Sunday Brunch Bonus- Jeffrey Foucault- new release

Ok, so I really like this guy. He traveled through the UK and Ireland with Kris Delmhorst (now his wife) and Peter Mulvey early on in the 2000's and then they put out a beautiful album titled Redbird recorded in a living room with one microphone. It is also the name they went by as a group. It garnered them all a nice fan base as a group and individually. A fan base hungry for new voices and stories. For the record I'm a big fan of Peter Mulvey as well- and I'll feature him in another post. This post is about Jeffery.

There are so many things I could  say about his artistry and how much I appreciate his well crafted songs but there is someone who already did that- better than I could ever put together. In the words of Matt Dellinger in black and white on the back of Jeffery Foucaults latest CD "Horse latitudes" is the best accolade ever. Needless to say- I completely and totally agree.

In the words of Matt Dellinger::

" I listened to this album for the first time while at home during a Brooklyn blizzard, and I wrote down that Jeffery Foucault's voice is like a snowstorm- soft and heavy, blanketing, pure. But I've listened to him on long sunny drives too, and I can tell you how well his songs mix with speed and heat. They fill every acre of a vast flat landscape.

Somehow, Jeffery brings us both the road and the home fire burning; triumph and hurt; memory and imagination; lonliness and crazy love. When songwriters are this good- that's rare-we tend to call them poets and old souls.  Sure, but there's also a wild energy here. He can win you over with a grin, crack you open with his mind. Like all gresat writers, he gets inside and listens. You hear his appetite for people and places in the crackle of his songs.

I first met Jeffery one September night in 2004 when he and Paul Curreri played the little basement stage at the old knitting factory in downtown Manhattan. I liked him right away.We were both in our twenties, both midwesterners, both wandering around the country as much as we could. back then it was especially cool to wear trucker hats. And I remember thinking that Jeffery was the guy all of those other guys wanted so badly to be: confident, masculine, rustic. He didn't wear a hat, and he didn't need to. He took out his guitar and told the truth for about an hour. It felt like looking out the window of a train.

Five albums later, and he still hits me in the chest. Each record has been a new amalgam of American styles and forms, yet unmistakably his. Horse Latitudes sounds like he's rounding third and coming home. His songs have gotten simpler and truer. He's in this for the long haul and I plan to ride along the whole way."  -Matt Dellinger

Beautifully and aptly put. Check his music out at www.jeffreyfoucault.com

I just hope as he becomes more well known, that he is able to retain his humble, sincere and comfortable demeanor.  The albums Stripping Cane, Ghost Repeater, Redbird and the latest Horse Latitudes are all worthy of adding to one's collection. There are others as well that are worth a listen. Enjoy the journey.