The stunning, rambling, wanderlustful "Rancho Shalom" by singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, storyteller Evan Kertman feels like the kind of song that you would stumble into while watching The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in the 70's. The beautiful folk orchestration, the wonderful way that Kertman spins his story and his vocal aesthetic, a deep resonant characteristic between stoicism and street wisdom is vast and compelling. I love the way he constructs his melody too, he casts out his poetry and lets it sit like a worm on the end of a hook. I actually thought of both John Lennon and Harry Nilsson not in sound but in temperament, in the way he serves the story.
"Rancho Shalom" is wonderfully orchestrated and (again) some elements, like the sauntering rambling bass line, the musical stair stepping passages made me think of (later) solo Lennon. There is so much going on but nothing feels overdone. You have Evan Kertman on vocals, acoustic guitar, trumpet, Aaron M. Olson on bass, guitars (electric, acoustic, 12-string, B-bender), keyboards, melodica, Ben Varian on drums, Nicole Calhoun on cello, Danny Echevarria on violin, Allegra Jones on Clarinet, Tara Milch on Flute and Tim Ramsey on pedal steel guitar.
Amazing balance of sound and story, filmic and exquisitely soothing, acerbic, poetic and smile inducing.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/evan.kertman
https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/track/rancho-shalom-single
Floating on warm country arrangements reminiscent of classic country of the 60s and 70s, Kertman sings of heartbreak and hope, homecoming and leavetaking. The songs emerged somewhere between his native Los Angeles and the West Virginian hills where he lived, and the lyrics tackle dislocation and transition with singular wit.
singer songwriter, indie folk, Evan Kertman, 60's revival, "Rancho Shalom", filmic, deep soul, acerbic, "Rancho Shalom", Lennon-esque, folk orchestration, storytelling,
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