Gabriel Birnbaum didn’t start off as an on-the-fly roots rocker inspired by the patented Neil Young “get it down fast!” ethos. Nope. He started out as a jazz and avant-garde saxophonist. Well, jazzes loss is our gain as he has, over a number of years, finally found a niche that is suitable for Americana UK. It’s not all laughs along the way as a trying to get by (or even better) jobbing musician and it’s fair to say that things began to weigh on Birnbaum after a decade or so of a peripatetic lifestyle. And then the lucky break – the offer of some free studio time which allowed him to record the album ‘Not Alone’ from which today’s song comes with some of his favourite musicians: Will Graefe, who plays guitar for Okkervil River and comprises half of the duo Star Rover; Adam Brisbin, extraordinary guitarist for Buck Meek and Sam Evian; and Jason Nazary, a freewheeling drummer who passes easily between the avant-garde, indie and jazz (and now roots-rocking) worlds.
Photo by Ellen Askonas
