Its gotta be a West Coast thing, this roll into the mystic, this redemptive rock of Rory Taillon on this latest record, the ironically titled "Only Whispers". He may be based in the middling earthy hills of Ottawa but his is a West Coast thing, a great, big wide open West Coast thing of a record.
In the rolled in sea mist there this West Coast thing sits, its both the end of the line and the beginning of invention.
This West Coast thing is the pealing guitars on Holy Cow of 54-40 and Hunger of the Temple Dog. This West Coast thing is a plea sung by a choir of peaks in the Church of Laura Palmer.
Take me to church, a cathedral of trees, and the mountain as mount for a sermon on stars. This is the church of the vast, the church of the whole monumental sloppy mess of it all, the church of the rise later in the day saints, of all of those believers leaping arms out in the open void confident in the knowledge beauty and truth will catch them.
This is the sound of Rory Taillon, the sound of faith in the future; it is in the hugeness of this man’s voice, big enough to contain the multitudes we are. It is the church as cave and church as carriage, filled with stones and strings, reasons, regrets and regards.
It is the church of a simple book, 'of a leaf, a stone, an unfound door'. I wish sometimes I was fourteen again, just to climb inside Look Homeward Angel for the first time again, to read Thomas Wolfe again for the first time but time has walked on and the closest I can get now is the "Only Whispers" of Rory Taillon.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
Oct. 13 - M.C.N. Soundtrack of the City, Toronto ON
Oct. 14 - 5 Paddles Brewery, Whitby ON (aft.)
Oct. 14 - Manantler Brewery, Bowmanville ON (eve.)
Oct. 15 - The Moustache Club, Oshawa ON
Oct. 20 - Bar Robo, Ottawa ON
Oct. 21 - McCloskey's, Chesterville ON
Oct. 25 - House Concert, Moncton NB
Oct. 26 - The Abbey Cafe, Fredericton NB
Oct. 27 - Breton Brewing Co., Syndney NS
Oct. 28 - Back Alley Records, Charlottetown PE (aft.)
Oct. 28 - Marc's Lounge, Charlottetown PE (eve.)
Oct. 29 - Taz Records, Halifax NS
Nov. 2 - Block 3 Brewery, St. Jacobs ON
Nov. 3 - Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa ON
Nov. 5 - SpitFire Cafe, Brockville ON
Nov. 8 - The Foundry, Thunder Bay ON
Nov. 9 - From the Grind Up, Fort Frances ON
Nov. 10 - Half Pints Brewing Co., Winnipeg MB
Nov. 11 - Rebellion Brewing Co., Regina SK
Nov. 12 - Lucky Bastards Distillery, Saskatoon SK
Nov. 14 - Aria's Bistro, Edmonton AB
Nov. 15 - Cold Garden Beverage Co., Calgary AB
Nov. 16 - The Royal, Nelson BC
Nov. 17 - Lorenzo's Cafe, Enderby BC
Nov. 18 - Coast Mountain Brewing Co., Whistler BC
Nov. 19 - The Heatley, Vancouver BC
Nov. 22 - 9 Mile Legacy Brewing Co., Saskatoon SK
Nov. 28 - The Red Dog, Peterborough ON
Nov. 29 - The Painted Lady, Toronto ON
Dec. 1 - Sons of Kent Brewing Co., Chatham ON
Dec. 3 - The Second Wedge, Uxbridge ON
Dec. 8 - Batstone's Northern Ramble, Renfrew ON
Jan. 17 - The Red Brick Cafe, Guelph ON
Jan. 18 - Silversmith Brewery, Niagara ON
Jan. 21 - The Second Wedge, Uxbridge