Steve Gunn

he kills live

was really glad to be able to see him at old familiar chime fest cuz i don't get the sense he does acoustic sets much anymore

He does! At least locally. Saw him go acoustic two consecutive weekends in a row in separate locations. Again though, NYC local here.

this leaked incredibly early

(and it's good)

yow, this gunn-truscinski set from a few weeks back is godlike: http://www.nyctaper.com/2016/04/gunn-truscinski-duo-march-26-2016-three-lobed-sweet-sixteen-spectacular-kings-raleigh-nc/

Oooooooh, definitely gonna check that!

that slays. thanks!

"banh mi ringtones" is tremendous, manuel göttsching style

yeah this rules

hoping these guys make another album -- with gunn moving in a more song-y direction, i hope he still indulges his jammed out side.
by the way, the new one is really growing on me. driving around a bit with it as the soundtrack last weekend was perfect.

EYES ON THE LINES.

http://www.npr.org/2016/05/10/477374821/songs-we-love-steve-gunn-ancient-jules

its lovely

im getting a kinda Allman Brothers vibe from it

sounds good as expected

it kinda shreds

I like this guy so far. Something bothers me a little bit about the English folk pretensions. Like a lot of artists of this generation, I feel like he's approximating via his record collection, and doing a pretty good job of it, but still it feels more like he took, idk, Tom Petty or something and added "English folk seasoning blend."

tom petty's song structures are way simpler tho--i don't really get that vibe from gunn

Yeah, I don't think Petty is really the right reference point, I just mean that I feel like he doesn't quite earn the English folkisms he throws in. IDK, I'm a little grumpy today, he's really pretty good.

earlier stuff on paradise of bachelors and elsewhere drew more from tompkins square ragga picking styles, along with tuareg-esque desert vibes. this matador album sounds more 'streamlined' but i'm liking it just fine

Yeah, it's a general complaint I have about today's eclecticism that there's a lot of rough imitation of different styles going on, sort of capturing the stylistic and sonic feel but not digging into what's going on musically.

I think Scott S had a good line somewhere on this board about great bands that are born of failed imitations of others' music. But the dilletantism of it still bothers me. Like those tuareg guitarists spend their careers just learning to play that style of guitar really well, and there's something kind of thin about just listening to some records of it and vaguely capturing the "vibes" of it.

no i totally get that!

Maybe it's also because I first heard about him via a Bert Jansch comparison and was a little let down after that.

this new one sounds way different than the other ones--this one sounds like late period Sonic Youth to me

I've just discovered this guy. Heard Eyes on the Lines first, and have since picked up Way Out Weather.

And I've just found out that he played here a few weeks back......

cancelled shows because his dad is sick

i like steve gunn, but he does have a bit of a 'boring' problem

i can't really hear much UK folk in him at all tbh, mostly Fahey/American Primitive filtered through the Grateful Dead but outside of like UK outliers like Mike Cooper or Michael Chapman who rolled more American anyway I don't hear heavy Jansch or Davey Jones or Renbourne in his playing at all

i can kinda hear some of the more architectural guitar structures that jansch/renbourn favored in gunn's playing, but that's kinda it as far as the britfolk stuff goes. not overt in the way that ryley walker has been anyway.
and i get the 'boring' comment -- i definitely like most everything he's done so far, but i can see it maybe wearing a bit thin if he keeps rolling in the same direction. but who knows!

tbh i think michael chapman is also a great guitarist and good songwriter whose stuff kind of flirts with 'boring' too, so it's appropriate that he protegee (?) is similar

I don't get British folk rock vibes from Steve Gunn at all. To me, he's much more along the lines of 70's roots rock like Neil Young and the more structured/poppier Grateful Dead.

tbh i get as much feelies as folk from him

(are the feelies folk-rock?)

(are the feelies folk-rock?)

I definitely think they have an inclination towards that end of spectrum. Especially when you consider their connection to the Trypes/Speed the Plough.

I get a strong acoustic Led Zep circa III vibe from "Way Out Weather". Haven't listened to the new one yet.

agree with whoever said upthread that there's some 'murray street' era sonic youth in this new one

man i had that thought too, same purposeful clean noodling vibe

Yeah I could dig that

A lot of my favorite music verges on boring

My very essence verges on boredom.

I'll check it out despite not being super into that first track that was released.

oh hey it looks like he's playing sorta nearby in a couple weeks

I hear all of those things. My main issue is the songs themselves are not very interesting.

Overall or on the most recent record?

I liked the second song shared from the record much more than the first, but haven't heard the whole thing yet. I think I found the same thing generally with the last couple of records, in re my favorite songs were ones I only heard once I got to listen to the whole album. The stuff all sounded good live to me though.

The last song on Way Out Weather, "Tommy's Congo" = "It's alright ma (I'm only bleeding).

i dunno i think 'mellow' is something way different than 'boring' and i think this record is the former...

the whole thing is great

"Tommy's Congo" is otherworldly and so far a bit bummed the new album didn't veer more in that direction.

there's a little bit of that dusty otherworldly blues vibe in his cover of "Visions of Johanna" on the recent MOJO 'BoB revisited' tribute. mellow, definitely not boring

Opening for Dino Jr. thus fall! Unite the stoner generations

"tommy's congo" = song of the decade

Tommy's Congo is great. The vocal line reminds me of Dylan's "It's Alright Ma", which may be a good thing

Ah. I see I made the same observation two years ago up thread.....