California guitarist Ethan Sherman has a new album, Passages, set for release in March with eight of his new instrumental compositions. Today we get to hear the first taste of the music in a rollicking blugrass tune called The Glendale Gallop.
Adept within multiple genres of music, Ethan’s credits go from accompanying The Wailin’ Jennys on guitar, to performing with pop sensation Michael Bublé. He has also received notice for his work as an educator, co-writing with Adam Levy the book String Theories: Tips, Challenges & Reflections for the Lifelong Guitarist.
But Passages is committed to acoustic bluegrass guitar, where he particularly shines, accompanied by strong talent like Wes Corbett on banjo, Thomas Cassell on mandolin, Avery Merritt on fiddle, Ethan Jodziewicz on bass, and Rob Ickes on reso-guitar. than shared a few words about this debut single
“I live in the Glendale neighborhood of Los Angeles, where the melody began to ricochet around in my head one morning while I was out for a walk. It’s got a fast, bouncy pace, and I’m a sucker for alliteration, so voila: The Glendale Gallop.
I love the dual challenge of writing tunes that both sound good and make me grow as a player. This tune certainly did the latter for me, and its various twists and turns pushed everybody in the band in different ways as we worked it up together. They knocked it out of the park with so much spirit and energy– it sure was a challenge to keep up and hold my own!
Some favorite moments: Avery and Thomas chasing each other’s tails between the fiddle and mandolin breaks, Rob’s dobro solo, the way the whole band breaks down and builds back into a groove behind my guitar solo, the big unison ending. Listening back in the control room, Ethan Jodziewicz improvised lyrics to his bass feature that I’ll never be able to unhear: ‘listen to my bass, won’t you come along and listen to my bass…'”
It’s quite a romp. Have a listen…
The Glendale Gallop is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Pre-orders for Passages can be placed online as well.
