New American Farmers — The Farmacology Sessions (Album Review as Poetry)
JimSimpson
Posted On October 4, 2014
The Farmacology Sessions
(The Iambic Summer)
we shuffle down this dry heatstroke road
seeking the cool white blocks of cinder
that might grant us passage to a place
like the best summer in all our lives
when everything was golden and true
so we step through the door and into
the soul pharmacy and get ourselves
a dose of nature turning to the
immaculate framed scene before us
a stage infused with amber sunlight
we are in a garden where cut glass
leaves of green gold red dangle from vines
thick with infinite space for the man
and woman singing so deep and free
as brave new american farmers
this is soft time nearly lost to us
but for the scent of lemons drifting
in from groves far out beyond the stage
we can hear monkeys and steel guitars
and a lonesome whippoorwill crying
like a sitar in a gentle rain
for this bright day all we need is to
listen
The Farmacology Sessions available Oct. 14, 2014.
From the band’s official bio:
Paul Knowles and Nicole Storto aren’t young, but the songs they write and sing are timeless, stories drawn from the heart and soul of ordinary, hard working folks. “We’re late bloomers who are more focused on the music, the mood and the quality of the songs and vocals, than image,” Knowles says. “We’re more concerned about community and survival than the health of our egos. We may be older and producing albums without a glory-filled track record, but we find that there are still those that enjoy our music for what it is.”
The duo has been making genre bending music that spans the spectrum of cosmic country, folk, bluegrass and Americana since they began performing as Mars, Arizona in the late 90s. The Farmacology Sessions, their second record as New American Farmers, is a little bit more folk/rock than previous outings, opening up new vocal and musical territory for the duo to explore. “There are more late 60s, early 70s influences,” Knowles says. “It stretches out more, takes some chances, and we had a blast doing it.”
