Galen Kipar Project will be performing at dates at the Mojo Kitchen in Jacksonville Beach on October 13th, Santa Maria in St Augustine on the 14th, Prevatts in Middleburg on the 15-16th and then heads over to Tallahassee for a show at Mockingbird Cafe on October 19th before the weekend at Magnolia Fest in Live Oak for a couple sets!
Effortlessly crafting a fusion of folk, classical, jazz, and blues, the Galen Kipar Project has been hailed as “complex yet accessible” and “cohesive and poignant” with “experimental folk masterpieces.” Based in Asheville, GKP released their fourth album The Scenic Route in 2010 which features the unique sonorous sound that has become the band’s trademark. “In Asheville, fans call his act a ‘small-scale symphony.’ It’s probably more like chamber folk/pop, sometimes reminiscent of Adrian Belew’s quieter moods,” says The Roanoke Times writer Tad Dickens. GKP is performing as a duo for several shows this fall. Joining vocalist Galen Kipar on guitars & harmonica is Lyndsay Pruett on violin & vocals.
The Scenic Route was listed in WNCW’s Top 100 albums of 2010! Songwriter and host of the Grateful Dead Hour, David Gans states about the album, “It’s like a collection of short stories, brilliantly constructed and with a unique and compelling literary voice. I keep coming back to each song, listening more deeply and being drawn more deeply in. I was knocked out by their last CD, and was hoping I’d like the next one even half as much; if anything, I like this one twice as much.”
Gans goes on to state, “I was given a copy of his CD Why It’s Needed [2007]… and I was hooked right away… Strange, slightly other-worldly acoustic music sung in a sweet, slightly distracted voice. I think of it as a sort of American Primitive, with hits of Sandy Bull in the guitars, Brett Dennen in the voice, Donna the Buffalo in the rustic simplicity, and something altogether new in the wonderful orchestrations. I have heard this CD about four times all the way through since it hit my car’s CD player two days ago. One of the songs… made me cry the first time I heard it. In the words of Tina Fey, when I hear the sounds of this nearby world, I want to go to there.'”
Galen’s other endeavor keeps him on the water as he serves as a trout ninja (aka. fly fishing guide) with Curtis Wright Outfitters to Western North Carolina which has over 3000 miles of trout waters and streams. He gets much of his inspiration for songwriting while standing waist deep in a river. Galen states in an interview with the WVGazette, “Water, particularly rivers, have many different currents. Music is the same way,” he says. “Music has many different currents, and they all work together. Maybe that’s a little far-fetched, but it’s something that’s always fascinated me.”
True to his inspiration, Galen sings in the song Riversong, “Headin’ on down to the waterside, gonna take some time, to rest my mind. Gonna break there, gonna stay there. For a moment there, I’ll sigh.” Water is a consistent theme in his uplifting music. “I could easily picture myself finding a secluded stream high on the mountain and lying in the warm sun as the Galen Kipar Project played softly in the background. Maybe I can talk them into hiking with me one day, with instruments in hand, of course. I would even offer to carry a few things,” states writer and online radio host Jeremiah Greer in Magazine 33.
Galen Kipar is currently writing new music and in the pre-production phase of the next album. The WCGazzette writes, “Kipar says ripples of his trout-tinted soul will continue to be felt in the band’s upcoming release. ‘It will be accessible, with catchy hooks,’ he says of the album. ‘[But] it will also be complex enough that a fan will be able to listen to it and still come back and hear something new. That’s always been our goal.'”
GKP’s music was featured on WNCW’s 2010 Crowd Around the Mic Compilation CD with artists such as Darrell Scott, Jeff Sipe and Ike Stubblefield, Muddy Waters Reunion Band, Drivin & Cryin’ and Jim Lauderdale. Their hit October Snow was used in a commercial promoting the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) and the WNC Farmers Market Association and was also a finalist in the Google TV for All Contest.
The fan base of the Galen Kipar Project is growing exponentially, with a strong regional presence in the Southeast plus U.S. national touring, including performances at Magnolia Fest, Suwanee Springfest, FloydFest, Six Points Music Festival, and the Crested Butte Music Series. The GKP has also played the Knitting Factory in NYC and to a jam-packed, toe-tapping crowd at the Kennedy Center’s renowned Millennium Stage in Washington DC. This fall they will be returning to Magnolia Fest amongst other shows on their tour.
The New River Voice recalled, “If the Pied Piper-like migration of people to the stage during their FloydFest performance this past summer is any kind of barometer, the band is on an immutable trajectory of permeating Southwest Virginia with their versatile, yet immediately attainable sonority.”
GKP Florida Tour Dates:
Thursday, October 13, 2011 Mojo Kitchen
10pm, (904) 247-6636,
1500 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville Beach, Fl 32250-2602
www.mojobbq.com
Friday, October 14, 2011 Santa Maria
9pm, $5, (904) 829-6578
135 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, FL 32084-4402
www.santamariarestaurant.com
Saturday, October 15, 2011 Prevatt’s
9-12pm
2620 Blanding Blvd, Middleburg, FL 32068
www.prevattssportsbarandgrill.com
Sunday, October 16, 2011 Prevatt’s
5-8pm
2620 Blanding Blvd, Middleburg, FL 32068
www.prevattssportsbarandgrill.com
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Mockingbird Café
9-12pm, (850) 222-4956
1225 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32303
October 20-23, 2011 Magnolia Fest
two sets tba
3076 95th Drive, Live Oak Spirit of Suwannee, Live Oak, Fl 32060
www.magnoliafest.com
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Galen’s other endeavor keeps him on the water as he serves as a trout ninja (aka. fly fishing guide) with Curtis Wright Outfitters to Western North Carolina which has over 3000 miles of trout waters and streams. He gets much of his inspiration for songwriting while standing waist deep in a river. Galen states in an interview with the WVGazette, “Water, particularly rivers, have many different currents. Music is the same way,” he says. “Music has many different currents, and they all work together. Maybe that’s a little far-fetched, but it’s something that’s always fascinated me.”
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