New Music From Daniel Martin Moore, Jerry Leger
Daniel Martin Moore
Never Look Away
(Sofaburn)
When I was a young fellow I attended an event in which a group of fantasy illustrators, for the amusement of their audience, competed in a game of Win, Lose, or Draw. It was played for humor (to great success) but what was more striking was the way that they, armed only with magic marker and big sheets of paper, created beautiful works of art.
Even more stunning was that they did so with speed and ease, with nonchalance. It seemed like wizardry. I came to realize, of course, that this was the result of years of hard work and dedication to their craft, decades of refining talent, and that the exhibition was like play for them. It was a profound and heartening revelation.
Daniel Martin Moore, an artist hailing from my old hometown in Kentucky, already had eight albums to his credit when he partnered with multi-instrumentalist Seth Kauffman to “have some fun” creating Never Look Away. Each of the ten songs on the album began with a basic rhythm to which they added either guitar or piano along with a scratch vocal.
From there it was a matter of collaboratively adding bits and pieces, tweaking here and refining there, layering instruments and experimenting with harmonies (with the help of Moore’s usual gang of musical conspirators) until the end product burst forth as though it had been birthed whole and complete from the start.
To the non-musician, such a process sounds like “how it is done,” but that is less true than you might think. Much music, perhaps most, is built in an almost assembly-line manner. That is not a disparagement of that technique, even it sounds like one.
Building songs, even if following tried and true processes and templates, is still a highly creative endeavor and only the most callous “assembly line” music sounds so, but there is a recognizable difference in songs that are organically grown. Lovingly crafted one at a time, there is a warmer, gentler sincerity present and one is left believing that the tunes guided the artist in their creation as much as the other way around.
This music is gentle, thoughtful, mostly acoustic I suppose; the nearest contemporary I can think of is Damien Rice who is sometimes described as “indie folk rock,” but even that seems like a cheapening of the beauty and subtlety of Never Look Away. Best then to leave it unlabeled except to say that it is a thoughtful exploration of shared experiences.
Titles like “Drift of Autumn”, “We Will Know”, and “Real Love Song” may give a glimpse into the soul of the record, but the only way to know and understand it is to hear it. Fortunately, you can do that on October 4th when the album will be released via Sofaburn Records and OK Recordings. Suffice it to say that Never Look Away is, so far, the high-water mark of a career defined by an ever-expanding repertoire of soul-soothing, spiritually moving music.
Jerry Leger
Time Out for Tomorrow
(Latent Recordings)
Part Springsteen, part Townes Van Zandt, part Dylan, part Lennon, Jerry Leger is a songwriter’s songwriter and the truth of it is born out utterly by the upcoming November release of his newest album, Time Out for Tomorrow. Smart lyrics coupled with exquisite music makes for an album that is pure brain-tickling ear candy.
Hailing from Ontario, Leger the songwriter, singer, guitar player and pianist, is joined by “The Situation” , an absolutely stellar collection of musicians consisting of James McKie on lap steel and vocals (and a host of traditional instruments,) Dan Mock on bass and vocals, Kyle Sullivan on drums and percussion, and guest artists Tim Bovaconti on autoharp and vocals, Aaron Comeau on piano and Alan Zemaitis on organ.
Whether the aforementioned singer/songwriters were a particular influence on Leger is unknown and a moot point anyway. Influence or no, his musical, vocal, and lyrical sensibilities echo the qualities of those legends so well and so naturally that I am inclined to believe it far less a matter of influence than a simpler truth that this is what great singer/songwriters sound like.
The comparison to great artists pervades the album, including elements of Elvis Costello in “Read Between the Lines”, Todd Rundgren, in “Tell a Lie”, and a somewhat less dark touch of Nick Cave on “Survived Like a Stone”.
Keep in mind, I’m suggesting “elements of” rather than “sounds like,” because frankly, Jerry Leger and company sound like Jerry Leger and company, but if you have any love for the growing list of famous musicians mentioned so far, Leger’s music will speak to you in a most profound and moving way.
Yes folks, he, his band, and his music are really THAT good.
Leger’s music is readily accessible online, and I have no doubt that if you take just a few moments to breeze through his catalog, you will pre-order the new album now. It is a treasure, a sure sign that for all the mediocrity polluting the airwaves, music still has a soul and a generation has its own voice as clear and relevant and powerfully moving as any that preceded it.
Time Out for Tomorrow will be available in all formats on November 8th via Latent Recordings.