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Ray's Vast Basement
- Avg user rating:
Out of 13 votes - Similar Artists: Tom Waits, Ken Nordine, Nick Cave, Ian Moore
Out of 13 votes
- Genre: Alternative/Punk » Alternative Folk
Editor's review
The product of Northern California songwriter John Bernson, Ray’s Vast Basement rewrites the rock opera as a folk-rock novel. This stunning song cycle centers around the lives and myths of a small, imaginary town. Like the concept of Tom Waits rummaging through James Joyce’s backpack, but as told by Howe Gelb, Ray’s Vast Basement is a strange and beautiful place.
Biography
The musical fiction of Ray’s Vast Basement is part of a ten-year body of work that has truly become a world of its own. Part concept album, part historical novel, part art experiment, this new conglomeration has been called:
"One of the most literary musical experiences you'll ever have"
- San Francisco Weekly
"Twisted and brilliant" - Epitonic.com
"An aesthetic triumph" Aquarius Records
"A homemade masterpiece" David Dye - World Café / Public Radio International
The action takes place in a remote town called Drakesville on the northern California coast, where the songs jump around the centuries, following the folklore of the town’s eccentric citizens. Originally conceived as a theater production by singer-songwriter Jon Bernson, Ray’s Vast Basement is now a nationally touring band, [Chris Linnevers, Colin Held, John Williford] an extended family of musicians and an obsessive history of an invented cave, which also serves as the central metaphor in Bernson’s rural mythology.
This record will reward music junkies who crave albums with new possibilities and textured music that can be deceptively simple, or subliminally complex, depending on the moment. Fans of the song-experiments and oddball storytelling of Tom Waits, Giant Sand and Ken Nordine will find themselves right at home. This is the kind of music that draws listeners in with its’ questions and leaves them daydreaming at work. Critical comparisons have also been made to writers like William Faulkner, Ray Bradbury and James Joyce, who created elaborate worlds to house their internal, emotional realities.
By a River Burning Blue is the band's critically acclaimed sequel to their 2000 debut release, On the Banks of the Time. Both are orchestrated, acoustic-electric mutations that bear witness to a singular vision and years of inspired commitment. For the full multimedia story of Ray’s Vast Basement, visit the band’s digital homestead: www.raysvastbasement.com
