Grant-Lee Phillips has always considered himself a visual artist as much as a musician and performer. Indeed, the entirety of Grant-Lee Phillips’ songbook, from the albums of the band Grant Lee Buffalo, through his 12 solo albums, are highly cinematic and atmospheric. “Although art and film had become eclipsed by music, I found that putting out albums provided me with an opportunity to create accompanying visuals. I’ve always embraced the intersection of music and album art, much like the painting you see on the cover of this album. Painting quiets, or directs my mind towards a focal point, and everything else goes away.” Upon moving to L.A. in the early 1980s, he found himself immersed in the underground music scene, and kept at it as the Americana music format grew later on. “The mood on this album is contemplative,” says Phillips, “trying to find meaning in an age of confusion, feeling your way through the blinding dust of unreality.” Like many, Phillips is constantly fighting to keep his head above the noise of the news and the everyday anxiety of modern life. “We can focus on all of the various freedoms that are being threatened, things that maybe a year or two ago, we might've taken for granted. But at a certain point in time, it comes back down to very human primal things. I don't see songs of love and songs of protest as being so far apart, really. It’s all about recognizing the value of connection in a disconnected time.”
Tuesday 8/12: Grant-Lee Phillips – In the Hour of Dust
