old shoes
lift ev'ry voice and sing
PPR 19 / 1st Pressing: 50 cdr
March 2007
FREE DOWNLOAD
In Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing local musician Tyson Ballew, aka Old Shoes, belts out acoustic pop-punk ditties like the fate of the world depends on it. He strums exuberantly, fingerpicks odd tempos and yell-sings in wavering keys. He's as restless as a riot grrl and earnest as a poet. But if that all sounds a bit annoying, rest assured, it's not. Ballew has an incredible ability to be endearingly off-kilter. His strong opinions are softened by a capacity for forgiveness, and he's just wry enough to keep the positive tone from getting too candied. Sometimes he's political, like in "FTH v. MFD" where he sings:
"you can't take out those big guys, but you can still save your communities/'Cause there's a lot of small-town assholes...gonna be wishin' they hadn't messed with me."
Mostly, though, this album is about how much Ballew values his friendships. There's a song addressed to Milo and Stella (the young children of local husband and wife duo, Two Year Touqe) promising them a great future."From Cynthia's Belly and Into Infamy" invokes old music buddies from now-defunct music joint, Jay's Upstairs. Each song is an intimate story, deftly distilled and executed with great care. - by Erika Fredrickson
Tracklisting:
- fthvsmfd (MP3, right click to download)
- your two cool (MP3, right click to download)
- from cynthia's belly and into infamy (MP3, right click to download)
- friends are not fashion statements (MP3, right click to download)
- certificate of membership to the missoula makeout mixtape club (MP3, right click to download)
- our actions last forever (MP3, right click to download)
- all my friends have solo projects (MP3, right click to download)
- me, the coyotes, and the prairie (MP3, right click to download)