THE BARRENS: NEW ALBUM RELEASE ANNOUCEMENT

woodjin

Piney
Nov 8, 2004
4,341
327
Near Mt. Misery
Well, it is that time again...where I use Ben's site for shameless marketing. Yes it is true, I have realesed a new album. Like it's monumentally successful predecessor Leeds Devil Blues, it is a pine barrens themed album. Different than Leeds Devil Blues, it is entirely solo guitar compositions. Aptly titled, THE BARRENS

you can check it out here http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jefflarson17

Leeds Devil Blues is still available here http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jefflarson1

Thanks, hope you all enjoy it!!

Jeff

the following is copied text from the album notes:


The Barrens (15 solo guitar pieces), like it’s predecessor Leeds Devil Blues (2005), is inspired by life in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. However, where Leeds Devil blues featured multiple instrumentation and vocals, The Barrens relies entirely on solo guitar compositions and arrangements. When music is stripped down to it’s most fundamental…a single instrument , the result is brutally honest and pure.

I’ve spent the last 17 years exploring the pine barrens. I’ve swam to the bottom of it’s rivers, waded in it’s sphagnum filled bogs, crawled through the cedar swamps and climbed to the amazing vistas in the pine plains. I’ve sat in cellar holes surrounded by ancient sandstone that were once a tavern, or homestead 150 years before. I’ve spoken to locals, who’s families have lived and worked in the barrens for generations. Stories of pirates, outlaws, woodjins, hermits, and of course, the elusive Leeds devil.

My goal was to capture the essence of the pine barrens and it’s bays and barrier islands in as simple a format as possible. An intrinsic exploration into “the separate world” as John Mcphee described it more than forty years ago. As interesting and exciting in it’s culture and history as it is in it’s flora and fauna.

The tracks on The Barrens are performed on traditional classical guitar, steel string, and 12 string steel guitar. Fingerstyle arrangements are the most common approach used on this album. However, flat-picking is also utilized in the 12 string guitar compositions and on some 6 string steel.

While the idea of an album solely comprised of instrumental solo guitar pieces may seem limiting, nothing could be further from the truth. Classical, Celtic, Blues, Folk, and Bluegrass are all represented in the compilation.
 

Even if you have never heard of the pine barrens there is still a wealth of music here to enjoy. As music is universal and without regional constraints. I hope you like it,

Jeff
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,640
8,248
Glad to se you have released it. I will be purchasing and downloading very soon.

Guy
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
1,530
242
42
camden county
Ghost of Barnegat is my favorite. There is a Zeppelin song and I can't put my finger on the exact one, but this song reminds me of it. Jeff nice work, great sounds.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,212
4,313
Pines; Bamber area
This is a very fine composition of songs by Jeff. If you are stressed out, play this on the way to work, and again on the way home. I'm also certain that it will be a great companion on sugar-sand roads. I am particularly fond of September at the Shore, Where the Devil Sleeps, Sugar Sand, The Owl and the Moon, and the last two; Mt. Misery and Absegami.

Well done Jeff!
 

Gibby

Piney
Apr 4, 2011
1,640
442
Trenton
I enjoyed all of them! It is hard to pick a favorite because this is my taste in music, but if I had to, it would be Salt Creek. Well done, Woodjin!
 

woodjin

Piney
Nov 8, 2004
4,341
327
Near Mt. Misery
Thank you all so much.

Dragoncjo, yes Ghosts of Barnegat is Zeppelin like. Even though I am a big Zeppelin fan, the influence is not actually Zeppelin but the same music that influenced Zeppelin to compose music of this type. Specifically English folk music.

Jeff
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
1,530
242
42
camden county
Jeff, I went through a bunch of Zeppelin songs after trying to figure out what it reminded me off. I realized it reminded me of alot of Zeppelin songs but like you said the music that influence zep is the what it really is.
 

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,555
2,469
59
millville nj
www.youtube.com
Al...way, way, above and beyond.

Bob
They said Rock n Roll would never die.I think it took it's last breath sometime in the mid 80's,what do you think on this matter?Country went the same way in the early 90's.Everything coming out now sounds the same to me.One big semi musical buzz.Thank God for satellite radio.
That goes for popular genres.The fringe elements are still crankin out some good stuff.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,212
4,313
Pines; Bamber area
Bob They said Rock n Roll would never die.I think it took it's last breath sometime in the mid 80's,what do you think on this matter?

That's a tough subject Al. I always had a hard time putting music into category boxes. Think of just these bands / people that I liked from that era, and see if they "all" fit into the Rock and Roll box. It's hard to say that about any one of them if you take all their songs as a whole.

Steely Dan
Fairport Convention
Grateful Dead
The Beatles
Ry Cooder
Neil Young
Elvis Costello
Creedance
 

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,555
2,469
59
millville nj
www.youtube.com
I'd say Rock maybe Creedence southern style.Beatles are supposed to be but they never sounded like it.Grateful dead is a jam band Ry Cooder is the king of slide blues definitely not rock,Neil Young could be considered rock but I'd say he is his own category.Steely Dan I don't know and Fairport and Elvis Costello i really don't know any of their songs other then i see them come on the radio once in awhile.My big groups out of those mentioned are
Grateful Dead,Beatles Cooder and Young,Mommas big on Creedence and she can't stand the Beatles.
 

Pine Baron

Explorer
Feb 23, 2008
480
25
Sandy Run
Great work, Jeff! I, too, heard a Led Zep-type sound on many of the tracks. From their Bron-Yr-Aur days working on the 3rd album. Your Ghosts of Barnegat sounds like a haunted version of Tangerine. You've created another awesome disc, and I'm looking forward to picking it up.

John-
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
1,530
242
42
camden county
I thought maybe it was 'poor tom' it was reminding me off, but I still can't figure it out...whatever it reminds me of is a sound I really like.
 
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