For Granted by Delphi Rising
(click on any song title to get more information on that song, and to download it individually).
Delphi Rising mixes up a steaming stew of cross-genre experience in its debut album "For Granted". From punk-influenced hit-and-runs to hard rock guitar workouts. From a British Invasion "Mod" sound to a melancholy piano and horn ballad about love in a post-apocalyptic climate-meltdown world. From blues to a desert epic with Dylan and Dead influences. The 2010 album combines the talents of four long-time Austin, Texas musicians--Walter Ehresman (lead guitar, keyboards & a little bass), James Rader (drums), Vic Ramirez (guitar, lead vocals), and Lee Vickers (bass & and a little guitar)--each taking a turn at writing the music and lyrics.
Delphi Rising recombines members from previous Austin projects--Walt Ehresman and Vic Ramirez of Snipe Hunt and James Rader and Lee Vickers, with Ramirez, of Rain on Mars. Ehresman's broad songwriting background can be heard on the hard-rocking "Nocturnal" and "Your Bullshit's Got No Legs No More", as well as the Steely Dan-influenced "That Summer Sun" and the Dylanesque Spanish guitar-tinged western ballad "The Road to Boquillas".
Ramirez drives a hard line with his songs "Girl Like You" and "You Might Grow to be the President," and shows diversity with the jangly, more pop stylings of "Jenny" and the dusty,dynamic border rock of "For Granted."
Vickers shows his unique compositional style with "Right Here, Right Now", "All Alone", "Forget the Season", and his blues leanings with "There's Some Things".
Rader's contribution, "Henna Tattoo", sounds like a chart-topping single from London circa 1966, and it rounds out the retro-pop feeling of the middle section of the album.
Ehresman takes over the bass while Vickers plays guitar on "Right Here, Right Now" and "Forget the Season". Ehresman also adds keyboard throughout the album. Special attention was given to constructing vocal harmonies. Even though Ramirez lays down the majority of the lead vocals (with Ehresman leading on "Bullshit" and "Summer Sun"), all of the other members track background vocals as well. Special guest sax players, Matt Kennon and Kevin Mullin, create a depth of beautiful melancholy on "That Summer Sun".....an elegy for a dying world.
The album was recorded at Million Dollar Sound Studios in Austin, produced by Austin music scene mainstay Kurtis Machler (and Ehresman), except for "All Alone," which was produced at Ehresman's Snipe Bog Studios. The name Delphi Rising is a reference to the rising levels of superstitious thinking in America and the concurrent abandonment of reason..
Tracklist
| 1. | Girl Like You | 2:01 |
| 2. | You Might Grow to Be the President | 4:56 |
| 3. | Right Here, Right Now | 3:58 |
| 4. | Nocturnal | 3:57 |
| 5. | All Alone | 4:32 |
| 6. | Your Bullshit's Got No Legs No More | 4:43 |
| 7. | Forget the Season | 3:47 |
| 8. | Henna Tattoo | 4:25 |
| 9. | Jenny | 2:30 |
| 10. | That Summer Sun | 6:26 |
| 11. | There's Some Things | 3:24 |
| 12. | The Road to Boquillas | 10:11 |
| 13. | For Granted | 5:16 |
Credits
Delphi Rising: Walter Ehresman, James Rader, Vic Ramirez, Lee Vickers.
Album produced by Kurtis Machler, with Walter Ehresman, at Million Dollar Sound, Austin, Tx (except "All Alone", produced by Walter Ehresman with Snipe Bog Mobile).
p. 2009 Ehresman/Rader/Ramirez/Vickers
License
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Recommendations
Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin , Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist...and a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics.