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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
 Posted - 11/04/2016 : 14:30:49
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Comparisons to John Martyn and Nick Drake are unavoidable, but River Crombie is an original. A fine finger style musician and singer/songwriter--the kind that gives us hope for the new generation of artists and the new music of today.
ALBUM REVIEW
River Crombie - Light Trails
BY ROB CALDWELL - nodepression.com
OCTOBER 13, 2014
Ballad Of An Elder Woman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pmScimbtWY
I first became aware of River Crombie through a YouTube video where he covered John MartynÕs 1967 track ÒBallad of an Elder WomanÓ.
This wasnÕt your run-of-the-mill cover performed by some guy down the street in his living room. This had a timeless quality and was professional and accomplished. The video led me to his first album, a 2011 collection of all originals called Time Beyond Me. A contemplative, moving work, it was obviously the product of an artist who had been developing his craft for some time.
Light Trails continues to weave the strands in the tapestry begun on Time Beyond Me. The colors are deeper hued and darker than on that initial offering, but still part of the same design. If one was trying to slot CrombieÕs music into a particular genre, New Folk would be a good choice. Though, his is a style of folk with a closer connection to the British folk movement of the late 60Õs and early 70Õs than most of his contemporaries. Nick Drake and John Martyn are unavoidable comparisons, as well as the early works of Canadian Bruce Cockburn, with their nature imagery and introspection.
The songs on Light Trails are a meditative journey of sorts. A journey through landscapes rich with images of fields, creeks, harbours, lakes, woods, the moon, the wind, and the morning glow of sunlight. They are songs of leaving and songs of searching, as evident in titles such as ÒTell Me Something NewÓ, ÒStart AnewÓ, and ÒLet It GoÓ. Though throughout the album heÕs Òwaiting to be leavingÓ, making a Òplan to goÓ, or Òout to find the meaningÓ, he concludes in the closing title song that life itself is a search and the journey is the destination:
Hear the wind in harmony
With life that came to be
Now forever to the mystery
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One listen to "The Planes" should be enough to draw you in...but I'll share more soon...
The Planes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-F6NiUveMU
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The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 11/04/2016 14:50:06 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2016 : 14:42:57
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River Crombie - What I've Known
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORkwdiYjXE&nohtml5=False
River Crombie - Kimbie ( Jackson C. Frank Cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nJ3KicDo8k&nohtml5=False
Time Beyond Me
https://soundcloud.com/melodica-berlin/river-crombie-time-beyond-me
More listens...
http://www.myfreemp3.space/mp3/River+Crombie
River Crombie: ÒTime Beyond MeÓ
Music To Eat-An Eclectic Gastronomy of Sound
One wonders what an artist like Nick Drake would have done in this age of social media, Youtube, and Bandcamp. Would he have found a wider audience for his music during his lifetime? Would that virtual word of mouth, that immediate and direct feedback from listeners, have provided enough of that missing recognition he seemed to need?
The introspective songs of River Crombie have a lot in common with DrakeÕs, as well as the early work of DrakeÕs contemporary John Martyn, yet without the darkness that so often tugged at the corners of their compositions. CrombieÕs Time Beyond Me album is available to hear and purchase on Bandcamp. He also uses YouTube as an outlet for his self-produced original songs as well as the occasional cover, including a remarkable rendition of MartynÕs late 60Õs little-known ÒBallad of an Elder WomanÓ.
Listening to River CrombieÕs music and watching his videos, youÕd be forgiven if you thought he stepped through a time portal from 1971. The quiet intimacy and warm, assured guitar playing, however, allow the songs to transcend any connection to a specific musical period. ThereÕs an air of mystery about Crombie as if he may just be here a short while before moving on to yet another time.
Time Beyond Me is an uncluttered album, featuring just voice and guitar. A thread of melancholy runs through, but itÕs tinged with wonder and deep sense of contemplation. Themes of nature, the seasons, and travel frame these meditations on self-discovery. The folk stylings and mysticism of early Bruce Cockburn are akin, only CrombieÕs lyrics are less concerned with the spiritual and more focused on the inner being and finding oneÕs place in the world. In ÒWay of FreedomÓ, the singer awakens from a dream of a cloud over a hill and in the simplicity of this dream realizes that a certain freedom can be found by being open to life Òwithout a fear to own.Ó He explores a similar thought in ÒCold Winter MorningÓ: ÒLearning to be calm while life takes you further /Along with everything you know.Ó
Many of his lyrics can be read as poetry:
And now a folding circle
Draws me in with signs
The ageing of the new world
Is the dancing of time
-from ÒFolding CircleÓ
And:
I can hear the wind of a cold winter morning
Covering the ground undisturbed by the night
A blanket lying softly painted in a moment
Waiting for the day to rise
-from ÒCold Winter MorningÓ
In many ways weÕre lucky to live in this time where a wide range of music to hear is easily accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. For musicians, the Internet offers instant worldwide exposure for creativity and expression. Would an artist like River Crombie get signed to a record label if this was 1971? Perhaps, but that doesnÕt guarantee that his music would find all the appreciative ears it could. The example of Nick Drake, signed to the large Island Records, shows this all too well. As it is, through todayÕs technology, CrombieÕs music is readily available 24 hours a day to discover. While he may be far from a household name, IÕd argue that his connection with his listeners is more direct and perhaps more rewarding. ItÕs something that Nick Drake might have benefited from quite a bit.
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The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 11/04/2016 17:11:28 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2016 : 17:07:06
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River Crombie - Light Trails
17/06/14 21:43
Folk blues - folkblues.co.uk
I stumbled upon CrombieÕs work via a YouTube channel searching for covers of Jackson C. Frank. I was completely blown aways with his version of Kimbie. I soon realised with his alternative guitar tunings and gentle fingerpicking he had something that all us fingerpickers search for. Music that fits perfectly into the 1960Õs / 1970Õs folk scene era but somehow today feels fresh and new.
River Crombie - Kimbie ( Jackson C. Frank Cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nJ3Kic ... tml5=False
His songs remind me of Stephen Stills, Paul Simon but with short and shape lyrics as those of JosŽ Gonzalez. His voice and melodies are fresh nothing is revisited. See ÒWhat IÕve KnownÓ from Light trails.
From the very little information IÕve gathered heÕs from Hamburg, Germany and scraped together the money to cut his albums. Not having enough funds to release a fully pressed CD or vinyl he opted for BandCamp. A web portal where you can play for free all his music without limits (via the webpage) but to download, he offers a minimum Û10 charge, or a higher price if you want, his albums in all Apple and PC formats. There are even high quality FLAC Audiophile formats for people like myself.
Official Bio: River CrombieÕs collection of acoustic ballads would find a natural home in the folk scene of the '60s and '70s. ThereÕs a sense of timelessness in RiverÕs music, which effortlessly ties together reflective lyrics, masterful fingerpicking and gentle vocals.
Official Bio: River CrombieÕs collection of acoustic ballads would find a natural home in the folk scene of the '60s and '70s. ThereÕs a sense of timelessness in RiverÕs music, which effortlessly ties together reflective lyrics, masterful fingerpicking and gentle vocals.
Please support River Crombie by purchasing his albums from his official BandCamp site: http://rivercrombie.bandcamp.com
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The actual writing of a song usually comes in the form of a realisation.
I can't contrive a song. Ð GENE CLARK
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Edited by - lemonade kid on 11/04/2016 17:11:09 |
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RIVER CROMBIE-LightTrails/ballad of an elder woman
