The Whiskey Priest preaches with a sound reminiscent of a tent-covered revival. A raw, visceral sound that often toes the line between melancholia and exuberance, the sermons of The Whiskey Priest have been a project of songwriter Seth Woods—of Sad Accordions, and often Zookeeper, and Alex Dupree’s Trapdoor Band—since 2006. The years of work and ache have come to fruition in the forthcoming debut LP, Wave & Cloud, an album that, if the first single, “If A Train Was A Doctor Was A Song,” promises to exhibit that special kind of avant-garde styled folk-rock/bluegrass music that feels like a mule kick to the heart; it’s the kind of thing you don’t notice rarely possesses a drum section until someone points it out to you, and makes you realize you don’t at all miss the convention of it. The right kind of music at the right time. The Whiskey Priest goes down smooth and mellow, with sweet melodies that hides the underlying sting of bitter heartache the joy in spite of it.
The Whiskey Priest will be performing this Saturday, the 14th at End of An Ear Records on 2209 South 1st to celebrate the impending release of Wave & Cloud, which debuts on August 23rd.
–Mitchell Mazurek (photo by Valerie Fremin)