First up is the debut record from North Carolina couple Emma & Tyler Millard, who go under the band name The Ghosts Of Liberty. My favorite song on the 3-tune EP is Roanoke River. It’s a tension-filled, country-pop story about society’s biases and love’s ability to overcome them. With Tyler’s rootsy edge on guitar providing a counterpoint to Emma’s powerhouse vocals, The Ghosts Of Liberty is worth putting on your radar.
Also with a debut EP is L.A. classical-guitarist-turned-folky Drew Aron. Finding the structured work of the classical genre not geared well for his creative needs, Aron spent 5 years writing some of his own stories in a style more open to interpretation.
The title song, Familiar Faces, reflects much of the album’s style, with it’s Laurel Canyon-tinged California folk rock sound. Secret Language carries a little bluegrass flavor with its mandolin part in song inspired by that very 60’s pop culture icon, the horoscope. Ten Years conveys a heaviness with its Waylon style bass line and storyline of avoiding grief. “Felt like you were just out of town” is perhaps the ultimate act of not accepting the loss of a close childhood friend.
Now that he’s turned the spigot on to his new style of music, let’s hope this isn’t the last we hear from Drew Aron.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.