Wednesday, July 29, 2009

William Elliott Whitmore




Here's what ALL MUSIC has to say about William Elliott Whitmore:

With a voice that sounds like the reincarnation of an old gospel preacher from the 1920s and a fascination with sin, death, and redemption to match, William Elliott Whitmore is one of the most unique artists to emerge on the Americana scene in years. The son of a farmer and raised on a horse farm on the banks of the Mississippi River outside of Keokuk, IA, Whitmore's songs have a stark universality that is sketched out with minimal instrumentation, usually just a banjo or guitar and a smattering of percussion. Whitmore is rumored to have gotten his start in the music business by working as a roadie for Iowa hardcore band Ten Grand, famous for their fast and furious 20-minute sets, and Whitmore frequently stepped in with his songs to fill out the time. His voice is the one Tom Waits has been after for years (imagine a cross between Captain Beefheart and Dock Boggs), and his folk- and blues-inflected songs feel like they've been left out in the rain for months, weathered and tightened to the snapping point. Whitmore released Hymns for the Hopeless on Southern in 2003, followed by Ashes to Dust, also on Southern, in 2005. Whitmore appeared on the 2006 compilation CD/DVD entitled Let's Be Active, along with two other artists. In 2006 he released a third album on Southern, the
characteristically stark Song of the Blackbird. Animals in the Dark followed in 2009.


I have had this record for months and only just got around to it. (That's because I can't stop playing "Amie" by Pure Prairie League, but whatever...)

This is not a video, just a still, and an opportunity for you to listen to "Mutiny," one of the many intense songs from Whitmore's most recent release "Animals In The Dark," a record that will leave you frozen in your tracks for its duration.

4 comments:

meems said...

god, i love his voice so much. he's pretty great live, too.

steve simels said...

Too sentimental.
:-)

Anonymous said...

You must love All Music Guide to use them as a reference all the time.

Sal Nunziato said...

It's not a matter of loving or hating All Music, it's about information. Burning Wood is meant to entertain, so I refrain from long-winded commentary. I post AMG's info as a guide to the music.