JR Bohannon – Dusk

Figureight

After 2017’s EP Recôncavo was re-issued on Phantom Limb, people have obviously been awaiting a full-length album from Louisville-based JR Bohannon and here it is, a rare release on Shazad Ismaily‘s Figureight label. The rich musical history of Louisville in Kentucky, from Appalachian finger-picking to the post-rock vibes of the likes of Slint, are all filtered through in the DNA of JR’s music to create a hybrid that also nods to desert slide and takes in some eastern influences, meaning that although he plays acoustic guitar in an American style, it is never derivative.

There is something back porch-y about opener “Reflections Of An American Dream” and this is a pretty suitable title for the piece. The play on the strings has a happy and carefree feeling, but is doesn’t all continue in that vein. There is a reflective breakdown that takes its position as a way of diverting your attention to something unexpected, then re-focusing on the rambling main figure. The easy sound of the slide somehow manages to help you overlook that it sounds like two guitars being played at once.

It is no mean feat that is even more obvious on the more spectral “Saint Etienne”. There is a warier atmosphere here, but a familiarity in some of the figures with a Spanish influence gently filtering through. It feels lonelier — or more solitary, I should say, with a sense of deep canyons and sweeping vistas, a long journey undertaken alone and with no obvious end in sight. JR has played with Ryley Walker over the years, and there is something about his destructive power that leaps into the mid-track breakdown and the cascading runs full of dark energy. The sensation that two guitars are being played is uncanny and the lonesome grandeur of some of the tracks does really transport you.

It is funny how as soon as a track utilises spare slide guitar, the listener is always reminded of Ry Cooder‘s Paris, Texas soundtrack, regardless of the situation, such is the ubiquity of that piece. “For Jina” uses the languid slide, but is able to sidestep the comparisons because it feels like an amalgam of the desert sound with a more abstract element that owes something to Gastr del Sol. There are loose and distant effects playing in the background that change the tone, giving it a modern update that feels like one step away from a drone backing, but going for something less obvious. It is a distant and plaintive track that makes way for the more playful “Paradise, Kentucky”; the sense of play and discovery is infectious here, and the elastic reflections that abound are lovely things.

Pedal steel only appears in very subtle quantities and keening that accompanies the guitar on “Dusk” is spare and thoughtful. It adds a tearful counterpoint to the main figure, which drifts in and out of focus, as if the presence of the pedal steel allows the guitar to be more subversive. Its pastoral feel doesn’t enter drone territory, but that feeling of absence/presence is carried on to final track “The Sorcerer’s Hand”, which really steps away from the previous pieces with the addition of bass and drums. This heads it into uncharted territory, taking a pleasantly unexpected eastern slant with plenty of splashy cymbal texture for the guitar to wallow in. It kind of allows the guitar to follow its own fanciful figures without having to worry about keeping the rhythm steady.

This is great, because the guitar then gets lost in the joy of double-backs, spinning around in the other directions and suddenly catching up with the rhythm, like a playful child out on a winter’s walk with two stolid parents; hiding behind trees, scampering after dogs and scooping up whatever nature has to offer. It is a vibrant and impressive end to a rather lovely album, one that continues the interest in loosing the acoustic guitar from its historical shackles and allowing it to shine in a contemporary light.

-Mr Olivetti-