Prinz Grizzley – Tilda
While this concept album is, on the surface, an Appalachian folk/bluegrass showcase, it has a darker thrust, a deeper, dense musical immediacy. Prinz Grizzley shines on the unorthodox “Put Me Down (A Foreign Man),” that plays like a Tom Waits tune done by an Appalachian family band. It’s something you can’t ignore — Prinz sings this with lots of creative vividness, & each note is heavily seasoned. A wonderful performance.
Prinz continues to apply vocal authority on “A Rose On Garbage Hill(The Daughter),” which is filled with masculine expressiveness & Prinz’s wonderful tonality. A voice of burnished wood. A significantly good piece. There are 14 parts to the life of his grandmother Tilda (Dropped Oct 9/Independent/44:59) produced & written by C.H. Comper (aka Prinz Grizzley) & recorded in Dornbirn, Austria. You heard me right.
The instrumental with its strange vocal sound glitz makes “Dance of the Shovel (The Foreign Son),” a captivating piece. The country romp “Reign On, Queen of Mountains (A Price to Pay),” is immersed in an upbeat, impactful melody. As usual, sung excellently by Prinz Grizzley (vocals/banjo/Resonator, acoustic & electric guitars/bass/organ/keys) with fiery strings throughout. Each song is carefully arranged & performed with skill. There are some thematic tunes that address nature & our carelessness, but the album is for the most part low-key & doesn’t strum or strike an angry note.
The music is seeds from an Americana fauna planted in foreign soil. This is why this “traditional” music penetrates the ears with a strange, yet pleasing, array of notes & vocals. It’s peculiar at first but becomes “at home” quickly in one’s ears. “Pull Me Up (Not Everything Is Perfect),” has this magical mist. The words are not typical of American songwriters; Prinz sings with benevolent power & while his music can be mindful of many Americana artists none are truly absorbed in his performance. He’s an original with a soulful application to his Americana music.
Despite the well-infused Prinz American musical genres “The Long March (Troubled Times Ahead),” draws its influence from Ennio Morricone spaghetti-western scores. But Prinz falls back into a backyard mud puddle with “WWII (Surviving),” a wonderful guitar-picked ballad with a rugged vocal narrative & descriptive lyric. A majority of the songs have good Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Goodman-type songwriting integrity. If nothing else, Prinz is always uniquely convincing.
Highlights – “Put Me Down (A Foreign Man),” “A Rose On Garbage Hill(The Daughter),” “Dance of the Shovel (The Foreign Son),” “Reign On, Queen of Mountains (A Price to Pay),” “Pull Me Up (Not Everything Is Perfect),” “The Long March (Troubled Times Ahead),” “Guess I Need Protection (Homecoming),” “Tilda Lee (Processing a Loss)” & “Watch Me Rising.”
Musicians – Johannes Bischof (pedal steel guitar/mandolin), Claude Maier (bass/vocals), Andreas Wettstein (drums/percussion/bgv), Andreas Tschofen (organ/keys), Heidi Caviezel (bgv), Lukas Morre, Jodok Lingg & Cenk Dogan (horns) & Martin Grabherr (percussion).
Color image courtesy of Pia Pia Pia. CD @ Apple & https://prinzgrizzley.com/
Song Premiere: https://americanahighways.org/?s=prinz+grizzley