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Pat Strawser — Memories of Roosterville
(Bandcamp no#, 2024, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-04-29

Memories of Roosterville Cover art

Is there really a place called Roosterville, or is it just a ficticious setting for a set of ten instrumental tunes? A quick online search turns up a Roosterville in Massachussets, another one in Missouri, a neighborhood in New Orleans, another in Ohio, and a Roosterville in rural Georgia not far from the Alabama state line, which might make it more in the realm of real and less fictitious given that the album’s protagonist, Pat Strawser (ex-Volaré, French TV, and many other credits) hails from Athens, Georgia, where he owns a music studio. In fact, this album commemorates a period in 2021 when Strawser and his family lived in an old farmhouse in Roostervile, at a sod farm that was originally owned by his wife’s grandparents. Much of the album has a ‘looking back’ vibe, mostly evident via titles like “You Can't Go Back,” “In Service of the Past,” and “The Ballad of Mayhayley Lancaster,” a well-known clairvoyant who was buried at an old church called Caney Head Methodist Church which is adjacent to the farm. Strawser is primarily a keyboardist, though he manages well on other instruments, and one could surely say this is an album of great keyboard work, though the compositions and arrangements throughout are truly what shine the brightest, from the opener “Chinquapin” (the name of the farm) to the closer “Void” (the absence of loved-ones when they're gone). One can easily identify  the profound influences of the Canterbury progressive rock scene on the arrangements and playing, as well as strong elements of jazz-rock fusion (think Corea. Hancock, and others) and stateside bands like Happy the Man with Kit Watkins, there’s plenty in Strawser’s style and technique to get excited about, and in spite of the influences, nothing here sounds even the slightest bit derivative, and every cut stands strong on its own. Memories of Roosterville stands as a great achievement, one that truly conveys the composer’s vision.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Pat Strawser

More info
http://patstrawser.bandcamp.com/album/memories-of-roosterville

 

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