There’s something of an “After the Goldrush” feel to this latest release from Andrew Gabbard, the feeling of a melancholic collapse coupled with an accompaniment that almost isn’t there – it’s distracted, thinking of something else, worrying about wider problems. Not that Andrew Gabbard is short of concerns as he sing of “lonesome ways…redefine my lonesome days, I look into space, cannot hide my lonesome face.”
Andrew Gabbard is a busy musician, being guitarist and vocalist for Cincinnati-based Thee Shams and the Buffalo Killers. He writes songs for them as well. And he currently serves as one half of the Gabbard Brothers, and performs as a touring guitarist for The Black Keys, and records his own music at home. Busy.
His new album, ‘Cedar City Sweetheart‘, is, he says, a rock band making a country album – drawing inspiration from The Byrds which is always a good thing to do. Where his debut solo album ‘Homemade’ was just Gabbard playing everything for the new record he pulled together a band for the new album which made for a very different experience: “I invited a lot of friends to play on this record. Originally, I didn’t have access to much recording equipment. I tracked my parts with an iPhone. My friends recorded their parts professionally, so I was able to piece it together and take another stab at recording the core of each song. It’s almost like a remastered album to me, but it’s all new.”
