J. Tillman

In his bio, J. Tillman’s music is described as “reminiscent of the southern-gothic writings of Flannery O'Connor and the music of Nick Drake and Pete Seeger." Now, my mother-in-law, aside from being the quickest wit in the South and a darn fine cook (her secret: butter, lots and lots of butter), is a bit of a Flannery O’ Connor expert. And in her riveting (I’m being serious here) talks and my own reading of O’Connor, I’d have to say that the beauty of Flannery’s words are in their buoyancy, their ability to turn cruel and unusual characters into tragicomic heroes. Not that J. Tillman doesn’t show potential for that kind of greatness, but if we’re going with Southern literary archetypes, the somber tone Tillman sets is much closer to James Agee, who painted profoundly delicate pictures of heartbreak. Tillman does, however, get it right with comparisons to Drake and Seeger. I’d throw in Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and Iron & Wine. The whistling on “My Waking Days” is particularly haunting.

My Waking Days [MP3, 5MB, 128kbps]
Seven State Across [MP3, 2.9MB, 128kbps]
Lilac Hem [MP3, 3.8MB, 128kbps]
Cecile, My Love [MP3, 6.9MB, 160kbps]

www.jtillmanmusic.com
www.keeprecordings.com