Fuel/Friends Chapel Session #7 :: Tyler Ramsey (Band of Horses)

The tall and lanky Tyler Ramsey is best known as the guitarist for Band of Horses, but wise folks also caught on to his two solo albums (s/t debut in 2004, A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea in 2008) and his upcoming third solo release is out this week. Hearing him open the two recent Colorado BOH shows with his own material was stunning. On a recent Saturday he met me for coffee at the shop by my house, and we headed over to sit beneath the tall arches of Shove Chapel for an hour of intricately-wrought magic.

This session is easier to write about as one complete unit, because all of the songs Tyler performed seemed to radiate imagery of birds and angels, songs of flying away and rivers of sorrow that flow out into the blackness of the night.

I thought as I sat on the edge of the stage, my back against the giant stone pillar, that this was the most celestial-feeling of the chapel sessions so far. Tyler’s voice is high and vulnerable, and in that fragility can be all the more powerfully piercing. He reminds me some of the effect Neil Young has on me, making me feel helpless, or Mark Kozelek in the smoky honesty, and sad glory. The echo of his voice seemed right at home in that space.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever seen Band of Horses live, but it’s spellbinding to watch Tyler’s fingers fly over the guitar strings. From a few feet away I kept furrowing my brow trying to keep up with the sounds I was hearing and how quickly and effortlessly his fingers moved on the frets. Tyler played a worn Gibson Folksinger guitar from the 1960s, one he bought in a pawn shop in Fletcher, North Carolina. It seemed to somehow carry all sorts of stories within the wood.

These songs come from Tyler’s third album, The Valley Wind, out this week on Fat Possum. For as beautiful as these chapel arrangements are (note the loooong extended intro Tyler puts on “1000 Black Birds”), the record takes it to a whole new, lush level — very highly recommended.

Tyler ended his set with a wrenching cover of “All Through The Night,” which my ’80s-loving sister recognized immediately from her pew seat as being a huge Cyndi Lauper hit. Since the ’80s usually give me hives, I learned from Tyler that this was written by Jules Shear. The way Tyler performs it here, it sounds like an old country rambler on the AM radio, completely stripped of any veneer. It was perfect.

Take and digest this session as a gorgeous, substantive whole:

TYLER RAMSEY CHAPEL SESSION:
Angel Band
1000 Black Birds
The Nightbird
All Through The Night (Jules Shear/Cyndi Lauper cover)

ZIP: THE FUEL/FRIENDS TYLER RAMSEY CHAPEL SESSIONS

Eef Barzelay (Clem Snide) can cover for me any old time

I’ve said before that I honestly think Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide is one of the most piercing, insightful, weirdly-perfect songwriters making music right now. I saw him live a few years ago in support of his 2009 release Hungry Bird, and his literacy and ability to emotionally incise caught me in an ambush. I commented that it was like an SAT study party, and we could invite John Darnielle and Colin Meloy and I would die happy. Around that time, this was one of my most-listened to songs, with its bluesy melody that somehow manages to feel effervescent through the weight. When Eef repeated the line over and over again – “We are just bracing for the impact by loosening our limbs…” something in my chest still tightens. “Every single one of us has a kitten up a tree.”

Born A Man – Clem Snide

Eef also has this superhuman knack for covering songs in the best possible way, where you stop and hear something in a way you never did before. It’s like when you are washing dishes at the kitchen sink and pause to look up out the window because you hear a thunder crash with the approaching storm, and suddenly your whole yard is bathed in this eerie greenish light. It’s still your yard, the one you’ve sat in a hundred times, but all of a sudden it is foreign and strangely beautiful.

After releasing a startlingly seriously-pretty EP of Journey covers in June, this week Eef released a new cover songs album of selections suggested by fans. The most surprising has got to be his take on Nine Inch Nails’ “The Becoming,” and the purest the rendition of “In the Aeroplane Over The Sea.” Take a listen:

And this remains my all-time favorite cover I think he could ever do – instead of Nico’s halting German alienation, we get a warm hymn, laced with that gorgeous, sad, knowing cello:

I’ll Be Your Mirror (Velvet Underground) – Clem Snide

SHOW ALERT: Eef plays this weekend in Armstrong Hall on the Colorado College campus, opening for Minnesota slowcore pioneers Low (Sunday night, 7pm). It is interesting to note that Armstrong Hall is so very close to Shove Chapel, home of the chapel sessions.

when her feet hit the ground / she could still hear the sound

So this happened last night:

Bryan John Appleby TONIGHT: A Fuel/Friends House Concert

This morning is grey and it’s been raining since yesterday afternoon. I slept listening to raindrops on the roof, under my big winter blanket I brought up from the basement, and was completely content.

Bryan John Appleby is from Seattle, so he’ll come into this misty town tonight and feel right at home. After completely winning the stages he played on at Doe Bay, he is playing a house show for me tonight, along with chapel session alums The Changing Colors.

I can’t think of a better rainy September record than his new one Fire On The Vine that you guys helped Kickstart. His songs are literate and richly gorgeous.

Listen to this whole song and tell me that you don’t get shivers just imagining what it’s like live. Yes, it’s like that.

Glory – Bryan John Appleby

See you tonight at 8.

sonnet in the snow

“A record is called a ‘record’ because it is supposed to be a document of a performance. It captures a moment or series of moments when certain musicians played music. In one sense, it’s kind of weird to expect any record to be applicable to everyone at any time, as if you could record a phone conversation you had with your friend and always listen to that instead of needing to talk to your friend again.”

Portland musician Nick Jaina (who we enjoyed on my summer mix, and who has this cool new album of females singing his songs that I plan to write about. Soon) ruminates on recorded music in a column for the Willamette Week. I live for theoretical musical discussions like this, as anyone who I’ve ever cornered at a bar knows all too well.

READ IT HERE; SO GOOD

[thanks, Conor]

it’s the angels up above me / it’s the song that they don’t sing

[via Bruce. thanks.]

the world is such a wonderful place: Band of Horses concert review

There is something exceedingly uplifting and near-transcendent about a Band of Horses show, especially if you can wedge yourself down in the front where the waves of sound crash over you and your feet vibrate throughout the entire show from the bass.

After Kings of Leon canceled the tour where BOH was opening, dates were rescheduled with just the Seattle quintet in smaller venues. I found myself grateful to get to see them in that dark, small Fox Theatre on Monday night instead of the Comfort Dental Amphitheatre or wherever they were scheduled to play before.

It’s been years since I have seen BOH live, and since then they’ve released the newest album, Infinite Arms, and further perfected their excoriating live show. It was a holistic music-enjoyment experience for me, as they project an endless stream of images on the large screen behind them throughout the night.

My brain soared all over the place, as the images of wheatfields and old barns and crowded parties and starry nights swirled and spun into their songs. I loved the way the show tied together the visual with the auditory, because that’s how I hear music. This was especially potent on “Ode to LRC” where the crowd sang along with the line, “The world is such a wonderful place,” as scenes flashed rapid-fire behind the band, or as “Is There a Ghost” was sung in front of stars and a crescent moon. Yes.

Their songs are all universally bigger on-stage, with a greater energy; I found it to be way more Neil Young/expansive-70s-country-rock than I expected. Every song was dazzling, and even the loping dreamy ones on the records took on an urgent, dynamic air.

It’s also clear from watching this band that they all genuinely like each other, and that chemistry crackles back and forth between their music while they are on-stage. This was especially apparent during the encore performance of “Evening Kitchen” (one of my favorite songs on the new album), performed with just Ben Bridwell and guitarist Tyler Ramsey, who wrote the song.

The evening was one of those rare concert experiences where everything comes a little unsewn inside you, and for two blissful hours you are redeemed.

Also: a note about the opener. After recording a Chapel Session with me on Saturday afternoon, BOH guitarist Tyler Ramsey opened the show with his intricately haunting solo material. Watching his fingers fly over the strings again was spell-binding. His new solo album The Valley Wind comes out on Fat Possum later this month, and I can’t wait to share that chapel session with you guys.

ALL PICS ON THE FUEL/FRIENDS FACEBOOK.

win tickets for Gillian Welch. win tickets for David Bazan.

In addition to Band of Horses tonight, Coloradans are blessed this week with a rash of fantastic shows. But this is a rash that you actually want — on Tuesday and Wednesday night, Gillian Welch is bringing her awe-inducing musical talents to Boulder and Arvada (holy heck have you heard that new album?), while David Bazan (of Pedro The Lion) is coming back through for another one of those incredible house shows, this time in Fort Collins and not leaving emotional carnage strewn about my living room.

I have a pair of tickets to give away both to Gillian Welch on Wednesday night at the Arvada Center and to David Bazan on Wednesday at a house in Fort Collins. Both will slay you, so pick just one.

WIN WITH WORDS: Today I am reeling from lack of sleep in lieu of many words shared for many hours last night, so let’s do a wordy type contest here. Sit and think a spell, then in the comments you tell me which pair of tickets you would like to enter for, and then pick your favorite lyrics from that artist and tell me about them, and why they are your favorites.

Sounds easy enough? I’ll pick winners tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon. Go.

don’t keep me like you have me / and don’t kiss me like you don’t

Most nights for the last few weeks, I have fallen asleep listening to this song on giant headphones. “New York” is the closing track on the new Blind Pilot album, and it couldn’t be more somnolent, redolent, or perfect.

Stream the entire new album We Are The Tide over on NPR for a limited time. My heart is glad.

the golden age & the silver girl

Well, this was visceral love at first listen this morning. Tyler Lyle is from Georgia (like my people) and now lives by the ocean in California. I clicked on this song simply because of my affinity for the title and the cover art, and as soon as the music cued up, wow it’s perfect for this Indian summer we’re having. I am completely smitten with the entire album: $6, happily gone.

[via my favorite Some Velvet Blog; if you visit Tyler’s bandcamp site, read those liner notes y’all]