$8.99
Sold by music on Tradebit
The world's largest download marketplace
3,272,305 satisfied buyers
The world's largest download marketplace
3,272,305 satisfied buyers
MP3 Jason Kendall - Cooper Doesn't Live Here Anymore
8 MP3 Songs in this album (27:49) !
Related styles: FOLK: Modern Folk, COUNTRY: Alt-Country
People who are interested in Bob Dylan Son Volt Jack Johnson should consider this download.
Details:
The mining towns and hollows of rural Pennsylvania are like so many others in America - circumnavigated by commerce and superhighways, fading like the paint on their abandoned houses, and filled with the care-worn faces of a people whose own energy was depleted in providing it for others - cities and corporations they may never get to see. Despite the carved-out emptiness, small towns carry a fierce chip of pride on their shoulders, and with steadfast faith and hope, they rise above the life that''s chosen them.
This is the portrait Jason Kendall paints in his debut release, "Cooper Doesn''t Live Here Anymore" - an audio love letter to small-town America containing eight gems that speak of echoing loneliness, loss and redemptive great love. Kendall, a Fayette County native, fleshes out his characters with a haunting familiarity. It''s clear these are people he knows, each song a small moment from their lives raised in tribute. His talent for instrumentation (keys, guitar, harmonica) and his emotive, bedroom-voice honors them well.
Kendall has been playing other people''s music for fifteen years, and writing his own songs since he was seventeen. "Cooper Doesn''t Live Here Anymore" is a self-produced, highly-crafted release well worth the wait. He wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and performed all the background vocals. With its mix of the plaintive and the upbeat and its lovely, unobtrusive arrangements, it leaves the listener wanting more.
Starting strong, in the leadoff track, "Pennsylvania Window" we encounter a man who feels trapped, spending his days watching and waiting for a break in the sameness of his life, ironically while reading Kerouac''s "On the Road."
"Things will stay the same
until the pain of constant
breaks the pain of change."
Other standout tracks include "Last Dollar Spent" with its catchy, sing-along chorus and surprise ending and "I Don''t Feel Like Singing," describing the bleak days following a broken love affair:
"and I can''t bring myself to shave or
throw away the past I''ve saved
in the box behind the door.
I don''t feel like singing anymore."
On "St. Augustine", we eavesdrop on a conversation in which a man seeks reassurance of a woman''s true feelings and longs to escape the town that confines him:
"And I wanna be one with the starlight,
want you to say I can stay the night, wanna be one with you.
And I wanna taste the rain in St. Augustine,
stay young forever far away from all I''ve seen, running straight to you."
The CD''s title and cover picture allude to the home of Reverend and Mrs. Furnier, the grandparents of Alice Cooper (AKA Vincent Furnier), where young Vincent spent his childhood summers. The house, long abandoned after his grandparents died, is now a tavern named Casa del Santo''s. Kendall saw it as a metaphor for the losses in the region, but he also is optimistic for the future:
"Southwestern Pennsylvania has such a unique history of prosperity and poverty, hard winters and a blue collar pride. It''s an area that, despite its beauty, over the past several years, has been limited in opportunities. I do think that a renaissance is on the horizon, one that is based on our collective creative spirit and rooted in the rich aesthetic of industry, perseverance and heart. It is my hope that my songs, in some small way, capture and reflect those fine qualities."
WHAT THEY''RE SAYING ABOUT "Cooper Doesn''t Live Here Anymore"
Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"A musician with a delicate touch on guitar, keyboards and saxophone, Kendall is reminiscent of Pittsburgher Bill Deasy, with his soft voice and poetic, narrative songs."
Harry Funk, Washington Observer-Reporter
"A tribute to small-town America, the feistiness of the people in Jason''s neck of the woods in the face of superhighways and strip malls. (The album features) the adept picking of his acoustic guitar, with some complementary instrumentation that he adds himself...The songs might be thematically linked, but Jason mixes them up stylistically enough to keep everything fresh as the album progresses. "Saturday We Lock the Door," another finger-picked gem, presents several brief, well-worded insights to the deep feelings shared between a couple. No, Cooper doesn''t live here anymore. We love ya Alice, but Jason Kendall seems to be taking a more meaningful musical direction."
Bill Deasy, Singer-Songwriter https://www.tradebit.com
"In this day and age where substance is the exception, Jason Kendall''s songs are a breath of fresh air. He''s the real deal."
Aaron Jentzen, Pittsburgh City Paper
"Singer-songwriter Jason Kendall (nope, not the former Pirate) is releasing his rootsy acoustic CD, ''Cooper Doesn''t Live Here Anymore.'' Kendall aspires to the Southwestern Pennsylvania troubadour model that blooms perennially in these parts…"
Scott Simons, Singer-Songwriter https://www.tradebit.com
"I think Jason Kendall''s ''Cooper Doesn''t Live Here Anymore'' is great! It''s a terrific mix of vibe and craft and the stripped-down production really emphasizes his writing..."
File Data