New Americana Discovery - Joey Kneiser: Moonlight For The Graveyard Heart

Glossary's Joey Kneiser has an EP, Moonlight For The Graveyard Heart coming out tomorrow (Dec. 11), and it's a very enjoyable piece of Americana. When I say "Americana", think beyond just "anti-Nashville" and include in your universe artists like The Band. Because (and I know this is a very strong statement) this 5-song EP reminds me of some of Rick Danko's work, both in the Band and his solo stuff.

Kneiser's got a very pleasant but slightly off-kilter croon, and on this disc has created five really enjoyable slices of well-sung folk-rock. Lead track "So Many Midnights Ago" features pretty sparse instrumentation backing his plaintive wail about lost times and forgotten people - really, just an acoustic guitar and some synthesizer for the first 2:30, then the song fills out into a lush piece of pop that calls to mind Wilco's Summerteeth or something similar (which, in turn, if we're honest with ourselves, calls to mind lush 70's pop like ELO). The second cut, "Born With A Black Eye" starts out in the lush pop territory, with some gentle, meandering guitar sounds - the song reminds me quite a bit of an old favorite, "Moonlight Mile". Given the album's title, I don't suppose that's entirely a coincidence.

Enough with the comparisons to album rock titans of the '70's... take a listen... and for $4 you can take it with you and listen any time you want.



I really like this record, and a little more each time I listen. Score another one for This Is American Music.