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TRUE
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MUSIC
WEB EXPRESS 3000 presents New
CD Musical
Background
Favorite
Guitars & Gear Well
what's so amazing is Peter Gabriel was hands down the first really
powerful influence where I felt an immediate sense of connection to
the human experience that Peter was coming from and successfully galvanizing
and touching in people's hearts around the world. I was also just
absolutely amazed by the sound of the So album. At the time
nothing like that was ever heard. I believe generationally there are
waves or moments in time where the hip amongst us is feeling or longing
in a similar direction for various things, love, justice, connection,
true understanding, evil overcome, spiritual recognition and on and
on. And a great artist like Gabriel not only hits the bulls-eye of
that collective emotion but also creates unusual, striking songs that
are just so totally fresh to everyone at that time; It forever moves
a generation. So, obviously having Tony Levin manifest for our recordings
is really quite something to me, more than I can simply state. Upon
hearing for example how Tony performed on especially the long Intro
of, "My Freedom Lies Behind The Sun," I suddenly realized
how unmistakable and characteristic Tony's sound plays an essential
role in Gabriel's' music and I was very taken back by the power of
that.
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Centered
around the songs of up and coming NYC based singer songwriter / guitarist
Lou Barlow, the 2009 CD release of Feels Like Centuries
introduces the sound and vision of Barlow’s debut recording
as True Nature. Produced and recorded up in Woodstock, N.Y. by drummer
/ percussionist (and founding member of The Spin Doctors) Aaron
Comess, this debut True Nature set may only contain five tracks
yet they are well worth hitting the replay button and reloading. Comess
has done some great production work in the past and he works up his
studio magic for Barlow’s first CD with True Nature. Backing
up Barlow’s modern rock compositions are first rate musicians
including David Bowie’s guitar ace Gerry Leonard, whose
sonic guitar sound drives Barlow’s songs and vocals into the
stratosphere with some otherworldly extrapolations. On bass here is
the legendary prog-rock bass icon Tony Levin, who adds in his
patented thundering backbone of sound. There’s also a trio of
backing vocalists—including Chris Barron, James Maddock
and Brandon Wilde—who
add further coloration in places. Regarding the CD sound, Barlow’s
muse sounds greatly influenced by King Crimson circa 2000 and
Bowie, while at other times while drawing on a very hip, guitar-centric,
downtown NYC rock sound pioneered by Lou Reed, John Cale and more.
Fans of Bowie’s early 2000 work
with guitarist Gerry Leonard will get a buzz from Barlow’s atmospheric,
edgy rock vocal sound. Barlow’s web site is very interesting
and, echoing the site’s very unusual photography and artwork
featuring model Tonya Kaye, the CD cover artwork of Feels
Like Centuries creates some very intriguing imagery all it’s
own. 
True
Nature is an ever evolving project or 'Moniker' for me as a solo artist.
It's very exciting for me to tell you about who is on the new EP but
I want to be clear that this is not a band. Oh, and while I'm at it,
I'm not the Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr. etc., it's all our mamas'
fault! 
I
once heard Sting say something to the effect that he likes to be the
'worst' member of his bands, obviously a post Police statement! (laughter)
Anyway, so I understood and appreciated his statement especially as
a singer-songwriter, and having surrounded myself with world class
musicians, I'm adopting that attitude. I mean, you ask about my musicianship
and I'm thinking that it's more about getting the right musicians
together! I used to get into sessions for my songs and people would
naturally say, 'You have to tell us exactly what you want Lou.' And
I used to get so frustrated because I’m an articulate dude and
after a while no words can explain it. So preproduction with Aaron
has become my new refuge. I can work out everything I need to there.
Then, once we get into the studio with Tony and Gerry it's all automatic
from there. A psychic kind of, 'Wow how did you know what I was feeling,'
kind of experience happens and a part of me feels, I've been looking
for this for a very long time ....
Since
I was like 3 or 4, listening to this one Sonny Rollins jazz record
over and over, I wanted to play the drums and my dad always took me
seriously from a very young age. Somehow upon proving my interest
at the age of about 6 there was a cool Ludwig 4 piece set that I still
have 3 out of 4 pieces from and you'll all be happy to know that I
am in recent Facebook contact with the last holder of that missing
floor Tom !
GERRY
LEONARD: My main Guitars are Gibsons mostly old ones. I have a
69 Gibson Sg Custom that I have had since I was 16 and its a favourite
still. I like the darker sound. It's more moody. Although we used
a Les Paul (custom Shop) and a Teisco (great Lo Fi Gtr) for slide.
I have been using Mesa Boogie amps for a long time, They sound great
and are bullet proof on the road. Another favourite is a Soma Tone
roaring 40. Its a new amp from a small maker in NJ. Sounds killer.
Plug in and kill your neighbors cat amp. I use a combination of analog
pedals for Distortion and Delay and a TC G force for more exotic things.
I use a switching system from Ground Control to control everything. 
The
artists I feel influence from most seemed to pick up from whatever
Peter Gabriel was tapping into: U2 & The Police are still my all
time favorites and these days onto Cold Play, Snow Patrol, both of
which I love. But the 'thread' I'm sensing is not a sonic or necessarily
stylistic similarity. I mean U2 and Gabriel musically share almost
nothing (except a few producers!) but the emphasis on what the human
heart goes through with a wishful global perspective in mind, is what
I feel these artists strongly have in common. I see a tipping balance
scale in my mind and Gabriel is that central balancing point for me.
There are ton's of musicians before and after Gabriel that have inspired
me greatly, if you want to talk about all that, but I think it's just
so important to realize when and where that inner shift happened where
I thought, 'This is what I want to do with my life.' And that was
Peter Gabriel for me.
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