Jeffrey Silverstein
Western Sky Music
Arrowhawk Records
12 May 2023
Nothing is exactly what it seems, and Jeffrey Silverstein’s Western Sky Music is a perfect example of that. Cosmic country music that comes from a transplanted New Jersey native who discovered country music through the bargain bins of record stores defies the stereotype. From the wilds of Baltimore, he grew up with music from folks like Dan Deacon, Future Islands and Beach House, about as far away from the twang of country as one could possibly get. From there, he ended up in Brooklyn, New York, earned a master’s degree in special education and formed an indie-folk duo.
Blame or credit should go to his father for his fascination with country sounds. Running tandem with his passion for collecting records, he discovered, “the thing you often find the most of, for the cheapest, is country records. People want to look at the fancy records on the wall, I’m always crawling along the ground searching the dusty piles.” There he discovered country legends, in particular Chet Atkins. The second song on Western Sky Music, “Chet”, is a homage to the guitarist based on a scratched Atkins disc. “Instead of advancing the needle I sat and listened for quite some time, letting it wash over me and eventually capturing the loop on my phone. I used it as a guide to inform mood and texture.” Then he reached out to William Tyler to add his “signature shine” to the track.
Using a band comprised of pedal steel guitarist Barry Walker Jr., bassist Alex Chapman and drummer Dana Buoy, they have the twang and taste to create the kind of country music that is both irresistible and ethereal. Added to the mix this time around are vocals by Silverstein, “I just felt really strange about my voice for a long time, so when people come up to me and speak highly of it, it’s like, ‘Are you sure?’” Working in a context similar to Bill Callahan, his spoken/sung vocals add to the mixture he’s creating. “The wit and humour in country music is a really big appeal to me, it’s kind of like a dark comedy”, he laughs. “You can say a lot with a little, and that plays to my own tastes.”
That’s most certainly the case on “Cowboy Grass,” which opens the album with his deep voice intoning, “I don’t like flying/ But I like getting around.” You may be able to have one without the other, but flying certainly makes things easier. For the closing track, “Birdsong in the Canopy,” sustained guitars and pedal steel blend with the voice of Karima Walker (almost sounding like a female version of Silverstein), creating something that seems a million miles away from the sounds of country. Jeffrey Silverstein is not your traditional cosmic cowboy, and Western Sky Music plays free and loose with conventional theories of country music. This is one album that will not be heading for the musty lower shelves of the record store.