Vance Stephens - Vance Stephens

Music exposure can be hard to come by growing up in a small town, especially if that small town is in West Texas. However, inspiration of strange kinds is definitely available, that is, if you look closely enough. I'm sure many have heard the quote 'All great art is born of great suffering', and anyone with any kind of creative ambition that has spent a great deal of time in West Texas towns has certainly suffered. Many of the songs on this debut album from Vance Stephens exhibit the desolation of desperate times spent in desperate places. With lyrics like 'The devil's in charge and directing my stride to a single file line', these 'desperate times' are quite delicately reflected. Musically, however, this album exhibits a vast arrangement of influence, ranging from the obvious ones such as Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, John Lennon, and other folky pop artists, to the more obscurely embedded influence of highly admired bands like Thin Lizzy, Steely Dan, Chicago, and even early 1970's kraut rock bands such as Can and Amon Duul II. It can be guaranteed that one night spent in a dark smokey bar with the intimacy of these songs, stripped down to an acoustic guitar and soft, somewhat unsure vocals and lyrics will be a satisfyingly juxtaposing night of deeply intense and nervous introversion. If you would like to contact me, join my mailing list, or just keep up with show updates, email: [email protected] or go to www.myspace.com/thehollandsentinal.

1) Keep It Up
2) The Devil's on the Line
3) Sunshine
4) Not a Trace
5) Medicated Nightmare
6) Hard to Persuade
7) Ghost Army
8) Telling Lies
9) White Hat
10) Make It Happen
11) There's Nothing There
12) Eight Hour Disease Pt. 2
13) [Untitled]