Chris Velan
date: July 14, 2009
label: New Song Recordings
downloads: (right click and "save link as")
mp3 - Oldest Trick
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tracklist:
1. Hard Way Learner
2. Wobbly bones
3. Oldest Trick
4. Pauper In A Palace
5. Hunting Season
6. Go Easy
7. A Year Can Change A Lot
8. Out Of Range
9. I'm In, Come In
10. House Up On The Hill
11. May Your Soul Get To Heaven
make friends
Chris Velan’s music is born of duality, singing of darkness and beauty, love and destruction, and of the struggle for personal fulfillment against the doubts that so often hold us back. Solidago, his third solo album gets its name from the late blooming Goldenrod plant, and represents the blossoming of Velan’s musical identity. A classically trained guitar player from the age of nine, this album marks the culmination of a journey from a young boy holding a giant classical guitar to a mature artist finally giving himself permission to let go.
In 2007 Velan spent half a year in California, writing, recording demos, and frequently experimenting with his new material at live shows in and around Los Angeles. His time there won him many new fans and formed enduring relationships with a large community of musicians which are featured on Solidago, including drummer Adam Topol from the Culver City Dub Collective, guitarist Dan Lebowitz of the Brushfire label’s Animal Liberation Orchestra, Bay Area rocker Jackie Greene, and Tim Bluhm of The Mother Hips, who also produced the album.
Solidago draws from a wide variety of Velan’s influences from Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson, and Van Morrison to early 80’s new wave to reggae. His vivid imagery and graceful storytelling reach new heights on “A Year Can Change A Lot” while “Wobbly Bones” manages to convey both the horrors and hope witnessed during his time in Africa touring UN refugee camps. “House Upon A Hill” conveys a loving and grateful sense of place. “May Your Soul Get To Heaven” finds profound spirituality in a book of superstitions and offers a blessing in the form of lullaby.
Velan’s live shows are not to be missed, using looping he creates rhythmic and melodically layered masterpieces that have earned him spots opening for Animal Liberation Orchestra, Duffy, and Corinne Bailey Rae as well as performing on NPR’s Mountain Stage, and both Ottawa Folk and Blues festivals. He will once again be hitting the road throughout North America this year in support of the new record.
Oldest Trick Video