OCTOBER 29TH, 2022 - SAM ALLINGHAM & CHRIS KASPER
SATURDAY EVE in THE WILDFLOWER GARDEN - 2319 EMERALD STREET PHILA PA 19125
GATES @ 3pm, MUSIC @ 4PM and 5PM
REAL FOOD / REAL DRINKS / $20 suggested* donation, *you being there is more important
( Dauphin/York El Train 1 Block away. 3 blocks from Frankford Ave )
Chris Kasper’s newest record, Holysmoke, is a treasure chest unto itself. It’s got groove, guts & grace, and is worth its weight in gold. The patchwork of genres that Kasper effortlessly weaves together reveals an even deeper dive into varied influences from rock n’ roll and dreamy pop, to junkyard blues and country-folk.
Listen Here: Holysmoke
And it all began by the ocean.
In a rented seaside motel, Kasper recalls, “There were these three clocks in the room, all ticking out of time. Before it drove me mad and I had to take out all the batteries, there was a rhythm & a beat that became the base for a melody which I later wrote lyrics for.” Others were poems-turned-songs. Some tunes came by way of Nashville dive bars, and more arose in a camper van traveling across West Texas. He eventually made it back to a countryside home outside of Philadelphia and started on production.
Holysmoke has been a long time coming. Although complete, the whole world took a pause during the pandemic, and so it was kept at a low simmer for the sake of the song.
It completes a trilogy, of sorts, with previous releases Bagabones (2012), and O, The Fool (2016). As the final star in a constellation that’s bound by lyrical prowess, deep-rooted rhythms, and artful arrangements of strings and melodies, this album shines bright.
If we’re living in the land of milk & honey, Chris Kasper’s music is an island of coffee & weed!
And at a moment when fresh, timeless art is needed more than ever, his work fills the cup & soothes the soul.
Sam Allingham is a musician and writer based in Philadelphia. He writes songs that couple the complex fingerpicking of artists like Nathan Salsburg and Bert Jansch with the direct, lyrical songwriting of Lucinda Williams and later Phil Elverum. His fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, among other places, and he is the author of a book of stories, The Great American Songbook.
