With terms like ‘legacy artist’, iconic, legendary, pioneer and groundbreaking tending to be thrown around loosely in PR materials, especially when it comes to music, learning about an artist with mention of such words can often make you cringe, especially when it turns out that such statements are far from the mark. However, today we have the pleasure to introduce our readers to an artist who actually may already be familiar with them for the very reason that, not only has he been around the block (both geographically and timewise, being active on the folk-rock, country and Americana scenes for decades now), but also due to the sheer gravity and excellence of the music he delivers.
With 10 critically acclaimed solo albums to date, Tim Easton has had a burgeoning career that has seen him tour the world, perform with music legends, such as Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Townes Van Zandt and Kris Kristofferson, and recording with many equally talented musicians (his 2001 album ‘The Truth About Us’ featured three-fourths of Wilco).
Called many things in his career – a storyteller, a true songwriter, a songwriter’s writer, troubadour and singer-songwriter. All are true. Back this week with his new truth-infused reflective and revealing single ‘Sliver of Light’, Easton wrote this song on the back of a personal tragedy – the loss of a friend – and the existential division that separates life from death. Once again, we see Easton shine as the truth-sayer of this message. The accompanying video was directed by Jamey Wood, was filmed in Pegram, Tennessee.
‘Sliver of Light’ is released via Oklahoma-based Black Mesa Records, who also released North American Songwriter Volume 1 & 2, a 20-song project entailing the start of a series featuring acoustic recordings of favorite songs from Easton’s vast catalog of original material, and his tenth album ‘You Don’t Really Know Me’ (2020).
A mainstay of American roots music for more than 20 years, Tim Easton creates songs for the Great American Songbook. With reverence for the past and an outlook toward the future, Easton is easily among the greatest songwriters of our time. Pulling from a wide range of influences, his compositions lead you on a journey that blurs the lines between folk, blues, Americana and workingman’s rock & roll.
Penned with hope, ‘Sliver of Light’ finds him focusing on the present in the realization of how quickly and abruptly things can end. An organic offering, this song showcases his abilities as a songwriter and performer, and the breadth of his inspiration.
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“I wrote the lyrics on a Dutch train during a European tour. I had just heard tough news from home. A friend who had fallen down was suddenly on life support. The words poured out fast and, when I arrived at my hotel, I immediately set the lyrics to music. Once back home in Nashville, the recording session was equally charged and completed in a few hours. Take one was the keeper track with me singing and playing guitar along with the band while a friend filmed us recording. Overdubs were added with some percussion, Wurlitzer keyboard and harmony vocals to complete a song that is two-thirds observation and experience and one-third baseball prayers,” says Tim Easton.
“There is a certain helplessness that is involved with the friends and family of people who are in active addiction that is never easy to understand. I have been in this frustrating place before, and all I have is songwriting to help me deal with it. Sometimes we are simply unable to help people get well. May this song bring comfort to those who are right on the edge, barely hanging on. You are not alone.”
Years before Americana music was recognized at the Grammy Awards with its own category, Tim Easton helped pioneer the genre’s mix of classic inspiration and contemporary interpretation, writing songs shaped by forebearers such as Doc Watson, Bob Dylan, John Prine and John Hiatt, while moving forward with the modern world.
Born near the Niagara River and raised in upstate New York, Tim Easton spent his formative years in Tokyo, Japan and Akron, Ohio. Traveling early and often, he learned the ways of the road and rails, spending seven years as a modern-day troubadour, making his way around Europe, playing the streets and clubs, living in Paris, London, Madrid, Prague, Dublin and wherever he laid his hat. Here, he developed his songwriting style – folk-based storytelling and personal traveling tales, often peppered with bold confessions or “tell it as it is” reality. Rolling Stone Magazine praised him as “having a novelist’s sense of humanity.”
As of April 14, ‘Sliver of Light’ will be available across fine digital platforms – obtainable at https://bmr.link/te-sliver-of-light . Easton will also be touring and may be coming to a club near you – find tour dates at www.timeaston.com
CREDITS
Written by Tim Easton
Recorded at Cartoon Moon Studios in Nashville, TN
Produced by T. Easton & Gabe Masterson
Engineered, mixed by G. Masterson
Mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering
Tim Easton – acoustic guitar, vocals
Kevin Nolan – electric guitar, wurlitzer, organ
Matt Nolan – drums & percussion
Tommy Scifres – bass
Coralee – harmony vocals
Video filmed and directed by Jamey Wood
Released on Black Mesa Records
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