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As the title of her latest CD hints, The Nocturne Diaries mostly habitates the darker side. He loved dark melodies,” says Eliza Gilkyson of her father, the late Terry Gilkyson. This is pure, unaffected music, crafted to perfection by a veteran Americana artist thoroughly at peace with her recent move to a less cosmopolitan, more rustic environment.Įliza Gilkyson's Songs from the River Wind is out January 14th via Howlin Dog Records.“My dad was my biggest influence, especially melodically. The easygoing qualities of the recording create a melancholy hue over which Gilkyson’s mellifluous singing and reflective lyrics lay like pine needles on a forest floor. It all coalesces perfectly into the idyllic country vibe that varnishes the record. The retro weeper ‘Don’t Stop Lovin’ Me’, complete with an around-the-campfire whistling break and bittersweet fiddle, is something Dan Hicks might have written in one of his tender moods. The upbeat ‘The Hill Behind This Town’ is a lively change of pace away from the ballads that dominate these proceedings. There’s a versatility to Gilkyson’s emotive notions too. It’s arguably the set’s most moving moment.
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On ‘Wind River and You’, Gilkyson flashes back to an old romance forged by the titular waterway, one that could never have lasted but leaves lingering memories to this day “Two worlds apart we met for a moment”. “Cottonwood blooms are drifting like snow / If I were to leave you where would I go / we’ll float with the clouds over mountaintops high / and sing Taosena lullaby” Gilkyson sings, with all the sublime splendor those words imply. There is a delicate beauty in the wistful waltz of ‘Taosena Lullaby’, penned by Heather McRae, that captures the low-key atmosphere of the sessions. The fact the material was also recorded in his Colorado-based Howlin’ Dog studio, not coincidentally the name of Gilkyson’s label, shows the influence the producer has across the record. While Gilkyson writes the majority of the material, and her affectionate vocal orchestrates such an approach, Richmond is a key element of the warm, heartfelt soundscape.
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It’s echoed in songs that lean towards rural, predominantly acoustic folk, enhanced by the multi-talented shotgun rider Don Richmond, who is credited with banjo, accordion, dobro, mandolin, fiddle, lap and pedal steel guitars and other instruments here. Titles such as ‘Colorado Trail’, ‘The Hill Behind This Town’ and ‘At the Foot of the Mountain’ embrace the laid back, bucolic nature that envelopes this venture. The relocation is reflected on the 13 selections that comprise Songs from the River Wind, her style-shifting to a pastoral and homespun sound, both poetically and sonically.īlack and white pictures of Gilkyson as a child on horseback in the mid-50s illustrate the album’s nostalgic tone as much as the music does, crafting a meditative, moving and personal project. With that out of her system, she upped sticks from Austin, Texas to the southwest US specifically Taos, New Mexico, an area she knew well from spending her formative years there. It was done with trademark subtlety and style, keeping the melodies as pure and evocative as her smooth, emotive voice. It rightly drew both critical and commercial praise Gilkyson taking aim at the previous four years in American politics and policy while wary of the potential issues another term of chaos might create. The veteran singer/songwriter, who has steadily delivered acclaimed albums since her 1997 debut Redemption Road, last released the lyrically powerful, socio-politically pointed 2020. The past couple of years have been filled with changes for everyone, especially Eliza Gilkyson.