Wrasslin' with Ryley Walker: Mirror Of The Lowlands EP

Out of interest and practice I am going to share things I watch, listen to, and read. Could be a line or two or more. Unstructured, no pressure or deadline. Perhaps it will inspire a longer reflection. But it seems more constructive for my creative outlet and my mental & spiritual health at large. 

Ryley Walker is an artist who has pushed an arbitrary threshold I had placed on the indie guitar scene. Since Golden Sings That Have Been Sung, my first listen to Ryley, his ability to make the circular seem horizontal and self-driven approach hooked me. He can drone while playing a singer-songwriter standard like Jackson C. Frank's "Blues Runs the Game" or accomplish the latter while delving into the former. From 'Sings' onward, I've almost unconsciously followed the artist's collaboration and DIY output, which inspires and appeases and tells a lot about the mystique of his art. A person who intimately knows his influences and confronts them, a simultaneous embrace; he churns out unique and diverse music. A guitarist who seems to be both self-critical and gracious to himself, he advocates for the common good through his medium of choice. His  compositions are proof that we are to take him seriously, but not too seriously. Perhaps the Sensei of how to wax on a joke, and wax one off, I learned not to dwell on Walker's social media shenanigans. The comedic and snarky posts seem to be a buffer for the purgatory found in the self promoting marketing grime one has to do for oneself in the indie kingdom. Taking them as by-products of that uncharted territory, I am drawn more to where the light and grace of Ryley transcends in his music. But it must be said, his social media guile seethes creativity, permitting him to unleash his craft on the fretboards for the humble masses. 

Equally playful and contemplative, The "Mirror Of The Lowlands EP" is a collection of short stories on 6 string. Allow your turtle walking self to be flipped on its back. Keep those legs pumping, because the trip is sonorous and interactive; hinting at the classical, ambient, folk, drone, field recording and jazz microcosms. Don't tap out when wrasslin' with Ryley.

Reviews, comments and/or reflections on music that has been a part of my re-birth as a listener. A log of the slow pick-me-up transition from the darkness of passive listening and hoarding practices of binging on free RAR zipped files, to a more deep and active listening. A log of this tangible effort of purging my capitalist-consumerist drive to listen to it all.