Tag / Folk

by Ryan Boos

The Horse That Made My Tuesday

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The world is wrapped with so many wonderful things, if you follow the right people you can see a little gem by the minute. Days filled with creative shares, snapshots of these magical moments in a life somewhere, out there. Social media on this level is a great thing. Of course we get lost in the muck with it too, but for now I’m gonna free this amazing morning from that mode, and just share this engaging ethereal photo shot by a musician from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Kaitlin Rose just released a new folk record called The Other Side, and its a lovely album. Listen to “Blown Away” and support great independent music.

 

by Ryan Boos

Hit Play And Smile – The Matt Honkonen Interview

Matt Honkonen

Last week I shared my thoughts on Matt Honkonen’s new album Take Me Home. You can read it by clicking HERE.  I loved the record so much I thought it would be cool to talk with him about it.

So this is album # 2 for you under your own name. How’s does Take Me Home line up with Paper Wires? Or even better, how doesn’t it? 

I think Take Me Home is an evolution in my song writing for sure. Honestly I struggled a bit with suddenly being the focal point when I was putting Paper Wires together, and I think that can lead to “safer” tunes and performances. I always had band mates to bounce things off of and collaborate prior to that album. Take Me Home (to me) feels like a more earnest statement with a more focused style. It represents a consistent vibe from start to finish, and the atmosphere is present in every song. It’s a single moment in time that I explored in 10 tracks, through 10 different windows, looking into the same snapshot. I think I captured that well and I’m very proud of it.

With your long history in music, and recording so much with people, traveling, etc. I know this time around had to feel more personal, because it’s a “diy” album. Touch on that a bit. What’s the struggle like?

It was an awesome and humbling experience to craft solo. Working in the studio with a band and/or creating as a group can push you in a lot of different ways, some good and some bad. It can be inspirational and collaborative, while also being a very political process. You’re forced to confront things that make you uncomfortable with the songs you create and deal with everyone’s opinions and aspirations.

How has the family influenced your sound on “Take Me Home”? 

The cheesy answer is support. Christina has always been my biggest believer, supporter and collaborator. She (along with you and some other peeps) probably listened to 10 different versions of the “final album”. It is invaluable to have trusted ears around, in life in general. And Gray is a constant inspiration. Bing a dad opens a doorway you didn’t know was accessible before. Put’s life in perspective in a way that a kid like me wouldn’t see otherwise. I think the tone of the album reflects that, and also calls back to a time in my life of curious freedom and absolute content.

Is it hard for you to be a frontman, do you miss the anonymity of your old job as a drummer? 

That’s a good question. I do miss drumming and providing the foundation, but the challenge of being a frontman is a welcome change. Having to focus on singing, remembering lyrics and stage presentation is almost the exact opposite part of the brain as a focus on playing and syncing with the bass. It’s keeping music fresh for me, and I still drum with enough folks on the side to satisfy both sides of that coin. I used to have a hard time being the focus, a hard time dressing as “the auteur.” Putting this band together to support this album has taught me how to lead, how to listen and trust my instincts (and my new band mates).

Matt Honkonen

What artists inform your general ambitions for creating music, or being creative on any level? 

I don’t have a “type.” I am inspired by craft in all forms musically…lyrics, song structure, live performance and engineering. I find inspiration in sounds and sights that send me to the places I thought were forever lost and return me gently into the warm reality that human beings are infinitely complex, sometimes terribly ugly creatures…all striving to hear and to be heard. But I’m also tremendously inspired by folks here in TN like RB Morris, Kevin Abernathy, Tim and Susan Lee, Madre, The work YOU continue to do with your many projects, Grandpa’s Stash and the HUGE scene we’ve got here. I could write ten pages on bands and artists that I admire here in Knoxville.

You’re about to head back in the studio to record your old band Llama Train, what can you tell us? 

Six songs done thus far, and our next session is Feb 6-8. Its been a blast writing together again and working some familiar territory. We’ve all continued to grow musically as players, and Scott and I have become better songwriters and lyricists as the years have passed. Now that we’ve gotten a bit long in the tooth, it’s more fun to collaborate.

Here’s a fun one. You wake up, the day is yours, whatever you want to do you can do it. But the catch is, you can’t hear anything. What’s that day look like for you? 

Man oh man, well…it’s nature then. It’s coffee and the mountains, maybe with a journal and a cigar or two.

What’s your hopes for “Take Me Home”? 

That 15 years from now, someone on a Sunday afternoon at 2:30PM is driving out-of-town with a sidekick. They’ve only been dating for a month and are headed hiking. It’s cold and crisp outside, and they’re both a little stoned. They are debating over which album will provide the soundtrack of their hour long journey to the trailhead, and both finally agree on “Take Me Home.” They hit play and smile…

You’ve more or less retooled your studio at Tiny Tree House to be this beacon for DIY ethics and a new home for more artists local and nationally. How did that happen, was it just a natural progression? 

Man, I’ve always had the thought somewhere in my mind that I could be doing more with recording/producing. With technology the way it is nowadays, you can really let fly and get weird without having to spend thousands on a space and gear. I’ve always made do with what I had available, but as the years roll by and I get involved in more projects, I’ve been listening and learning, honing my craft and collecting my gear. So in that sense it has been a natural progression. I’ve also, very deliberately, signed up for projects that were too big for me. That way I was forced to get uncomfortable and grow (both gear and skills). I think that is the single best piece of advice I could give someone when approaching recording. Bite off more than you can chew and then go learn everything you can before showtime.

On top of all the releases and recording, you’ve started your own small business in Pitchwire…tell us about it. 

Pitchwire focuses on all things audio to pair with visual art. We specialize in voice over, music beds, live recordings and audio branding. We’ve been up and running for about 2 years now and have worked with the Big Ears Festival (AC Entertainment), Loch & Key Productions, PopFizz, YWCA, Goodwill, Designsensory, The Boy Scouts of America, TNECD, and many others. It’s been a blast and continues to push me creatively to problem solve and get more efficient when creating.

Matt Honkonen

LIVE SHOWS

PRESERVATION PUB

 Saturday, February 20, 2016
8:00pm 11:00pm

RHYTHM N BLOOMS MUSIC FESTIVAL

 Fri, Apr 8, 2016 9:30am

Sun, Apr 10, 2016 10:30am

RECORD STORE DAY – LOST & FOUND RECORDS

Saturday, April 16, 2016
1:00pm 6:00pm

WDVX SIX O’CLOCK SWERVE

Thursday, April 28, 2016
6:00pm 8:00pm

CONCERTS ON THE COMMONS | NORRIS LAKE

Friday, June 24, 2016
7:00pm 9:00pm

For more information go to www.matthonkonen.org

by Ryan Boos

Honkonen Glides Supreme On Take Me Home

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Life should feel real to all of us. If you’re honest about it, you get a small sliver of time and then poof; the earth continues on, and our true impressions are left with those who knew us best, and the places we called “home”.  It can be forever lasting somewhere out there. Its an energy fiercely propelling cycles, through the ether, like those wonderful “Sunday Leaves” fueled by the gusts of wind on an autumn day.

Matt Honkonen has been touring for more than ten years with such bands as Tenderhooks, Llama Train, RB Morris, Tim Lee 3 and Joey English. Honkonen has shared the stage with acts like the Fiery Furnaces, The Features and ZZ Top and played celebrated festivals including Bonnaroo and CMJ.

Now, Honkonen finds himself hitting the lessons hard in his own studio as poet and producer. This his second album as an independent artists, and his eighth record to date. Matt retooled his Tiny Tree House Studios to be a beacon of DIY ethics, and a new and promising place for musicians to come and craft their material. Currently he is working on the new Llama Train record, and Cody Noll’s EP. And I personally hope to get his help finalizing the next Nomadic Firs effort as well.

We owe a lot to our Artists. Sadly, the modern way to appreciate music is pretty weak, treated as a commodity in the robotic voids of trendy “hashtag culture”, Spotify, and throwaway Top 40 garbage. A new album is old after its release, etc.  This is not to say that pop culture and getting a spin in a local coffee shop isn’t a great feeling, because of course it is. But the music makers create the greatest pastimes we have. Like wine, they lubricate the mundane, and assist the communications of our collective weirdness as humans. Revelations like this is why I celebrate a DIY mentality, festivals like Big Ears, and the love and sacrifice on Matt Honkonen’s new album.

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Take Me Home is filled with shades of soft colors, sprinkled through a valley of gray nature. Its quietly yelling for us to walk a mile in its shoes. From the tinges of southern rock mostly tucked behind a hazy neo-folk sound. There’s the reverb riddled elements on tracks like “Sea of Clouds”  which is easily one of the best singles I’ve heard in the last year. The album really has a kind of blueprint for all listeners with its sort of happy moments that bleed into the faint bloom of melancholy, nestled into really catchy cadences, and of course Matt’s ability to turn phrases. On “She Is A Mystery”, he sings “You put the flowers to bloom, you put a man on the moon, you pull the sun from the clouds, you turn my quiet to loud”.  He drops lyrics that will stay in your mind for days, and pop up in random for years to come.

Take Me Home is already turning heads here in Knoxville making a top 15 albums of 2015 list. And another Top 20 list where The Daily Times said “The songs draw you in because they deserve to be lived in..”. I couldn’t agree more.

Although on his new album Honkonen explores different territory outside the world of straight folk. He still rocks the south, still rocks a steady bourbon, and of course that “scruffy city” mentality we here in Knoxville live by.  But he’s also putting a little “west coast folk” in there, and some very light electronic elements. So, sorry “purity” lovers, its only reverb.

There’s songs on Take Me Home we can all agree are wonderful, tracks like “Honey Bee”,  an absolute must for the repeat feature on your system. And a tune destined to blast off toward some higher level of acclaim. My own Mom texted me regularly for a whole month to get a copy of it. We don’t like the same music, so that should tell you something about the new album, Take Me Home.

To exude trust and companionship via sound is a unique gift, and on Honkonen’s new album, he glides supreme.  Honkonen reassures us that its tough, but we’re all good. He’s opened a window to modernity for the sake of relevancy and creativity, and that spark is now fire. An artists grateful for his existence but not overwhelmed by the blind myopic circumstances of being comfortable. This cat loves the struggle, it makes him love life. After all, Take Me Home is a straight DIY effort. It takes plenty of grit to pull that off, especially all by yourself. This is a big step forward for this Knoxville Troubadour.

I highly recommend you SUPPORT albums like this. So buy his new album Take Me Home. BUY IT HERE BY CLICKING HIS NAME. MATT HONKONEN.  Its also available at all major digital outlets. And hopefully someone approaches him about a proper vinyl release. It deserves it…

Matt’s touring the East Tennessee area in support of Take Me Home. Read the Hazy Acres INTERVIEW with Matt Honkonen HERE. And LISTEN TO Nomadic Firs remix of “Sea Of Clouds” BY CLICKING HERE.

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other dates:

PRESERVATION PUB – Saturday, February 20, 2016
8:00pm 11:00pm

WDVX SIX O’CLOCK SWERVE – Thursday, April 28, 2016
6:00pm 8:00pm

CONCERTS ON THE COMMONS | NORRIS LAKE – Friday, June 24, 2016
7:00pm 9:00pm

For more information on the Honkster, visit http://www.matthonkonen.org

by Ryan Boos

Perera Elsewhere’s Debut Album

Perera Elsewhere

Ominous folk here, lush vocals with dark shades intersecting this beautiful approach on a classic form. A story-teller, Perera Elsewhere’s debut album on Friends of Friends (out of LA) hits you right in that space, rainy atmospherics shielded by a mild natural light. A long car ride in a vast, warm, reminiscent emotion. The record has some true “world” moments, a very interesting 12 tracks. Peaceful, pretty, and worth the time, Everlast is no doubt a fresh take on something in the realm of a journey, plus there are hints of electronic elements throughout. The album is available on CD, Vinyl, or MP3. Get it!

by Ryan Boos

The Hippie Front Story Road

The Hippie Front

Shades of the in between, an open road of free are The Hippie Front out of Nashville. Classic road trip folk music gets you reminiscing of home, the long path to find yourself, can you get back there now? You’ll be shuttering the camera to capture all the things you might not ever see again, about yourself, about the land you pass by without the faint knowing of embrace. It sounds like a real fun project, not taking itself to seriously, hints the moniker, and that embrace beams on “Hitchhiking” or “I Hope That You Know.” Two simple tunes, diverse in their impression without having to use anything else to convey its hopes and dreams. Good things here friends.