Événement

Rees Shad and the Conversations

Among the twisting byways, twee villages and artistic enclaves of Western Massachusetts there is a late 19th Century Queen Anne home whose owner jokes that the basement is the warmest part of the house because of its unique insulation system. The walls are lined with boxes of two-inch master tapes, cassettes, CDs and 45sover thirty years of his recorded projects. Its music you should have heard, loved, and(gasp) even purchased but were somehow denied the opportunity?

Rees Shad, the creative responsible for all this material has nearly 30 records in his discography. His latest project, a powerful new release titled Tattletale is going to finally bring the man and his music to your attention.

After a self-imposed hiatus from the music business which kept him off the music industry grid (but never far from a recording studio) for the last twenty years, Shad is again playing live and writing some of the best songs of his career. Those who know his catalog have come to refer to him as a wordsmith and a songwriters songwriter. Graham Parker has remarked that a rare class inhabits the mans songwriting thats rarely found today. The Dallas Observer declared his writing style unique - it's that personal, that complete, and that well done. The Boston Herald described his songs as literate and moving.

Meanwhile back in that Massachusetts basement, theres an awful lot more to take in. Along with benches of woodworking tools and an array of musical instruments in various stages of construction or repair are several boxes of academic degrees and awards all holding up shipping crates filled with interactive multimedia and installation pieces that Shad has created and displayed at various art galleries.

The whole house is a reflection of the mind that inhabits it. A wide range of books, Mark (Twain) to Stephen (King), objets dart, recorded music from Edison cylinders and wire recordings to shelves groaning from the weight of CDs and Vinyl LPs, antique furniture and musical instruments, and collections of artifacts from the mans many interests provide opportunities for a constant flow of narrative.

Every artifact holds a story and many of them might even be true.