The Heavy Guilt is an unlikely blend of divergent influences meeting in the middle to form something raw, fresh and potent. With the unique and gritty vocals of Erik Canzona, they tap into the Americana aesthetic of folk, soul and blues. Canzona howls the lament of generations, with a whiskey-stained roar from another time. Like a seasoned tempest that tears through small towns with brave new poetic visions, this young troubadour moans for the alleyways of America, for love and its opposite, fo...
The Heavy Guilt is an unlikely blend of divergent influences meeting in the middle to form something raw, fresh and potent. With the unique and gritty vocals of Erik Canzona, they tap into the Americana aesthetic of folk, soul and blues.
Canzona howls the lament of generations, with a whiskey-stained roar from another time. Like a seasoned tempest that tears through small towns with brave new poetic visions, this young troubadour moans for the alleyways of America, for love and its opposite, for desolation and most importantly, for hope.
The band’s first album, Lift Us Up From This, features Josh Rice on the Fender Rhodes and Hammond B3 and Alfred Howard on lyrics and percussion. Howard and Rice played together in the K23 Orchestra for seven years. They had been writing material for almost as long that didn’t fit within the psychedelic funk stylings of the K23, but was more inspired by Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Neutral Milk Hotel, Wilco, Rimbaud, Radiohead and infinite others. When they heard Erik’s voice, everything came together instantly, in a serendipitous moment that lies at the heart of really great music. Creative lightning struck and in a quick instant, the seeds were planted for a band to be formed.
The band is rounded out by Sean Martin on the electric guitar and Jason Littlefield on upright and electric bass. Both musicians have played hundreds of gigs together in Skirt Alert and various jazz ensembles in San Diego. They are virtuosos, teachers of students, aged 6 to 90, seasoned musicians who can glide over scales with terrifying speed and dexterity or hit that perfect note, sparse, chilling and precise. On the kit is Jason Smart, formerly of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and frequent collaborator with Fareed Haque, another brilliant musician who finds comfort in a drum throne behind any style. He laid down the framework for this album perfectly. His drumming takes their music, at points, to a frenzied fevered pitch and can just as quickly drop down to a soulful “less is more” approach.
This six-piece combo are hidden all-stars, disparate masters speaking through the common language of song. These bold players, not yet household names, are driving their stake hard into the soil of great American rock music. The Heavy Guilt has arrived. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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