the one where you’re being hunted by wolves while your lover calls to you from an impossible distance?
For all the delicate intimacy of the record, Elliot’s live show is another beast altogether - backed by Ryan Stokes (drums and accordion), Richard Russano (electric guitar) and Ben Fleisher (bass), they re-engineer the songs into Jerry Lee Lewis piano-wrecking rave-ups, the band effortlessly funneling the brimming intensity under the surface of the record into a full-on euphoric rock show. They’re playing all over the Northeast these days, so make sure to catch them when they roll into town. You’ll know them by the fog of swirling steam and the shuddered shriek of old metal coming to a stop.
-Morgan King, President of Yer Bird Records
well, it has been a long and winding road, and an even longer time coming, but my debut CD, I Remember, is FINALLY HERE!!! YAY!!!!!
to celebrate, American HeartBeat Records(tm) has arranged a FREE DOWNLOAD of Now Is The Time in exchange for a valid email address. Now Is The Time is a brand new, upbeat song I wrote: we are living in turbulent times. suddenly it is okay to be greedy and heartless? no way! a song of hope for our future, a new vision of America and the world.
we have a bunch of exciting things planned to kick this whole thing off, and we need to get a better picture of who our friends are, so the FREE DOWNLOAD form will ask you a few questions, like, what is your country and nearest major city. it all takes maybe 15 seconds.
anyhoo, the FREE DOWNLOAD, and the FUN, begins at www.JAETCHISON.com
I look forward to getting to know you a little better, and I thank you SO VERY MUCH for your friendship and support!
please tell your friends about JAETCHISON.com, and ask them to sign up for the email list, too! FUN things are coming up!!
Hey Luke just stopped by to check out your new songs, you are truly great...Glad to see you doing so good..You've come a long way from WCV...don't forget us little people, back here in Jersey..lol Take care of you, always your friend Penny
WE’RE RIDING THROUGH TO CHECK OUT YOUR PAGE AGAIN! NICE SOUNDS HERE. STOP BY AND SAY HOWDY AT OURS WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE! WE’VE GOT SOME NEW TUNES THERE.
As the snow falls, here in CT, "Death of a widow" becomes someting more to me. Cool to have made your aquaintence, hope that I can get to the Rodgers' Space show...Still looking for a drum kit. Hope yer well! -Flick
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