"Kyle Swan is a very talented, very creative musician, who avoids the obvious and is always looking for something new. He has what I most admire about any artist, which is a voice of his own." -ROBBEN FORD (5-TIME GRAMMY NOMINEE, and rated as one of "100 GREATEST GUITARISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY" by MUSICIAN MAGAZINE, performed with MILES DAVIS, JONI MITCHELL, GEORGE HARRISON, PHIL LESH, BOB DYLAN, JOHN MAYAL, GREG ALLMAN, JOHN SCOFIELD, and many others) "I've had the honor to play and record with Kyle Swan, and I'm constantly amazed at his "ol' soul" voice, unique guitar style, and adventurous song writing. It's moody, mysterious, and beautiful. Musically he often takes a left turn seemingly into the weeds until you realize there has been a beautiful hidden road that you never knew, up to that point, was there." -KARL HUNTER (saxophone player for "BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY") "Kyle Swan is a superb musician who has the ability to captivate listeners both with his solo work, as well as his collaborative work spanning through genres. Kyle to me is a true musician, who embodies the sheer joy of making and playing music. He is a true artist in this sense." -MATT LINESCHE (MIXING/ENGINEER for EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, DAVE MASON and the golden globe winning soundtrack to the film ALL IS LOST) "Kyle Swan has a soulful sound that captures the heart as well as the imagination. The depth of tone is worthy of the most classical soul singer. He sings with the breadth and scope of someone well past his years. Combine that smooth voice with unique twists on traditional jazz changes, and a new alternative artist is born" -GREG TOWNLEY (Producer/mixer for films and trailers such as "THE HOBBIT, AVATAR, LIFE OF PI, PROMETHEUS, and ALMOST FAMOUS," including sessions with WYCLEF JEAN, WAYNE SHORTER, JASON MRAZ, LIL' KIM, TAJ MAHAL, JOHN LEE HOOKER, BONO, MOTLEY CRUE and MACY GREY.) "Although he's my friend, he is one of the more genuinely soulful singer songwriters I have heard in a while. After that, we can talk about his piano playing.. Real deal." -BERNIE LARSEN (Owner of SPINOUT RECORDS, performed with DAVID LINDLEY as an original member of "EL RAYO X", MELISSA ETHERIDGE, JACKSON BROWNE, BONNIE RAITT, RICKY LEE JONES, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, and PUBLIC ENEMY.) "Swan's music is a school within itself; the product of a musical think-tank, who's fruits are accepted by the most sophisticated tastes to the most basic of thinkers." -JACOB SCESNEY (Winner of the 2013 Warren Hill Sax Expo Rising Star Competition, played with Kool n the Gang, and many others" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having a desire for music since childhood, and a fascination with the abstract, this music is a collection of ideas that range from melodic and spacious feels to tense and percussive. Odd time signatures, unconventional chord progressions, and holding a structural and cohesive center with soothing harmonies and threads of improvisation is what this music is about. The voice and lyrics have elements of blues and soul, and the musical arrangements pull from funk, afro-cuban and flamenco rhythms, delta blues, finger-style acoustic guitar, different piano styles, and various traditional and non-traditional forms of jazz. Bob Dylan, Charlie Hunter, Django Reinhardt, Paco De Lucia, Nick Drake, Ray Charles, Jeff Buckley, John Lee Hooker, are a few of the influences or similar approaches that can be heard in this music. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The album "Gossamer" is a collection of my most "outside the box" chord progressions, and the lyrics are some of the most abstract, found in my writing thus far as well. Released in October of 2014, the production has surpassed my previous recordings in terms of complex arrangements with violin, cello, upright bass, guitar, piano, strong vocals, tenor sax, bass clarinet, (reeds played by Karl Hunter of the notorious big band: "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy") an african bottle-phone, an opera singer, an analog synth, various forms of percussion, and ambient sounds like humpback whales, babies crying, buzzing sounds of electrical transformers, bees, the sound of a spanish catholic choir played in reverse, crows, crickets, owls and other hand-gathered atmospheric anomalies, whipped to a thick pink-floyd-esque pudding. I don't know that I'll ever really do another album like this, one that acts a bit like a movie-soundtrack, but I'm glad i did for this collection of material. Please enjoy." -Kyle Swan 2014 Artists included on "Gossamer" -Kyle Swan (guitars, vocals, piano, violin, bass) -Rebecca Comerford (opera vocals) -Karl Hunter (tenor sax and bass clarinet) -Scott Hughes (upright bass) -Steven Cook (upright bass) -Rafael Anita Langa (congas and african bottle-phone) -Rich Anderson (drums) -Travis Deagle (cello) -Brad Buley (percussion) Artwork: Front Cover illustration: Josephine Llamas Liner Art: Josephine Llamas, photo by Dawn Rosa Back cover art: Myna Sonou Album art design: Jeff Uzzel Recorded by Kyle Swan at Jackson Studios 2014 Mastered by Sean Ingoldsby at Real Time Studios 2014 FOR MORE INFO ABOUT TOUR DATES, LYRICS, AND MY OTHER ALBUMS, GO TO: WWW.KYLESWANSONGS.COM