My Garden State

My Garden State

#32 Album of the Year - Mojo
#15 Album of the Year - NPR (Bob Boilen)
"My Garden State" - NPR Favorite 100 Songs of 2013

Glenn Jones is a unique voice working in the decades-long tradition of American Primitivism. What sets him apart from the many devotees to this style is the combination of expressive playing and technical skill, most significantly his inventive use of alternate tunings and partial capos. As anyone knows who has seen him perform, Glenn is a remarkable storyteller, and his songs reflect that talent. The songs on Glenns latest, My Garden State, are evocative and redolent, and serve as a testament to Glenns talent for conveying a wide array of emotions, many times in one song, without saying a word.

My Garden State was written in the New Jersey home where Glenns family moved in 1966, while he was caring for his mother who suffers from Alzheimers. The songs and sounds on the album are reflective, but never dour or sad. My Garden State was recorded by Laura Baird in Allentown, NJ. Laura joins Glenn on the first proper song, Across the Tappan Zee on banjo, interweaving her plaintive melodies with Glenns gentle picking. Lauras sister Meg, who was a founding member of Espers and plays with Laura as The Baird Sisters, also joins in on the final minutes of Going Back to East Montgomery, an eight minute long composition that showcases Glenns ability to craft a long form piece that is at once expansive and immediate.

The two tracks that form the centerpiece of the album, The Vernal Pool and Alcoeur Gardens were composed spontaneously in the studio, a technique Glenn developed on tour with Damo Suzuki with his former band Cul de Sac. Where The Vernal Pool is exuberant, Alcouer Gardens is sparse and quiet, with field recordings of rain and thunder providing a bed for Glenn s guitar, emphasizing the space between the notes as much as the notes themselves. The songs on My Garden State could have been written by no one except Glenn Jones, brimming with joy, sorrow, and the complex in-between that makes life worth living.
Country USA
Brand Thrill Jockey Records
Manufacturer Thrill Jockey Records
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber IlAGKpY3261sXcqX
Model IlAGKpY3261sXcqX
ReleaseDate 2013-05-14
UnitCount 1
UPCs 790377032628
EANs 0790377032628

Country	USA
Brand	Thrill Jockey Records
Manufacturer	Thrill Jockey Records
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	IlAGKpY3261sXcqX
Model	IlAGKpY3261sXcqX
ReleaseDate	2013-05-14
UnitCount	1
UPCs	790377032628
EANs	0790377032628

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