John Louis recently released two new songs. He has a video is coming out in May and a show coming up at Palmer’s (with Sarah Morris!) on May 23. It’s an early show so go love the music and the sunshine.
John is a singer songwriter. These latest releases are not new songs; you can find them on an earlier release, Live at the Warming House. They were so well received by the live audience and John decided they need a fuller treatment. You can listen to the new and old (or solo and full-band) versions on Bandcamp (and other places) for an interesting comparison. It’s fun to see what a whole team brings to a song.
He worked with producer Shane Leonard on the newer versions. They brought on a few more musicians to give the songs the full band feel, including Sam Kassirer, Ben Lester, Jeremy Boettcher, and Siri Undlin (Humbird). Because of COVID, the recording experience was different that it has been for previous albums. John went to Shane, they talked through the songs, they recorded and then Shane got a team together to work on it separately. John was more hands off than he might have been otherwise and he was delighted with the results, especially the duet-like effect of Siri’s vocals added with his own. The effect gives Gone Too Far an added dimension in meaning as well as sonically because Siri’s voice added another side to the story.
John’s music sounds like old school country (Heather compared him to Kenny Rogers) with cinematic lyrics. The stories are told so well, you can see them play as you listen. The stories are collected from many places – overheard conversations, lines that sound, good, his own life and the lives of friends. He’s recently started cowriting as well. It will be fun to hear the results of collaboration – maybe we’ll get a glimpse at the show May 23!
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