…you just have to skirt the rules and step up to the plate (and I'll get to the meat of that comment in a moment), but what inspired this post was a note from my friend Seth, who wrote:
How true! As good as that heritage piece is, you're not there. Not like…
…the new live album by Clay Rose. (And here's where skirting the rules comes in. I don't normally promo an Octave release on my blog, but sometimes something is so remarkable there's no other choice)
In this recording, you are there and in the room. The exact opposite of the Armstrong piece. And I bring this to you for two reasons: to demonstrate what being there means and the fact that this performer is a genius. As Copper editor Frank Doris told me, "it took me a few listens to actually connect and understand what this is, but when I did…"
Clay is raw, and he will reach into your soul if you crank up the volume, close your eyes, and let the man speak to you.
Terri and I were in tears at the concert.
Music is about connecting our inner voices. It's a language that's common among us, and Clay speaks it better than just about anyone I have ever heard over the last half century.
Frank Doris writes:
"The recording quality is remarkable. The sense of Rose being right there performing in front of you is startling. His voice goes from a whisper to almost frighteningly intense during his loudest declarations.
"Clay Rose does not look at life with blinders on. “Full Steam Ahead” is a romantic vision of his father’s life as a hobo turned cross-country truck driver before Rose was born: “It might be hell for a Christian but it’s heaven for a tramp.”
Do not miss this album. We've printed only 300 copies. First come, first served.
