Dublin based singer songwriter John Brown announces new, four track EP “Greenbrier”.
“I came to songwriting relatively late in life, releasing my debut single “Zozimus Waltz” in 2012 to widespread acclaim at the “tender” age of 42. I have devoted myself to writing and recording over the last couple of years and recently returned from Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in Finland where I performed three well received sets of original material.”
Greenbrier is the fruit of a collaboration between myself and Italian musician Salvatore Urbano. It contains four tracks (three songs and one instrumental).
About the songs
- The title track is a gothic murder ballad inspired by events in West Virginia in 1897 that became known as The Greenbrier Ghost Story. It remains the only case in American legal history where the testimony of a so called ghost helped secure a murder conviction. It’s the oldest song on the EP, written a decade ago with Kildare man, Jamie Wright.
- “Ranji’s River” is a pastoral instrumental inspired by a visit to Ballynahinch Castle in Connemara. It echoes the early work of Nick Drake and a version of the composition has already been featured in an RTÉ television promo campaign.
- Two of the songs on the EP were written with old friends of mine and “Interlude” is one such song. My friend Stephanie Leahy wrote the lyric and it’s her first foray into songwriting. I suspect it won’t be her last.
- The EP closes with the Country Gospel ballad “You can’t take it with you”. Written with Urbano, this song is a meditation on a familiar theme and posits that the wisdom of experience is our greatest asset.
Greenbrier is currently available to stream or download on Bandcamp.com and will be made available on all streaming platforms in September.
https://johnbrown1.bandcamp.com/album/greenbrier
Track Listing
- Greenbrier
- Ranji’s River
- Interlude (Demo)
- You can’t take it with you