With Off the Shelf, we ask an artist to present objects from a shelf or shelves from their home and talk about them. There are no rules, it could be a selection of albums, their favourite music, a piece of artwork or found objects. What occupies our shelves can be quite revealing as Wes Tirey, our latest guest, reveals.
Tomorrow sees the deluxe vinyl reissue of Wes Tirey’s whiskey-soaked folk opus ‘No Winners in the Blues‘ by Full Spectrum Records (order here – https://fullspectrumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/no-winners-in-the-blues). The album is an edition of 300, featuring artwork by Andrew Weathers & Gretchen Korsmo (the first 50 pre-orders get a free bag of Tinker Coffee Co.’s Santa Lucia whole beans). The album was previously released on cassette in 2019, with an accompanying lyric chapbook via M. Sage’s now-defunct Patient Sounds Intl.
Tirey is joined by Shane Parish on electric guitar, which accentuates plenty of moments across the album. These shades are both subtle and poignant…the pervading stillness of opener Aileen, the shimmering hopeful glimmer of Chestnut St Blues, the disorientating air of Easy Leaving or the pervading chaos and static that encroaches on Welcome to the City. Tirey is a keen observer; his sparse considered baritone verses unravel like poetry, littered with small everyday observations that make his characters and situations raw and real – lipstick-coated cigarettes, cold coffee, barking dogs in the distance – a backdrop to his yearning blues.
Tirey’s music is always deserving of such fine presentation…a while ago now, Cabin Floor Esoterica published a book of his selected lyrics (Melodrama Blues). It was in very limited numbers, but the saddle-stitched book was perfectly suited to his words. The forward by Richard Exelbert read:
“Reading Wes’ lyrics in toto I can see his soul walking through purifying fires and it is a long, arduous and difficult saunter filled with apocalyptic beauty.”
This album is also one to treasure; while it may be overtly bleak, it also has a raw beauty; make sure you get yourself a copy.
This is honest music for those moments when the night towers over the desert, as the dawn gathers faintly at the horizon: raw blues from the hands of a true master of his craft, now given fresh life with a new edition.
Off the Shelf with Wes Tirey
Wes Tirey in his own words:
Homemade collages:
I took up collaging in 2015 during an artist retreat in Little Switzerland, NC. I was supposed to be writing, but I ended up working on collage pieces nearly the whole time. I had this tiny cabin to myself for a whole week – no cell service, no internet. Collaging took on this kind of meditative practice – there were no narrators to look for, no characters or story to discover, like it is with songwriting.
I go months without collaging – similarly to going months without writing – but then I’ll catch a streak and bust out a few new pieces. Pictured here is one of my “smoke boxes” – which I made a few of in 2020. It’s a collage displayed in a shadow box meant to be included with fragrant wood to be burnt.
I got a piano recently, as well, and decorated it with a few collages from the last year or two. I’m not the best piano player – they’re a very forgiving audience to play for.
The Lone Ranger guitar & pick case:
I’m convinced that my decision to become a songwriter was a subconscious way of paying homage to the singular American figures I was obsessed with as a kid: Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and – more than any other – The Lone Ranger. A man with a mission – there’s important work to be done.
I found this old Harmony Lone Ranger guitar online years ago. It’s actually in pretty terrible condition. There’s a brace that’s broken off inside that rattles around. But it still rings like glory. I’ve thought about getting it restored, but I think it’s best to just let it be. Guitars have souls, too.
The case was a sweet gift from a friend of mine here in Asheville. It made for the perfect case for my thumb and finger picks. It’ll be traveling with me later this month out to Texas while on tour.
Robert Johnson folk art piece:
My mom bought this for me from an antique store in Asheville in 2011. It’s hard to overstate someone like Robert Johnson’s influence to anyone who sings and plays guitar – those songs and recordings are like sacred texts. You need a special key to unlock his guitar playing, too – it’s like he’s got four hands.
I later found out that his guitar teacher – who was a mortal man, not the devil, in fact – had him practice in cemeteries. Had him sit on gravestones while he played so he could commune with the dead. That’s some hardcore shit.
I tip my hat to him in my song Good Lord:
You wake up in the morning
Believe you dust your broom
River overflowing
Catfish in bloom
Pre-Order No Winners in the Blues
https://fullspectrumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/no-winners-in-the-blues