Canyon

Evoking the ghosts of Neil Young, Pink Floyd, and Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen, the five members of Canyon are individuals who have made their own reinvention into an art form. The band, featuring members of emo rock forerunners Boys Life and Farewell Bend and Slowdime Records founder John Wall, uses the standard lineup of acoustic guitar, bass, and drums to construct simple skeletons of country rock ballads, and proves to be a far cry from their former musical endeavors. Adding lap steel, harmonium, horns, and keyboards to these structures, Canyon produces lush, spacious arrangements that, while deeply rooted in the balladic side of American rock, have influences across the board. The element that is surprisingly absent, however, is that of the members' former projects, and while Canyon's targets seem centered in the audiences of independent music, they would more easily be placed next to spacey balladeers like Low, Mohave 3, Slowdive, or Ida than any of the respective members' former projects. With a membership that includes Brandon Butler on guitar, lap steel, and harmonica; Joe Winkle on electric and acoustic guitars, harmonium, and lap steel; Derry Deborja on Fender Rhodes and accordion; Vin Novarra on percussion; and John Wall singing and playing guitar (with obvious attention to the Springsteen school of delivery), Canyon also occasionally employs trumpeter Amy Heath and vocalist Yalan Pipillions. In the end, their sound combines the grit of the Americana greats and the reverb-heavy, low-fi charm of indie balladeers. They originally formed in Washington, D.C., in late 1999 and released a self-titled full-length record on Slowdime Records in January 2001. The eponymous release was recorded at Trans Am's National Recording Studio in Washington, D.C. The band followed the release of their debut with a series of short regional and national tours in the spring and summer of 2001. Later that same year, their debut was reissued by the Gern Blandsten label, who also released the band's follow up, Empty Rooms in 2002. A clear step forward from the tentative sound of their first album, Empty Rooms was also followed by a steady tour schedule that resulted in their first live album, Canyon Live in NYC.