A Movable West is Josiah Byars, an indie folk artist from Stockton, California. I stumbled across his last album by chance to find he has just released a new EP titled “We Are Clumsy creatures”. Seemed like a good time to introduce him.
His latest EP offers the same quality music that impressed me with last year’s album “So Much Depends on Your Proportions”. The new opening track, My Percussive Mouth offers an insight into his inner workings and lays the groundwork for what follows, a depth and honesty when talking about the frailty and clumsiness of humans in relationships, it is enveloped in a stark reality and introspection:
You speak and I sing.
Not always sweetly.
I don’t always sing sweetly.When you sing you weep.
Not always gently.
Then why would you sing gently.Im so sick and tired.
of these god damn kids.
that kiss and tell and think they mean it.
I cant wait to show them how to mean it.
I cant wait to really really mean it.
with you.
With over 6 billion people in this world it’s easy to get lost. A Movable West is a location. It is the house your mom used to read to you in, but also the house your dad would tear apart when he was angry. It is where love, hate, uncertainty and bliss all coexist. It is safety. A Movable West is the brain-child of Josiah Byars. It started in his California bathroom in a one on one bout with his acoustic guitar. It is still unclear who exactly won this conflict but when the dust settled something new existed and he called it A Movable West. “I just wanted a way to understand myself and everyone around me better” said Josiah of his intention. “I really wanted answers but all I got were more questions.”
These questions are what fuels A Movable West. Questions such as;
“If mom was really that bad, then why did you leave her with me?” –An Antagonist…
“Does God know they have us surrounded?” –Canto VII
Or
“Is heaven home?” –North
It’s these questions that make A Movable West so human, so incredibly normal. It’s this normalcy that makes his music so comforting. He has come to terms with the fact that it’s the questions you ask that make up your proportions. It determines your worth.