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Stephen Clair
Stephen Clair
Stephen Clair
Stephen Clair tells a true story with his new album, To the Trees
Once the essence of the itinerant troubadour, writing and performing his songs from Seattle to the south of France, Stephen Clair has been everywhere, man. Clair first came to prominence when WFUV pronounced its love for Jen In Her Underwear, putting Clair not only on the map, but the road. Fast forward a thousand shows and half a dozen albums, Stephen Clair is ready with his 9th full-length record, To The Trees.
Clair is prolific, writing songs daily. There have been a few albums in a row in recent years, including, mid-pandemic, The Small Hours; and, prior, in 2019, the Malcolm Burn-produced Strange Perfume.
The latter prompted Glide to declare: Blending the kind of jaggedly cool guitar and piano that put Spoon on the map with a deadpan, almost spoken-word vocal delivery,, it quickly evolves into a righteous bar band anthem that feels as much linked to acts like the Hold Steady as it does to Wilco.
Clairs wry humor and sharp eye have been likened to folks like The Felice Brothers, John Prine, and Ray Davies. He relishes life on earth, particularly his well-travelled little slice of it. Its messy, difficult, a little funky and always changing. Clair sings of three-legged dogs leading parades and of leaving his boots in the street in hopes that someone with the right size feet might come along. Clair is a singular songwriter and performer, a man with a voice all his own.
Then theres the unmistakable sound of Stephen Clair with a guitar. (When is he without one?) He lures so many sounds from six strings. In his hands, that little black and white Martin sings. And what magic does he do to coax those sounds out of a Telecaster? Its a major topic of conversationa buzz, a hubbub, a roarafter each of his shows.
On To The Trees, Clairs trusty library again inspires, with the title track paying deference to Italo Calvinos The Baron in the Treesthis songs subject walking out on a family meal to live out her days amidst the limbs.
This is Clairs grand statement, as individual and open as a record can beembracing change, accepting the new and sending fresh shoots out on its own.
Maybe its time for all of us to head To the Trees.
"Stephen Clair is in a fine position to secure that big breakout hes been building towards over the course of eight albums and a career thats found him in the role of a tireless troubadour.
American Songwriter
"Clair's talentsdeadpan delivery, keen wordsmithing, and deceptively intricate fretwork
are at the fore, shining through ..."
Chronogram Magazine
Performing Songwriter calls him the kind of citified troubadour that the roots songwriting world needs these days.
The Small Hours makes me feel the way I used to back in the 80s about new Mellencamp records, where I would listen to them over and over again, absorbing every detail and nuance until I knew them as well as I did my own life. Yeah, I can see Clairs music inspiring that kind of devotion "
Gonzookanagan
How does a genuinely visceral rock songwriter like Stephen Clair not get feted like the second fuckin coming? Power of Pop
Stephen Clairs Strange Perfume is a perfect homage to 1970s garage rock. Think in terms of Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers or if David Bowie had gotten a crack at producing The Velvet Underground. The major thing separating Clair from those artists, and artists like them is the joy within his music. While theres emotional complexity and variety across the album, Clair and his band, in general, sound happy and excited to be bringing his ten songs to life and that excitement is transmitted to the listener."
- Steve Ovadia/Glide Magazine
"Some of the best rock 'n' roll music you'll hear this year. Raw and in-your-face, Strange Perfume reminds us all of the visceral power of rock n roll, without pretence or artifice."
Power of Pop
Blending the kind of jaggedly cool guitar and piano that put Spoon on the map with a deadpan, almost spoken-word vocal delivery, the song quickly evolves into a righteous bar band anthem that feels as much linked to acts like the Hold Steady as it does to Wilco
Glide Magazine
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LocationArgyle Brewing Companys Cambridge Depot (View)
6 Broad Street
Cambridge, NY 12816
United States
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