Asheville-based fingerpicking multi-instrumentalist Tyler Ramsey reminds us of both Ryan Adams and Red House Painters, depending on his intonations and the sorts of sadness he weaves into his instrumentation. Or, in his cover of Nico’s “These Days,” he conjures the original take (or, weirdly, some Astral Weeks Van Morrison) more than say, Elliott Smith in his version. He’s sad, but more outwardly expressive: There’s a ragged blues to Ramsey’s voice as well as his guitar playing, which really opens up and stretches out on tracks like “Birdwings,” where he’d work well as a chaser to Leo Kottke or something you’d unearth on Tompkins Square. Actually, Ramsey’s currently on tour with Band Of Horses, opening up and joining ‘em on guitar. You can spot him strumming furtively to the left of Bridwell doing “Is There A Ghost.”
Dudes have more in common then impressive beards — there’s a certain reverb drench, a melancholic warble. After the jump, sample a pair of standouts from Ramsey’s forthcoming debut A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea and see if you hear it.
Check out the opening vocalization in “A Long Dream.” The patient, painterly song finds Ramsey pushing through some sort of transcendent watery journey he returns to over and over on the record (most obviously in a closing field recording of lapping waves). The aching, rattling, and drifting epic pairs nicely post-dream with “When I Wake,” where he marches into that Red House Painters realm and then shifts and phases. Each track has a number of details worth latching onto — so many strings and buzzes and tones. So, basically, if you plan to see Band Of Horses in the coming weeks, make sure to show up early.
Tour dates with Band of Horses
110/8 – Montreal, Quebec @ La Tulipe
11/09 – Toronto, Ontario @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
11/10 – Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom
11/12 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
11/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
11/15 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
11/17 – Bozeman, MT @ Filling Station
11/18 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
11/19 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
11/20 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
11/21 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
11/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine
11/24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Avalon
11/26 – Pomona, CA @ Glass House
A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea is out 1/15 on Echo Mountain.
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the first mp3 link doesn’t work. please fix.
the second link works nicely. please leave it alone.
thanks,
e*
i echo what was just said, the first link doesn’t work.
sorry about that, e* and eric. all fixed.
Not to be picky, but “These Days” was actually a Jackson Browne song, covered by Nico. The Jackson Browne version is incredible…
the huge guitarist on the left makes that les paul look like a ukulele.
browne wrote it, but nico popularized it. browne’s had only appeared as a demo when nico recorded it in ’67 for chelsea girl. in a weird way, hers became the standard. browne has two versions… you’re probably talking about the one that came out after chelsea girl, not the earlier one under a different name.
no its a mates of state song!
zing!
“These Days” is all Elliott “2 t’s please” Smiff.
Songs belong to the songwriters. You wouldn’t call ‘what’s new pussycat’ a Tom Jones song, or ‘twist and shout’ a Beatles song… or maybe this writer would. But, that would be a shame. And just plain old incorrect.
i’m sick of beards.
Re these days, i always thought gregg allman popularized it on “Laid Back”