Reviews:: Jon Epworth Turn Off Your Name

Jon Epworth knows the size of the room he’s destined to play and the life he wants to lead. That might seem obvious considering the years that he's spent playing shows and touring, but the delusions of grandeur that plague musicians is often what alienates their fans. Writing soaring anthems and vicious political commentary for the masses when you are playing empty rooms creates a distance that sound and melody can never cover.

When Passing Chords creeps out of the gate and Jon admits, “I'm a small cog on a smaller set of gears and perhaps we'll reach a few handfuls of ears / but won't you listen to my pretty passing chords / I'm a no-one in an empty room yeah I should give up and go to bed real soon / but won't you listen to my pretty passing chords”, he puts himself along side us and starts a discussion.

Which is good, because he's got a lot to say that we really need to hear.

I'll admit, hearing a musician tell us the world is fucked up is nothing new, but hearing one so grounded and eloquent is. Epworth isn't preaching at us about things we can't control, he simply wants us all to look inside, figure out how things got so bad and how we can make it better. He doesn't offer up false promises or hope, because really, he's doesn't have any of the answers we need. He's looking, just like us.

i can't promise anything to anyone at anytime but i want you all to love me/ I can't think of everything for everyone all of the time but I want you all to trust me.

Nervous, sympathetic, angry, scared, insecure... Turn Off Your Name shows that Epworth is all of these things, and more.

That freedom lets Jon move between styles and try whatever idea comes into his brain. He's able to drift from a Wainright inspired number (Golden Age) into frantic, spastic blasts of guitar and emotion (The Beaten Down and Cities) without losing the listener. He can bust out a touching, soulful number (Long Way Down) or a cruncher like A Cormorant, and lace both with insight and observation. Even when he's at his most catchy (The Driven), he's not singing about bar room conquests or crafting another road trip anthem. The song is asking a friend to keep fighting, keep pushing and never give up. And today, with everything else going on, someone asking us to push on and keep fighting is exactly what we need.

Jon is having his CD release party @ The Paragon here in Halifax on June 6th.

MP3:: Jon Epworth - Long Way Down

MP3:: Jon Epworth - Cities
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/jonepworth
BUY:: http://www.jonepworth.com/

Labels: Canada, Music, Nova Scotia