Hayseed

Christopher Wyant is purposely trying to confound your expectations. Son of a Pentecostal preacher, Wyant dons overalls and wire-rimmed glasses and calls himself Hayseed. The musical foundations for his songs lean heavily on pure, unadulterated, acoustic, old-time music. Yet, upon closer inspection, you find that the Kentuckian with the potent pipes is influenced by Shelley as much as by Grandpa Jones. His reflections of modern life have a strong metaphysical bent, concentrating on notions that are more spiritual than religious, and more archetypical than specific. Even the instrumental interlude, called "Voices" oddly enough, treads a line between American old-time and European classical. Helped by a solid group of pickers and singers (including Lucinda Williams), Hayseed blazes a provactive trail." ~ Marc Greilsamer / Amazon.com************************************************** ************"The big guy in the overalls may look like a hillbilly, but when he opens his mouth to sing, it's obvious this fellow is pretty hip to postmodern country music. His debut album is loaded with great tunes and guest spots by folks like Lucinda Williams and Joy Lynn White, but Hayseed can stand on his own and deliver the goods. His live performance is so casual that you almost feel like you're intruding on something very private, and when he does his acapella ballad, the hair will stand up on the back of your neck." ~ Creative Loafing Magazine / Atlanta, GA********************************************************** ****"A mountain man who looks every bit the part of his stage name, he is, in fact, a deep thinker (evidenced by his debut cd's title which alludes to an ancient form of Greek lyric poetry). This depth shows in the lyrics to his original tunes." ~ The Boston Herald / Boston, MA********************************************************** ****"Hayseed's MELIC... is a flat-out stunner; it's a lusty,loamy, hard-scrabble ramble filled with strong songs and raggedly exquisite picking, and it's expansive enough to cite the gospel tune 'Precious Memories' and the Allman Brothers' 'Melissa' both as roots music. You'll hear few better country-folk records this year OR next..." ~ Nashville Scene / Nashville, TN********************************************************** ****"This disc ranks up there with the great acoustic albums of all time." ~ Rural Route Twangzine*************************************************** ***********"Hayseed's plaintive lyrics and country bumpkin image belie the singer-songwriter's moonshine kick. He's one of the few modern singer-songwriters who doesn't appear beholden to Bob Dylan. Hayseed's version of modern mountain music retains its rustic edge, but when his twangy baritone sings "the information age is upon us" on Between The Lines, you know he's not just another banjo-and-fiddle-yokel with a knack for phrasing... Hayseed does not veer from the path of righteousness for Triple A radio's sake, but took to heart the words of The Bible when it said to 'make a joyful noise.'" ~ Austin Chronicle / Austin, TX********************************************************** ****"Hayseed is the real deal - a genuine purveyor of rural music and homespun wisdom. Of course, he's a rather erudite hick, taking his debut album's title from ancient Greek ('melic' means suitable for singing) and offering more than just yee-haw sentiments among the twangy fiddle, dobro, mandolin, and banjo... After taking you down back roads, passing around the jug of corn liquor and visiting that little clapboard church, Hayseed then sums it all up in the final song, CREDO (with Lucinda Williams), singing, "I don't want a wisdom that does not weep, I don't want a philosophy that does not laugh." Suffice to say that "melic" and Hayseed embody that credo." ~ Houston Chronicle / Houston, TX********************************************************** ****"Few sing like Hayseed, with a rich voice seasoned in the church rafters of his native Kentucky... Despite not being able to play an instrument, he is a strikingly unique songwriter with tunes that smack of the burnished and archaic, even while wrestling with the anxiety of the computer age. His most recent album, In Other Words, also proved him to be a stirring interpreter of others' songs." ~ Metroland Magazine / Albany, NY********************************************************** **** I use the myspace layout generator at UltimateMySpace.com.