The format for these things will go like this: Review, then a little bit of artist/album history (influences, recording dates, equipment used, etc.), as much as possible. May forget to add it from time to time, eh ... I'll do my best. Also will be a website link for purchasing the music or for more information about the artist, and a contact e-mail. As of now there will be no direct links for samples of music, etc. But I will try to update if that artist is appearing in the region as we go along so you can *support live music*. Later, as I learn more about all this, I'll try to post links to venues, etc. - maybe today, maybe not ... who knows? So, first up ...
Christopher BesteThomas Savage
This citizen of Greeneville (that's with the extra 'e') has cooked up a fine album with Thomas Savage, his first release. Christopher Beste utilizes his influences (without being a slave to them) to produce an set that varies between piano and guitar. On piano, Beste shines in a style not dissimilar to Elton John at his earliest - say, from EJ's first album, Empty Sky. Like John's early work, Beste's chord progressions are classical and (English) folk based. But Beste isn't Bernie, so his lyrics are modern and much fresher than Elton's 1960s relic. A good example of this are Lilly, Lilly, Lilly and October's Turn. Beste can get a little too wordy at times, and sometimes allows lyric to control melody (making for rushed or otherwise clumsy passages, as in the closing passages of No Ending Yet, which diminishes an otherwise stunning ballad); fortunately those incidents are few. The guitar-based numbers betray his interest in folk; an a cappella The Orchard and the powerful Storm would fit well beside something in the Jethro Tull arsenal; Orchard also features the album's most pointed political commentary. Other fine songs include Somewhat Stupid Song (it isn't) and its account of things that make the singer feel inadequate. It's a telling tale of people and the powers of persuasion - or the lack of them. Beste, in this song, seems to understand that power is helpless in the face of the unmotivated, the unaware and the closed-minded. The title track is a dark acoustic folk excursion into near-cannibalism; the finale is a light, tongue-in-cheek view of Beste's hometown. Overriding both, however, is the absolutely exquisite Lawrence Station Road, with its soaring melody and stark, yet poetic imagery. Road is worthy of inclusion on any iPod Best Of compilation. Beste has plenty of room to grow as an artist; again, the comparison to Elton's Empty Sky is most apt. A pleasant album in its day, Empty Sky was a fine the starting point on Elton's journey. Thomas Savage, Beste's beginning, is also a fine first step.
Influences:
(In no particular order): Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Chopin, Thelonius Monk, Beethoven, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, folk/children's music, John Prine, Carl Orff, Nancy Griffith, Tori Amos, Tom Lehrer, Richard Thompson, Billy Joel, Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Steely Dan, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Charles Davidson, Cindy Lauper, Todd Rundgren, Erik Satie, The Who, Kate Bush...
Recording dates:
May to July 2009. I started planning out the project and rehearsing a few months before.
Equipment:
Roland VS2400 CD Digital Workstation, DBX 166A Compressor/Limiter, Rode NT1 mics (2), knock-off Shure SM81 mics (2) and assorted cheap drum mics, Korg TR88 keyboard, Sony VD6 headphones, Yamaha NS10M monitors, old Peavy Sp-3s serving as monitors, QSR GX3 power amp. Guitars: Epiphone PR5E, unknown 12 string, Elixir strings. Ludwig drum kit w/Zildjian cymbals
Computer programs:
For the musical I am writing, I use Sibelius running on a Mac. The Roland Workstation runs its own software, and occasionally I'll play a keyboard part into the Korg's sequencer in case I have to edit out a note here or there.
Web page/link for purchasing CDs:
Not there yet. I do maintain an active Christopher Beste Fan Page on Facebook.
Contact e-mail: christopherbeste@gmail.com
