One of the great perks of this job is the exposure to music I might never hear otherwise. In most cases, this is a great thing. Other times not so much.
In the case of The Island Moved In The Storm, the former is true.
A little backstory: 1968 Kentucky, a young woman is found dead along a dirt road near a small town called Eagle Creek. For three decades she has only been known as "Tent Girl", a name given to her by the Kentucky Post & Times because her body had been found wrapped in canvas resembling a tent bag.
The Island Moved In The Storm is a collection of overlapping stories inspired by the "Tent Girl" incident. It is an album that touches on brilliance. A beautifully haunting collection of songs that seem to take from a myriad of genres. There are brushes of folk, twangs of bluegrass, hints of country all rolled into a masterful package. At times gut wrenching, it's the kind of album you want to experience. You want to learn about where these words came from.
The album is available now and I urge you to pick it up. It's already got a spot on my best of list.
Matt Bauer is also hitting the road in support of The Island Moved In The Storm. For more information on the album and tour dates head over to his official MySpace page.
I found myself leaning back and feeling Bauer's gravelly voice as it traversed these emotions and took me to his home state of Kentucky. He sings about loss and death in ways that demands you stop and listen.
Lyrically, the album is flawless. Bauer paints a crystal clear picture of rural Kentucky and his words are dripping with passion. The story of "Tent Girl" certainly connected with him and it's evident on this disc.
Musically, it's almost indescribable. I haven't heard a slide guitar used so gorgeously in years. With soft horns and enveloping strings, The Island Moved In The Storm delivers a diverse instrumentation that carries Bauer's words with a grace proving him to be a master at work.
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