"and she said, you don't know how loved you are / you don't know how loved you are..."
The whirlwind that is "Winnebago Lovers" by Halifax, Nova Scotia based Callum Gaudet, and from his upcoming album "Ghosts", dropping in October (2023), is an emotional rambling travelogue full of rust, guts and wanderlust. The sonic sense here bending Americana folk, a bustling bend of porch country, blue grass, 70's gardenrock and 60's country pop stands as an every moving framework for Gaudet's vocal aesthetic that has a beer glass of sultry swagger with a shot glass drop of homespun charm dropped into the mix. It is the kind of song that my dad might have enjoyed watching The Glen Campbell Show on a newly purchased color television purchased in 1971.
This nostalgic panorama not only rings true for all that listen but for Gaudet himself although the decade's lens maybe different for all that listen. He shares (from press notes):
[“This is a love song from my youth, but not for any one person; it’s a love song for the kind of person I hoped to be with, and the kind of life I wanted to live,” said Gaudet (he/him). “I grew up in rural Nova Scotia where the ocean, the woods, and the stormy weather were all big parts of my upbringing. When I moved to the city after graduating from high school, I was enamored with the cultural diversity, the food, and the fact that live music happened every weekend.”
That said, trading locales created a dissonance between Gaudet’s youth and early adulthood.
“By leaning so far into a new direction, I lost my old self,” he said. “I realized that I missed the outdoors, I missed finding myself in situations that I wasn’t prepared for. Doing camping trips and long distance treks put me in situations that required human spirit to overcome, and that resilience, the ability to laugh at trouble, was what I realized I was looking for from a partnership. This song is an ode to resilience, support in the face of adversity, and a love of bad weather.”]
That said, trading locales created a dissonance between Gaudet’s youth and early adulthood.
“By leaning so far into a new direction, I lost my old self,” he said. “I realized that I missed the outdoors, I missed finding myself in situations that I wasn’t prepared for. Doing camping trips and long distance treks put me in situations that required human spirit to overcome, and that resilience, the ability to laugh at trouble, was what I realized I was looking for from a partnership. This song is an ode to resilience, support in the face of adversity, and a love of bad weather.”]
The amazing sonic sprawl extends to other songs on Gaudet's upcoming album, "Ghosts", dropping in October 2023, with creative musical / lyrical shape shifting and blending of genres / sounds as well.
“This process has been like publishing a collection of short stories,” he said. “About half of these songs started with characters. As soon as I could see these characters I started searching for what happened to them. Sometimes this was a practice in writing, and sometimes this was an exploration of my own emotions. I could look back at something that happened in my life and appreciate the significance, retelling the story to myself with a fresh perspective.”
Gaudet expands:
“I was able to tell these stories with influence from a variety of genres, some genres I wasn’t into when I wrote some of the earliest songs on this album,” Gaudet said. “There are country and folk themes, indie and rock tones, these genres have all called out to me at different times in my life, and while they may be seemingly unconnected, I think they have more in common than they don’t. This album was an exploration of those similarities and I think there is a cohesion between their sounds found here.”
I appreciate the nostalgic iteration here, the sonic time traveling. I love movies that take place in the 70's and music that gives nods to those time before as well.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3pi8l9xkxiFbcT36L1V9e0
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoxvUR1EhH6-JLSwi9nw0ow
https://www.instagram.com/callumgaudet/
https://callumgaudet.com/
Callum Gaudet sings loud Americana using the raw electric guitar sounds of where he is based, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hitchhiking and traveling internationally left Gaudet with one sound in mind, the sound of stories. He recognized that stories connect individuals from various walks of life, and that connection, be it brief or lifelong, leaves a powerful imprint on the minds of people. With lyrics that evoke a raconteur, Callum Gaudet's writing stands on the edge of folksong, short story, and loud vintage tube amps.
No comments:
Post a Comment