Incredibly, Ross plays each of the 20+ instruments himself and also designed and created the beautiful artwork. Each tile on the cover holds a paper-cut image of one of sixteen Canadian animals, and along with the songs, Ross intends for them to “represent the ten provinces, three territories and three oceans that reside within these fragile Canadian habitats.” Ross says that his aim was to marry “art, music and design for the greater social good.”

If you visit the Peirson Soundcloud page, you can see each tile in more detail. What’s really cool about this is that each tile has some information on the species of animal it depicts, including its common name, its binomial name and its conservation status in Canada. All of the information was obtained from COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) so it’s all legit and scientifically accurate. So why not listen to the album and learn a little about each animal as you go? Did you know that the burrowing owl, Atlantic salmon and beluga whale are all classified as endangered? Or that species such as the harlequin duck and polar bear are now classed as requiring special concern?

You can even play the fun game of trying to match the tile to the song. For example, there is a repeated line in the track ‘The Year That Winter Never Came’ which goes, “Like the sun shining through the rain, a message from the lonesome whooping crane“, and if you look up the track on the , the art for the track features (you guessed it) a whooping crane.

Musically, Wild Ones sounds pretty much as you’d expect one man’s love letter to the natural world to sound. You could define it using the umbrella phrase “folk”, but with the 20+ instruments on show that doesn’t really do it justice. Fans of JBM (or Jesse Marchant as we’re calling him now) will like it, as will fans of more straightforward singer-songwriters (online biographies mention Nick Drake and Ray LaMontagne a lot). Let’s just say that it is as diverse and beautiful as the landscapes and habitats which inspired it.

Ross puts it best himself when he says, “Wild Ones is a dedication album not only for endangered species and their natural habitats at risk but also for the independent thinkers who have fought to preserve their wild sub-culture, rituals, values and essential spirit that was born out of our natural world. This is for the wild ones.”

You can buy the album right now via the Peirson Bandcamp page.

The post Peirson – Wild Ones appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“After releasing my last record, I hit the road hard with a revolving roster of musicians, writing songs and sharing stages with some of my heroes.  One of them, Jeffrey Foucault, signed on to produce my new album and booked my dream band to play on it.  I wrote like wildfire in the months leading up to the session.  In late October we walked into Sonelab studio in Easthampton, MA and spent four days playing these songs live, cutting 19 tracks in all.  We walked out the door with the core of my new album, RECKLESS SKYLINE.

This is the best music I’ve ever made – it feels so good.  I can’t wait to share it with you.”

The album is going to be a mix of foot-stomping rockers, country ballads and delicate folk. So if that sounds like your thing then why not give a little something?

Click the link above for a trailer, and support the album here. The Kickstarter page also contains details of all the rewards you can get for donations, as well as previews of some of the tracks.

The post Caitlin Canty – Reckless Skyline appeared first on Various Small Flames.