Tunes You Need to Listen To

I might be going a tad too far when saying Jason Walsh's album, Pericardium, reminds me of the year I learned to appreciated Bob Dylan and music in general. And while the music infuses fond memories of both Bob Dylan and son Jakob Dylan, Jason Walsh's lyrics are so emotionally filled with a sort of sorrow I haven't heard in a while that I feel it as a betrayal to compare them to anything. 

"I used to dream about you/now I can barely speak your name/used to think that I would die without you/now it happens everyday," he sings in "The Small Death," the opening track to the seven-song digital album available for purchase on his BandCamp webpage. And in "Blood in My Eyes," Walsh relents, "I can't get to Heaven, no matter how hard I try/Cos I can't see the light with that blood in my eye," which recalls to the listener of the folk singers of old that have been erased by the popularity of commercial music brought on by the Lady Gagas and Justin Biebers of the world. No, this Canadian folk singer/songwriter reminds us that there should be purpose to the music we listen other than just white noise. I haven't been this excited about an independent folk artist since I heard David Jackson Project playing overhead during one visit to Hastings several years ago.

The album contains four original recordings - "The Small Death," "Blood in My Eyes," Birmingham," and "Ships" - plus three live performances of the first three tracks. For more information on Jason Walsh and his music, you may follow him on Tumblr as Blinddog or visit his Facebook Fan Page. You can purchase Pericardium at BandCamp for the low price of $2.99 CAD ($3.09 USD) or more, if you'd like.