Description
Shadows and Grace is a new collection of 12 original songs from Seattle-based Steve Wacker. Crafted with an ear for the innate poetry and rhythms of language, this album conveys a variety of sounds, textures and influences. This is modern, poetic Americana – folk music, rock ?n roll and the blues are the primary components of Steve?s sound. Bits of country and Tin Pan Alley peeked through the cracks on his first album Smoke Ring Haloes in 2004. Those elements are evident here as well, although Steve uses a broader musical palette and his writing and singing have matured to a more refined distillation of his Midwestern roots. In addition to acoustic guitar, instrumentation includes pedal steel guitar, Dobro, slide guitar, harmonica and accordion. Social commentary songs include Ballad of Nathan Wood, inspired by a newspaper story about a young Seattle-area Marine?s death in Iraq; Software Blues Stomp, a hilarious crowd-pleasing statement of frustration that?s only partly tongue-in-cheek; and Reach for the Sky, a historical narrative about the sellout of the American Dream. Down On the Farm is a nostalgic biography of a mid-20th century American mother, and The Ghost of Beauty?s Perfume and The Dreams of Generations were singled out for recognition in the Great Lakes and Tumbleweed Music Festival songwriting contests, respectively. Steve?s love of language illuminates his songs, which strive to articulate the universal through his exploration of the personal. His sense of playfulness is apparent in his songwriting, as is his slightly off-kilter sense of humor. TRACK LISTING : 1. THE ONE THING 2. BUILD ME A FOUNDATION 3. THE GHOST OF BEAUTY’S PERFUME 4. DOWN ON THE FARM 5. SOFTWARE BLUES STOMP 6. THE DREAMS OF GENERATIONS 7. LAST IN LINE TO SEE THE MONA LISA 8. SINCE WE MET 9. BALLAD OF NATHAN WOOD 10. GRACE 11. REACH FOR THE SKY 12. AIN’T TO EASILY SATISFIED
