Ripple Music announce the signing of Seattle heavyweight, multi-instrumentalist and respected producer TONY REED (also frontman of Mos Generator) for the release of his debut solo acoustic album ‘Funeral Suit’, as part of the ‘Blood And Strings: The Ripple Acoustic’ series. Stream the first single via Invisible Oranges and preorder the album now!
With ‘Funeral Suit’, TONY REED delivers his most up-close and personal work to date. Known for being the driving force behind heavy rock stalwarts Mos Generator since 2000, the prolific songwriter made his solo debut with ‘The Lost Chronicles Of Heavy Rock Vol. 1’ tribute record in 2018, yet never had he found the right occasion to sit down, grab a guitar and lay himself bare as freely and soulfully as he does on ‘Funeral Suit’.
“A large percentage of the compositions on this album where the first or second takes of the music and vocals for songs that had been written and arranged only minutes earlier“, he says. Whether it’s the delicate arrangements, Reed’s velvet-smooth vocal harmonies or stirring piano-based moments, ‘Funeral Suit’ conveys a life-wide array of emotions that resonate in a universal way, regardless of the listener’s music inclinations. The debut single and title track showcases perfectly this multi-faceted aspect: a beautiful lament progressively turning into a ray of hope.
About the album themes, Tony Reed explains: “ The album is titled ‘Funeral Suit’ because my father passed on August 16th 2019, and I went out and bought a nice suit for the funeral. The song is about how I felt and the wonder of how his passing may change me in the future. It’s also about the ones who are the closest to you in this life. Many of the songs are about guilt and regret. Insecurity, selfishness, and ego are matched by integrity, compassion and confidence.”
‘Funeral Suit’ comes as the second chapter of Ripple Music’s ‘Blood And Strings: The Ripple Acoustic’ series, in which some of the most admired names in rock and metal unplug to record albums of acoustic heaviness. It was recorded and mixed by Tony Reed at HeavyHead Recording Co., and will be issued on November 6th, 2020 and available now to preorder on deluxe edition vinyl, CD and digital edition via Ripple Music.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Waterbirth
2. Moonlighting
3. Funeral Suit
4. Along The Way
5. Lonely One
6. Wicked Willow
7. Might Just…
8. Who Goes There
TONY REED belongs to a rare echelon of relentless creativity. A rock and roll lifer since his days self-recording tape demos as a teenager, he has spent the last three decades in an increasingly progressive pursuit of his art. In bands like Treepeople, Twelve-Thirty Dreamtime, Constance Tomb, Stone Axe, and his steadiest and most influential, Mos Generator, he has refined a songwriting, performance and recording process that is unmatched, and amassed a lifetime discography broad enough to make the rest of the universe seem outright lazy.
Tony Reed has toured on multiple continents and especially since revitalizing Mos Generator as a stage act in the early 2010s, earned a reputation for bringing the same ferocity to the stage as to the studio. As a frontman, Reed harnesses a classic rocker’s energy, but is only ever forward-thinking in his execution and engagement with his audience. At dive bars or huge festivals, his name is synonymous with a level of mastery that is no less his own than the songs he writes.
Headquartered in Port Orchard, Washington, his HeavyHead Studio is home to a fully-stocked production facility, and though Reed most often uses it for his own ends, the words “Mixed and Mastered by Tony Reed” have become a staple of heavy underground releases. His collaborations with artists, whether through split releases or actually sitting in with other bands, are rousing endorsements for listeners in the know, and his exploration continues unabated.
Whether it’s incorporating new elements of space and prog into Mos Generator, reviving the goth-tinged Constance Tomb, or beginning the entirely new pursuit of an acoustic/piano-based solo incarnation under his own name, TONY REED is a treasure of American rock and roll and someone whose soul bleeds into everything he crafts. It is time to start including his name among rock’s truest ambassadors.
RIPPLE MUSIC LINKS
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TONY REED LINKS
Bandcamp
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