Freak Scene #21: Grayson Ty Traces His Roots on 'Bloodline'
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, Grayson Ty tries something different on his new EP, Bloodlines, while Enfield’s Brian Jarvis pays tribute to Grayson Minney, the late singer of Columbia Fields, with a moving cover.
Grayson Ty changes directions on his latest release. After a folk-pop EP in 2016 and a string of singles in a similar vein through 2022, the Easthampton singer and songwriter pivots into a confident Americana sound on Bloodline, a new five-song collection that Ty says represents a different mindset.
“Over the past couple years, I’ve really been trying to shift my creative mentality to prioritize my own artistic expression, focusing on what feels good and honest to me rather than what I think the audience wants,” Ty says by email, before he plays an EP-release show tonight (Friday, June 28) at the Iron Horse in Northampton, with Eavesdrop.
He credits much of his new focus to SONAURA, his project with wife Laura Buchanan (of Eavesdrop, who released an EP earlier this year). SONAURA last year released the album long way ’round, which showcased a more direct, sometimes even vulnerable lyrical approach. Ty retains that sensibility on Bloodline, which includes songs about addiction (“Rock Bottom”), recognizing your worth and not letting anyone undercut it (“What the Fire’s For”) and a reminder that it’s OK to lean on the ones you love when you need to .
“I really wanted to delve into the lives of those closest to me and reflect on my development as a friend, partner, and human being,” says Ty, who arranged the songs with a full band in a latter-day outlaw country style soaked through with pedal steel guitar from Pete Adams and sleek, trebly lead lines from Jeff Lynch, along with contributions from Paul Kochanski on bass, J.J. O’Connell and Andrew Ricketts on drums and Darby Wolf on keys.
Delving into the lives of those closets to him manifests most directly on “Distant Star,” where Ty distills generations of his family’s history into a rollicking tribute to his antecedents, who include a professional wrestler renowned in the early 20th century and a big-band singer in the ’30s. As it happens, Distant Star was the name of Ty’s great-grandfather’s boat, and is also a reference to exploring the family’s Jewish roots, which have faded in prominence over time.
“I wanted to document and give future generations a snapshot of our lineage, or at least my interpretation of it,” Ty says. “It was an effort to preserve our heritage and a quest for personal fulfillment in discovering more about myself — probably both.”
If Bloodline represents the sound of a performer more fully embracing his abilities as a singer and as a writer, Ty sees it as the first step in whatever is to come.
“I want to continue exploring and refining my storytelling abilities, crafting lyrics that are honest, poignant and reflective of the human experience,” he says. “I want to be able to continue pushing my creative boundaries and experiment with different narratives, sounds and genres.”
Brian Jarvis Covers Columbia Fields’ ‘Take’
Enfield singer Brian Jarvis pays tribute to another Connecticut act this week with his new cover of the Colubmia Fields song “Take.” Jarvis released his version Monday on what would have been the 40th birthday of the band’s singer, Grayson Minney, who died in a car crash in Hebron in 2013.
Recorded with the blessing of Minney’s family, Jarvis asked the surviving members of the group to join him: drummer Chris Bowes, bassist Jon Coates and keyboardist Eric Heath, whose piano parts anchor Jarvis’ version of the song. They recorded the track last October at Ghost Hit Recording in West Springfield, with Rob Griffith of Bronze Radio Return producing.
“It was a very cathartic experience to celebrate the music of Columbia Fields with all the original band members,” says Jarvis, who’s working on a new album. “Since the very first time I heard Grayson play the song solo-acoustic, I have always been in love with it.”
Formed in 2002, Columbia Fields was active for more than a decade, winning accolades in the Hartford Advocate’s reader poll and even opening for Bon Jovi at Mohegan Sun. The group had a knack for wistful pop-rock songs, including “Take,” which appeared on the band’s 2009 album Bridging the Gap.
Upcoming Concerts
This will be fun: Willi Carlisle has been added to the lineup for Arcadia Folk Fest on Aug. 24. Information and tickets are here.
There’s a bunch of good stuff coming to the Iron Horse: Leo Kottke, a regular performer over the years, is there for a pair of concerts Sept. 23-24. Low Cut Connie played a wild show there back in 2013; they return Oct. 17. And Craig Finn of the Hold Steady comes back to Northampton Nov. 6 for his first solo gig here since a house concert he did at Brian and Zoe’s place in 2017. DSP Shows has more info on all three.
Tree House Brewing in South Deerfield has definitely entered the rotation of concert venues: Hiss Golden Messenger does a solo show there in the House Theater Oct. 3, while Vermont reggae singer Mihali performs there Oct. 9. DSP has the scoop on those shows, too.
The BoDeans play Aug. 25 at Infinity Hall in Norfolk. Maggie Rose is there Sept. 21. Popa Chubby performs Oct. 5. Eric Hutchison plays Infinity Hall in Hartford Oct. 6. There’s more info here.
Next week: Easthampton’s Kimaya Diggs has a new single on the way.
Freak Scene is always open to submissions! You can send music for coverage consideration to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first. Previous issues of Freak Scene are available in the archive.