Quiet Cowboy - Collaboration EP (Declared Goods) [Ambient Americana]
- The Slow Music Movement
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Quiet Cowboy are Michael Chacon on guitar and multi-instrumentalist Ron Raymond who plays more stringed instruments than your average orchestra, including the pedal and lap steel guitars - which looms large over their recordings, and I'm glad to report they're back after last year's fine, TSMM approved Ambient EP with more ethereal Americana endeavour. And this time they're not alone.
For this round they've reached out to old mates and respected fellow musicians around North America to come and flex their low gravity credentials over basic instrumental tracks, the level of trust so high that the only instructions were, "play what you hear/feel". When the recordings were returned the boys tweaked the production and added some pedal steel, and here we are.
The never shy, 'Legendary Rich Gilbert", old Boston head and storied touring musician is first up on "Middle of Nowhere" bringing his pedal steel prowess, and with Raymond chipping in as well it's a trip: layer after layer of woozy, wobbling, elongated notes cascading through the speakers, ably augmented by Chacon's guitar, which takes a back seat, but offers moments of acoustic clarity amongst the restless haze and shimmering hallucinations.
Bill Hardy is up next, taking his time to enter the picture - perhaps lulled to sleep by the gentle, almost lullaby like opening strains of "A Frame Work". When he does it sounds like he's just come home from a long tour, his bow barely touching the fiddle strings as he says goodbye homesickness followed by a somwhat sentimental hello to the familiar landscape, and the loved ones and home comforts just another thirty minutes drive through the wheat fields. Last but not least it's Bob Hoffnar on "Home Is", his pedal steel - not that it's obvious on the whole, with only a few recognisable snippets leaking into the chillier undertones of this quietly experimental soundscape that is haunted by a spectral, female vocal.
It's another fine slice of sofa friendly Americana that should appeal to both ambient escapists and the good old boys who know where the grow shop is.
Playlist Companion
Find Quiet Cowboy in the Slow Ambient Playlist.
