God, Hospitals, Library Cards, Willie Nelson, Mount Everest, Grandad, College Station, The Pixies, Palindromes, San Fransisco, Rain, New Mexico, Movies, Peru, Tom Petty, Atlanta International Airport, Kings of Leon, Sonoma, New York City, Spoon...other than that a few Taquerias.
The Literary Greats are evolving. Their second release ‘Ocean, Meet the Valley’ is a little darker, a little deeper, and more dynamic yet retains some of the warm, catchy hooks that characterized their first release. They teamed up with engineer/producer Chris Grainger with one goal: to bring out the best in each other. Working long hours over 10 days, they bottled up a year of life, love, loss, and dreams to create a record with no pretentions and as rich as the gulf air.
Sonically, this record possesses vintage tones through the use of 70’s era equipment and concepts. Acoustic guitars and warm, gritty electrics are intertwined with the smooth chime of a Rhodes or the haunt of a Hammond. Tones find their way to and fro through the structure of the song enough to keep things interesting without overshadowing the lyrical message. Take the raw energy of the Pixies and mix it with the understated themes of early Kenny Rogers, and you get something like this.
PRESS:
“The deftness of the lyricism is dolled out with a gentle, playful hand. The Literary Greats have established themselves as substantial and relevant more quickly than most.” -Shea Serrano, Houston Magazine
“There's a rough-edged openness here that evokes those wide-open skies and warm, humid nights. To me, being a Texan (and Houstonian) sounds like this…it serves as a grin-inducing journal of everyday life in our bigger-than-big state.” -Jeremy Hart, Space City Rock
Most definitely, let's meet up for a beer and a chinwag that day. Shoot me a message letting me know where you guys might be hanging out around 8 and I'll make it a point to be there. Good luck guys, -Lee
Congrats on your Houston Press Awards Nomination guys - you deserve it! Hope to run into you the day of the showcase after we play our set. Cheers, -Lee