THE DEAD LEAVES SING
WRITTEN & PRODUCED by NATHAN WADE
RECORDED & MIXED BY EDDIE J. WILLIAMS
Mastered by EDDIE J. WILLIAMS & NATHAN WADE
Art Direction & Design by TOM ERDMANN of SKC DESIGN
Photographs of Nathan Wade by JODI BIEDRZYCKI
Additional Photography by TOM ERDMANN
NATHAN WADE is busy digging up early American roots music with a rusty shovel, hooking it to the back of a pick-up, and dragging it across a broken 21st Century landscape. His debut CD, The Dead Leaves Sing, is a lyrical road-trip full of killers, loners, addicts, and lost souls looking for some truth--an all-night drive where the promise of redemption and love is a star that lingers on the horizon line.
Drawing inspiration from the 1950's field recordings of audio archivist/musician Alan Lomax (especially his thirteen volume Southern Journey collection), The Dead Leaves Sing was performed and recorded live in various and unlikely stops around Bainbridge Island, Washington: a 19th Century schoolhouse, a cavernous lodge in the woods, and an intimate parlor overlooking the coast. Across the Puget Sound and in the dead of winter, those locations created a grand atmosphere for the album--sometimes eerie, sometimes somber--and capturing all the instruments and vocals together in the same room lent an immediacy to the music so many traditional studio recordings lack. Whether it's the lonely boot-stomping wail of Nathan and his guitar, or with the four-piece string-band moan of grass-roots ensemble Creeping Time, the raw excitement of a live performance makes for a listening experience that's visceral and organic.
That sound couldn't be more appropriate for Nathan's music--a genre he calls Post-Apocalypse Americana--which combines the gothic literary world of Nick Cave with the gritty, reinvented bluescapes of Chris Whitley; there are also echoes of John Fahey, Jeff Buckley, Ry Cooder, and Italian film composer Ennio Morricone in there as well. Drawing on language from old fiery gospel and blues numbers, the grim imagery of traditional murder ballads, and the high-plains lonesome of early country music, Nathan set out not to reinvent a well-worn wheel, but instead to revitalize the asphalt it rolls on. And with a voice both soulful and intimate, Nathan brings emotional honesty and light to the darkest highways of The Dead Leaves Sing, taking the listener on a detour down the lost roads of a forgotten countryside...and finding the most beautiful sunrise you've ever seen.
All music and lyrics composed by Nathan Wade.
© 2006 Nathan Wade Music. All Rights Reserved.
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"If you like your Americana hard boiled, blues drenched and served with grits on the side, then there are enough dark pleasures here to entice a sheckle from even the deepest dungaree pocket." -Americana UK
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"Nathan Wade is a strong and engaging singer, continually showing he has one more layer to reveal." -The Muse's Muse
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"A convincing debut...clearly inspired by the raw Appalachian country of the previous century." -Altcountry.nl
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"This CD will no doubt be on my rotation of favorites for a long time coming and I would suggest you also put it on yours." -CD Baby Review
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The Dead Leaves Sing can be purchased online at CD Baby for just $11.99. You can also download it from iTunes for just $9.99.
Or download it from iTunes:
Click Here
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Visit the website for free music downloads at:
www.nathanwademusic.com
