Maps - Counter Melodies - VINYL LP

'He's still a nice guy, but he's seen a lot, and he wants to tell you about it. It's worth your time to listen.' -Jennifer Layton, Indie-Music In his songs, Jamie Purnell shines a light on the dark, disparaging corners of life. But his aim is not to horrify, shock, or depress--far from it. Instead, Jamie's music is like a reassuring arm around the shoulder from a good friend. With a sure-handed fingerstyle guitar, and a warm, rich voice remeniscent of James Taylor or Jim Croce, Jamie reminds us that, though life may not always be as good as it seems, neither is it that bad. In October 2003, Jamie released his debut album Two Different Towns. Two Different Towns is full of strong songs and rich acoustic textures. Playing on this album is an all-star cast of musicians including 2003 New Folk award winner Jonathan Byrd on vocals, Bill Newton (Indigo Girls) on harmonica, Robert Griffin (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Katherine Whalen's Jazz Squad) on piano and keys, Robbie Link (Mappapundi) on bass and cello, Taz Hallloween (Jackie O. Pillbox) on vocals, and Ray and Lindsay Tims (The Mark Allen Band, The Tims Family Band) on dobro, mandolin, fiddle, drums, and electric guitar.

10th anniversary edition, remastered for vinyl, includes « L'aérotrain », « Days », « Seahorses » and 4 unreleased tracks.

Vinyl LP pressing. This simple, rather bubbly lyric seems to be the antithesis of a record unequivocally steeped in a milieu of devastating loss, grief, crippling depression, anxiety and alcoholism. But after probably-too-many late night deep dives into Richard Swift's posthumous masterpiece, The Hex, these are the very words that carousel round and round your skull. The lyric comes tucked at the tail end of the ironically jaunty and buoyant InchDirty Jim,Inch a song about substance abuse; the lies you tell yourself in it's grip; and the loved ones you hurt along the way. The line is a flash of hope and beauty and levity. Swift believed in and sought real beauty. And so, even at it's most caustic and sardonic, The Hex is beautiful. Swift's palette in life and art was almost always greyscale. But here we are, with this masterpiece swan song with which to remember him. And every color now is shining through.