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the High Lonesome Plains

The Freewheelin' Chris Bousquet

About Me

In an age of focus group driven corporate rock super conglomerates and one-dimensional American Idols, the High Lonesome Plains' 2002 EP Songs for Young Lovers was a proverbial "little train that could." Released on the upstart independent HMG record label, with an initial printing of fewer than 1000 copies, Songs for Young Lovers managed to breach the airwaves and reap critical praise on four continents. Renowned Australian music journalist and Laughing Outlaw record label founder Stuart Coupe proclaimed it "the most exciting thang to arrive in the mail for ages," while Americana-UK called it nothing less than "one of the best EPs of the year." The EP's lead track "Brass Ring (Nothing Lasts)" appeared on Magnet Magazine's New Music Sampler (35,000 copies) which garnered the band even more airplay across the US and abroad, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Brazil - not bad for a four song EP recorded mostly live, on a shoestring budget.The River and the Sea is the long-awaited full-length album from a band that's been compared to such giants as Big Star, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, the Jayhawks, and the Only Ones. The album comprises eleven new songs about love, loss, fear, strength, hope and redemption, penned by singer/songwriter Chris Buskey. Picking up where Songs for Young Lovers" left off, it represents a significant step forward. And while the music business isn't any tamer than it was a few years ago, Chris Buskey and the High Lonesome Plains remain undaunted, and unvanquished. Like a train that keeps on rolling "

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/8/2005
Band Website: highlonesomeplains.com
Band Members: Christopher James Bousquet - guitar/vocals John Lindberg - electric guitar/vocals Johnny Java - drums/percussion Ian Alsgaard - piano/organ/keyboards/vocals James Velvet - bass guitar/vocals
Influences: Stephen Foster, Walt Whitman, Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, Wallace Stevens, Harry Smith, Anton Chekhov, Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, The Velvet Underground, The Zombies, The Hollies, The Left Banke, The Band, Gram Parsons, Bobby Orr, Tim Hardin, Fred Neil, Nick Drake, Big Star, John Denver, The Clash, The Jam, Raymond Carver, Camper Van Beethoven, REM, The DBs, American Music Club, The Church, Miracle Legion, Mark Mulcahy, The Replacements, The Connells, Willie Nelson, The Waterboys, Red House Painters, Alligator Farmhouse, Sparklehorse, The Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers, The Blue Star Apartments, Vic Chesnutt, Peter Falk, The Knoxville Drift, The Flaming Lips
Sounds Like: "In the great tradition of US guitar bands Chris Buskey And The Lonesome Plains offer memorable melodies and intoxicating hooks all driven by layer upon layer of harmonic driven guitar pop that is instantly appealing . . . well worth tracking down." - Del Day, Americana-UK /"Buskey writes songs that grab at the throat, heart, and soul. A classic!"- **** -Rootstime Belgium/"Although Buskey's vocals often resemble the detached flatness of They Might Be Giants' John Linnell, these are gentle songs of wistful longing and uncomfortable self- reflection ("I'll Be Your Judas"), city lights as a metaphor for fading dreams ("Willow Street Green," "Porchlight") and nature as symbolic of freedom or at least a change from modern despairs" -Christopher Arnott New Haven Advocate/"The record is stellar, with a dusty alt-country sound that feels more like twangy folk than roots rock." -Pat Ferrucci New Haven Register/"The High Lonesome Plains brand of country rock works precisely because its so distinctive but still manages to sound innately memorable on first listen. Definitely one of the best EPs of the year so far." -Americana UK/"The personification of what Alt-Country surely should be. Capturing the essence of American Folk . . . and cranking it out in a manner reserved for rock idols." -Gary Vollano, Independisc.com/"Neil Young and Crazy Horse meets Big Star with catchy, clever lyrics." -Rob DeRosa, WESU
Record Label: free agent . . . it seems
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

2/29/2008 - Books & Co. Set List

"You can play a shoestring if you're sincere."-John Coltrane-The above quote was my mantra for this show and it really worked for me (to the best of my knowledge anyway.)Here's what I played (thi...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Sun, 02 Mar 2008 06:17:00 PST

Set Lists - 1/31/08 & 2/1/08

I forgot I'd been keeping track of set lists. And even though I can't be sure anyone else actually cares, here what songs were played over the past couple of shows: 1/31/2008 - Neverending Books, with...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Sat, 02 Feb 2008 11:17:00 PST

Ben Wu, 1978-2008

"When the storm clouds gather 'round you, and heavy rains descendJust remember that death is not the endAnd there's no one there to comfort you, with a helpin' hand to lendJust remember that death is ...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:41:00 PST

Sorry About the Crappy Show

For the sake of clarity, I love The Space. I love what they do and what they stand for. They're on a mission and it's a noblel one. I've know Steve for years, I love him and it feels like we're r...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:33:00 PST

The Freewheelin’ Chris Buskey - Sunday, January 20th - @ The Space

A belated happy new year to everyone. I'll be making my first live appearance of 2008 this Sunday at the Space. I'll be opening for my musical brother Mr. Frank Critelli. Frank is holding a Sunday res...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:57:00 PST

A Christmas Song(This Year) is Independisc’s Song of the Week

The IndepenDisc "Song of the Week" for 12-26-07 is: This Year by: Chris Bousquet (High Lonesome Plains) http://www.independ isc.com/sotw/ sotw007.m3u This song is also available as a FREE download! Go...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:47:00 PST

New Christmas Song (Free Download)

Better late than never I suppose. I've added a free download of a "new" song. Recorded hastily just the other night, "A Christmas Song (This Year)" was written a few months back for a Christmas c...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:00:00 PST

Some Very Generous Sweetheart of the Rodeo Tribute Press

Links to some very fine press for the Elm City Cycling Benefit/Sweetheart of the Rodeo tribute show. New Haven Registerhttp://www.nhregister.com:80/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/B igDaily?_nfpb=true&_page...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Sat, 01 Dec 2007 07:39:00 PST

Fifth Thursday and Sweetheart of the Rodeo

After months of semi-seclusion The Freewheelin' Chris Bousquet will be playing not one, but two incredible shows. In fact, we can hardly remember a better 72 hour period than that which will occu...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:33:00 PST

Miss & Out/Devil Take the Hindmost Redux

Scholars of Murphy's Law will note that there is no greater litmus test than the world of rock music, where not only does everything that can go wrong, go wrong; but the sames things go wrong again an...
Posted by the High Lonesome Plains on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:38:00 PST