Shawn Luby from Durham, North Carolina trained as a classical guitarist then for about a decade lost interest in making music.
Some time after graduating in Clinical Laboratory Science, his passion returned and, like many classically trained artists before him, he found popular music fuelled his creative interest more.
I doubt casual listeners would hear this album and guess that six string guitar was his forte. There's no grandstanding and only rarely, like on the song Anchors, does his finger picking take real prominence. For the most part, instruments like musical saw, fiddle and piano combine to make a fuller sound.
Having gained musical and moral support from his local gay community, his work has been labelled 'queer country' but since his carefully crafted songs are gender neutral this is misleading. Orchestral folk would be a better description.
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His sexuality does, however, explain the soft, almost feminine languor
to his vocals matched by the drifting delicacy of the melodic arrangements.
The album cover art and compositions like Carnival Song and
Acrobats Affair suggest that running away to the circus is a standby option if the music career stalls.
Despite the abysmal choice of band name this seems unlikely. Although this is only his second album, he has already nailed the soft, dreamy textures to perfection.
It's all a bit too precious for my taste but I can imagine many will swoon over these fragile tunes.
Humble Tripe's website
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