Trevor Reichman
Gothic Americana
Trevor Reichman spent several years on the fringe of the
Portland music scene under the moniker TR? but now finds himself living
off-grid, building a solar powered studio in one of the most remote regions of
the country, in Far West Texas by Big Bend National Park. It is in there in the
Chihuahua Desert, on the outskirts of a tiny town named Terlingua, where he
positions himself for most of the year. During the summer, when temperatures
can get close to 120 degrees, Reichman is persuaded to migrate with his music.
Reichman has a catalog of well over 100 keepers, but only a small percentage
has been recorded, which is the impetus for building an off-grid hand built
studio in the middle of the desert. It is part of the mission to do this
without incurring any financial or ecological debt.
Trevor Reichman demonstrates that touring doesn't have to
have a heavy environmental footprint. With a guitar and a backpack, and gas
prices hovering around $4 a gallon, Reichman has completed a few national tours
by railroad. He has also toured in a van
powered by Natural Gas. And his his current road dog, Ruby the Red Volvo, can
be found with a rideshare passenger or two and also a solar panel on the roof
to harvest energy to power an on board refrigerator and other helpful utilities
of frugality.
But mostly it is about the Music. And the incentive to trek
around the country is share the music with new listeners.
While some of the songs are environmentally themed, most are
about life and its nuances. Some are light and quirky, such as "The Story
of the Giant" , which is the giant's version of what happened in the Jack
and the Beanstalk, or "Bulaweyo", which is about the time Reichman
lost his favorite hat in Bulaweyo, Zimbabwe. Others are bold and heavy, such as
"The Voice of Johnny Cash", which is written from the point of few of
a prisoner in Folsom Prison who's last hurrah was a Johnny Cash concert. Or
"Dayjob", which is a song about working behind a computer in a 40
hour a week job during the one sunny day of the winter in Portland, Oregon. And
others are comedic, such as "The Dollar Store Bible", which is a song
about how a $4.99 bible from the dollar store saves his life one day, but not
in the way that you might think.
Trevor encourages you to meet him at the shows by taking
mass transit, carpooling, walking, or by bicycle if possible. But no Hummer
drivers will be turned away.
In Others' Words:
"...a warm, intensely intimate kind of folk. Reichman
writes songs of disarming simplicity. The directness of his lyrics and of his
delivery can hit the listener with an unexpected force. The care, the humility
and the quiet attention to building a home in the desert are also hallmarks of
Reichman's songs." - The Cenizo Journal of Far West Texas
"A picture perfect snapshot of gothic country and
Americana" - KAOS Radio - Austin, TX.
"A killer songwriter. A real one-of-a-kind, dark, funny,
spot-on." -Jonathan Byrd
- Website:
- http://www.treemusic.org/
- Blog:
- http://earthlanguage.blogspot.com/