Today we get to meet Wes Swing, an Aux Return, recommended by Nelly Kate in Episode 003. Nelly had told me about Wes’ music and their projects together over the past few years, how they made an awesome music video together, and how they started a small label, ShyBaby Records together. I was excited when I first talked with Wes and he was interested in coming up to my studio to shoot an episode.
Wes’ music is nothing short of beautiful. He and his band, Brian, Jeff, Sophia (who sadly could not attend our taping), and their newest member, Anna squeezed into the red room and performed a set of minimal, classically motivated, alt/folk songs. For music that is so perfect in it’s simplicity, I chose the longest way possible to describe it. Wes’ music is thick with texture, it evokes emotion and paints a visual scene with the fewest words possible to build a world you can nearly step into and live inside for the duration of a song. Their performances can vary from just Wes’ with his instruments to the nearly full band arrangement we had for the episode, and each player brings their own touches to the music, at times improvising and living in the moment of the song.
At the time of this episode’s debut, Wes is currently in Berlin in the middle of a nearly month long European tour. I’m sure that our friends across the pond will find Wes’ music as completely captivating as we do, so be sure to head to his facebook page and twitter feed to keep up with the travel news. You can learn more about Wes at his website, wesswing.com, and buy his album, Through a Fogged Glass, at his bandcamp site.
Wes is playing Old Town House Concerts in Harrisonburg, VA on October 1st, 2011.
thanks for the show notice!