Ernest Troost profile picture

Ernest Troost

About Me


All the Boats Are Gonna Rise shows the keen storytelling skill of Ernest Troost. Pointedly less impressionistic and lyrical than most blues, Troost’s songs are rooted instead in character, situation, and narrative. Adeptly fingerpicked guitar backs his clear, expressive singing. Troost’s style and subject matter recall Dylan, Dave Alvin, and (especially for his concentration on life’s darker side) Richard Thompson-- enviable company indeed. Such comparisons are not lightly made: Every song here is a keeper. Favorites include the murder ballad "Evangeline," with its haunted protagonist; the simple, John Hurt-like "This Field"; "Train to Kokomo," a series of sharply etched vignettes; and the appropriately named "Disturbing Blues," about a mother who methodically dismembers her child as he learns to make and respond to music. —Tom Hyslop, Blues Revue Magazine

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/1/2007
Band Website: www.ernesttroost.com
Influences: Bob Dylan, The Band, Blind Blake, Bernard Herrmann, Django Reinhardt, Ry Cooder, Igor Stravinsky, Elizabeth Cotton, Tom Waits, Woody Guthrie, Jerry Goldsmith, small guitars, Albert Roussel, Geoff Muldaur, early jazz and ragtime, William Gay, Larry Brown, Wallace Stegner, Paul Auster
Sounds Like: If the Carter family, the Band and Alfred Hitchcock wrote songs together it might sound like this.
Record Label: Travelin' Shoes Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Kerrville update #4

Kerrville update #4Left Van Horn this morning and by mid-day the landscape changed from desert-like to the hill country. Gentle rolling hills covered in live oaks, with wild flowers along the roa...
Posted by on Fri, 22 May 2009 19:51:00 GMT

Kerrville update #3

Crossed Arizona, New Mexico and made it to Van Horn Texas today. We listened to a Copland ballet while thunder showers poured down. Man, the sky around here is big! Went off the 10 to look for a ghost...
Posted by on Thu, 21 May 2009 21:55:00 GMT

Kerrville update #2

Kerrville update #2Beautiful desert landscapes through Arizona today. Saw a dust devil dancing along the side of the highway. Arrived in Tucson this evening after about 9 hours in the car. Gonna ...
Posted by on Wed, 20 May 2009 21:29:00 GMT

Kerrville update #1

Kerrville update #1- Well be heading out to the Kerrville Folk Festival this week, where Ill be playing as part of the New Folk Series on the 24th. The festival is the longest running folk fest...
Posted by on Tue, 19 May 2009 17:44:00 GMT

Kerrville Folk Festival

Dear Friends,I've just learned that I'm a finalist in the 2009 New Folk Competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. I'll be heading down there for a performance on May 24th at the Threadgill ...
Posted by on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:36:00 GMT

Night Skies 4 posted

Dear Friends,I just posted Polaris, the 4th piece in the Night Skies series. This month I went in a slightly different direction and wrote for mandolin and guitar. One day of writing, one day of recor...
Posted by on Fri, 02 May 2008 12:52:00 GMT

Night Skies 3 Posted

Dear Friends,Yesterday I posted Vernal Equinox, the third piece in the Night Skies series of instrumentals. This month’s piece was especially fun, as I got to work with Nicole Gordon, who added ...
Posted by on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:58:00 GMT

More about Night Skies Instrumentals

Dear friends,As I mentioned in the earlier post, I’ll be composing a new "Night Skies" instrumental piece each month and posting it on myspace. When I add a new piece, the previous month’s...
Posted by on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:38:00 GMT

Night Skies Instrumentals

Starting in February, I began posting a series of monthly instrumental pieces. I’ve titled the series "Night Skies" and I will try to use that imagery to tie the monthly pieces together as a col...
Posted by on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:24:00 GMT