Atlanta’s Jeff Evans releases his first Porkestra EP this month. The six songs that make up Willow Pillow (out on April 19th on all DSPs) are largely inspired by ‘the lightning spark of a new relationship, and all of the wonderful life up-ending changes that come with it.’
Listen to his tie-dye cosmic dreamer “Time Wrinkle,” a number that feels so non-commercial it should be registered organic. Laid-back and mellow, Evans’ lyrics tumble like a stream-of-consciousness with lines like “Your time wrinkle glitters like the Sea of Japan,” staying with you long after the end.
About Willow Pillow:
Evans cut Willow Pillow at East Atlanta Recording—an old converted Craftsman bungalow—alongside the EP’s producer/engineer and bassist Sean McPherson, with whom he’s made a half-dozen albums. “Sean’s got fantastic equipment—some really great vintage stuff, some wonderful microphones,” Evans says. “And most importantly, he’s got a great ear. After making so many records together, Sean instinctively knows what I’m trying to do, sometimes even quicker than I do.
“I like recording the vocals out in the big room—whatever makes it feel as live as possible. I like air in the room. East Atlanta Recording is a house, and a pretty cool one too. Neil Young’s producer David Briggs always said the best records he made with Neil were recorded in houses. It just feels different than when you go into a more sterile studio environment and get buzzed in through the gate and all that. A house is just more informal, more comfortable and you feel like you can just fall in and get to work straight away.”
The live band for the Willow Pillow sessions consisted of Evans on guitar and vocals and Sandra Senn on drums, with whom Evans has been playing off and on since 2016. The musical relationship is similar in its closeness to the one between Evans and McPherson. “Sandra has also played with me enough to know how to follow me,” Evans says. “I mean she doesn’t know everything I’m gonna do ’cause I don’t either—but she’s really good on the fly, good at catching what I’m doing and flipping directions. My song structures can be a little irregular, like the old blues guys—a few extra bars here, a couple less there. Sandra has become very intuitive playing with me and that makes a big difference.”
After Evans and Senn recorded the foundational tracks, McPherson added bass on three songs. Silvia Medrano-Edelstein adds percussion in the form of ankle bells on metaphysical country dreamer “Time Wrinkle.” And the record’s backing vocals—a key ingredient—were the work of Celeste Conway-Smith and Tracy Clark of Atlanta indie-rock mainstays Mystery Cassette and The Preakness, respectively.