Artist: Ian Ferguson
Album: State Of Gold
Reason We’re Cranking It: With what seems to be a countless number of boutique record labels focused on the quality of their releases and not the quantity, it’s easy for the DIYers to get overlooked in what feels like a modern day songwriting renaissance. But, like all good things, the cream rises to the top, and while “State of Gold” may never reach that status in terms of sales, the antiquated ways of valuing music – and experiencing it as a listener – do very little to stop an individual, in this case Ferguson, from bringing their own quality-over-quantity to the masses.
What The Album Tells Us About Him: Not only did Ferguson play all of the instruments that can be heard on the album, but he also recorded, engineered and mixed the entire collection on his own, capturing his artistic vision in a way that few artists are capable of. And while some songwriters may go this path to control their own destiny, for Ferguson it feels more like the music is in control and he is ushering it where it needs to go as opposed to the other way around.
Track Stuck On Repeat: Beatles fans will feel the Sgt. Pepper’s pop of “Deep Beneath the Waves,” which like the name suggests, flows in on a current of psychedelic movement that picks you up in one place and drops you off in an entirely different one.
And that means…
