Search - Jim Lampos :: Rye

It's an elusive thing, capturing spirit in binary code. Though it's easy to trick the ears, the heart always knows. Jim Lampos' new album, Rye, isn't about studio tricks, and it's not about fashion. It's about real music. With just his guitar and voice, Jim recorded these thirteen new originals live in two quick sessions. Lampos' previous three records, "Dreamland in Flames", "Innuendoes of Lafayette", and "Starlight Theatre" explored the border between darkness and light, the seen and unseen, the creative and destructive--that place where anything can happen. "Rye" continues this exploration. The language is simpler and the music more direct, but it's no less poetic or penetrating. It's an honest record--a man and his guitar, no retouching. It's also a great time, a trip through the American musical backroads of blues, folk, and country--a land filled with saints, drifters, magicians, and lovers. From the rollicking "Dark American Night", to the hymn-like "Native Corn", tales of urban terror such as "Mackerelville Crowd" or sublime ballads such as "Bodie Island" and "Pretty Young Girl of Summer"; "Rye" breaks new ground in an ancient tradition.