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| Celebrating singer/songwriter Jim White's birthday with a few songs from his "Precious Bane" album recorded with Trey Blake. |
About Precious Bane...
It started in London with a shy fan offering Americana outsider Jim White a gift—an obscure 19th Century novel called Precious Bane. Over the years they kept up a correspondence, with White becoming increasingly intrigued by this shy, impoverished woman who led a fairly desperate hand to mouth existence in the south of England.
That woman is Trey Blake, a neurodivergent artist living in obscurity in Brighton, UK. Growing up with undiagnosed autism, she managed her condition and the resultant inability to function in the mainstream world through various addictions. Along the way she sought to create art (songs, prose & photography) that encompassed both light and dark, drawing on her experiences of brokenness and loss on one hand and transcendent beauty and oneness on the other.
The two have paired up to deliver Precious Bane, a haunting effort that finds them trading songs from across the ocean---her parts being recorded by Joe Watson of Stereolab, whom Trey randomly met in a Brighton coffee shop. Like Jim, Joe was instantly struck by this exotic outsider. The resulting collaboration is an enigmatic sonic journey that transports the listener to a mythic, darkly lyrical soundscape.
Jim White and Joe Watson believe in Trey Blake. Hopefully you will too. She deserves an audience, a high-minded one in fact, one hungry for subtle revelation, one capable of appreciating the beauty of treasures unearthed in ragged, unlikely places; among the weeds, deep in the shadows of being, on the outermost fringes of existence. That’s Trey’s zone.
Get a copy of Precious Bane via Bandcamp right here. Check out a couple of clips – including Jim White's video for "Tumbleweed Time" – following the tracklisting and album credits below.
Precious Bane – Trey Blake & Jim White
1. Ghost Song 6:56
2. Rushing In Waves 5:10
3. The Long Road Home 6:51
4. One Last Love Song 6:23
5. Down To The River We Go 5:05
6. His Lady 5:19
7. Tumbleweed Time 6:44
8. Midnight Blue 7:49
9. My Time With The Angels 5:06
10. Ballad Of The Gunfighters 5:16
Credits:
TREY BLAKE: vocals, guitar; JIM WHITE: guitar, banjo, keys, marimba, percussion, woodwinds, harmonica, melodica, vocals, backing vocals; ROBERT EXON: backing vocals, rhythm guitar and guitar arrangements on His Lady, One Last Love Song, Rushing in Waves; MARLON PATTON: drums & bass; DAVID VAN WYKE: cello; ANDREA DEMARCUS: bowed bass; CLIVE BARNES: guitar; STEVE MAPLES: additional bass; NICOLAS ROMBOUTS: additional bass; ALEX WRIGHT: backing vocals; ENGINEER: JOE WATSON (UK) JIM WHITE (US); MIX & MASTER: JOHN KEANE
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