Israel Nash, Live at The Brudenell

Brudenell presents...

ISRAEL NASH
+ Joana Serrat

27.01.19 | £15.00 ADVANCE (+stbf) | 19:30 Doors

http://www.israelnash.com/
https://www.facebook.com/israelnashmusic

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Texas’
genre-bending rock ‘n’ roller Israel Nash presents his latest long
play, Lifted. It is a modern day hippie-spiritual, a tonic for those
needing to put aside the mess of the daily grind. With luscious beds of
strings, horns and well adorned towering walls of sound, Lifted finds
Nash continuing his tradition of creating a sonic experience of feeling
that is at once both vast and intimate - soaring and untamed at times,
placid and sincerely personal at others.

Originally from the
Ozarks of Missouri, Israel Nash has made his home in Dripping Springs,
Texas for the greater part of a decade. There, on his ranch with
sweeping views of the Texas Hill Country, the tall, hirsute mountain man

built
his own studio; a Quonset hut structure he’s dubbed Plum Creek Sound.
The studio became a sanctuary, a creative outlet where Nash reached a
meditative state of escapism, which ultimately became the inspiration
behind Lifted. The creative process of writing, recording and producing
Lifted allowed Nash to leave his own downhearted feelings about the
political landscape of the recent elections and the deeper queries of
purpose and life that supersede the material world. Nash wrote and
recorded Lifted with the intention of achieving a sonic experience that
will elevate the listener - that the feeling of peace, love and
happiness which saturates the words and music can provide the same
escape he achieved while creating the LP.

Being able to finally
use Plum Creek Sound to its utmost, Nash incorporated found sounds and
field recordings from his Texas ranch to create a setting of the sounds
that represent his Hill Country life. Drums played in rain collection
tanks, water rushing against the limestone, frogs and crickets in their
habitats, and even a curious, yet guarded rattlesnake, all appear
throughout the record. Inspired by methods pioneered by John Cage, Nash
also randomized sounds and music and rearranged them according to the I
Ching (The Book of Changes). Utilizing these recording and tracking
techniques help create a sonic and very present picture of Nash’s home
and his life. Accompanied by his longtime band, with arrangements by
Jesse Chandler (Mercury Rev, Midlake), horns by members of Austin’s
cumbia/funk compadre’s Grupo Fantasma, and strings from Kelsey Wilson
and Sadie Wolf of indie pop’s Wild Child, Nash, alongside co- producer
and engineer Ted Young (Kurt Vile, The Rolling Stones), presents an
album that soars as a masterwork of American roots songs, meticulously
crafted and gently sprinkled with life meaning and multi-hued rock and
psychedelia.

“It’s all about finding, searching for little sparks
of inspiration. It may be a sound, a groove, a color, or even an
object. Old things are inspiring. Whatever it is, when you find it, it
spreads like a conflagration that is out of your control. It doesn’t
matter if you’re making a record or living your life, find these
inspirations with a vigil eye and watch them change both you and your
world.”

Lifted opens with an extended instrumental introduction,
preparing the listener to get comfortable and settle in for the journey
ahead, before blossoming into “Rolling On.” It’s a manifesto, a hearty
breath of rock goodness, clean air for all that follows. A sing-along
anthem of urgency, encouraging one to let go of yesterday and spring
from the traps of worry in order to move onward and upward - rolling on,
right here and right now.

“It was a simple message to myself, to
not get stuck in thinking and the past. It’s too easy for us to worry
about pretty much everything. I had been down and low for a bit and
really had to sing and write those feelings away, give them to the
moment and find a better self in the end.”

What follows is an Americana-bred opus without equal. From the familial harmonies of “Sweet
Springs,” recalling the Beach Boys at their most joyous (almost all
performed by Nash himself), to the country rock riffage of “Lucky Ones”
and “SpiritFalls” conjuring up that much needed healing, to the album
ending “Golden Fleeces,” a sunshine laden song offering up sweet relief
from those troubles and tying the preceding up with a sense of lightness
and much needed joy.

By immersing oneself in Lifted, one can
see Nash succeeds in a way that’s exquisite yet spiritually satisfying.
Nash welcomes you to join him on his uplifting path - one he’s taken
throughout his career, now continuing on a higher, imaginative plane.
May your ears be blessed and may your soul be lifted.