Back in the early ’90s I picked up my first guitar. I was obsessed and after playing it every day through high school I went to school for composition. All these years having played a lot of bands and having worked on many records I still think there is a lot to explore with the instrument.
Kenny Goliff is beginning his journey. He first picked up a guitar in 2019 and just released a couple of his first recordings. His latest release is entitled I Was the Storm. The music is a mix between emotive melancholy sad singer/songwriter material similar to Bright Eyes and more rock oriented material. The music is composed of mostly major and minor chords and 4/4 time. It’s not exactly technically difficult or very deep when it comes to theory but given he started making music recently I thought this was a great start. The first couple of songs are strummed chords and sad sounding vocals. It moves slowly and drips with lamenting sadness. The lyrics really are depressing. That’s just no way around it. The song “Tell Me It's Gonna Be OK” tells the account of a young woman driving off a cliff and drowning. Goliff sings, “well, she drove off a cliff on the first of her bad days, and she begged to Jesus, ‘please tell me it's gonna be ok’ / as she sinks in the sea, she releases guarantee, falling deep into the trenches in an ocean of hypocrisy.” I thought Goliff was at his best with “Better Now.” The song is catchy, really catchy. I loved his vocals here and it sounds better in my opinion with this type of affectation. It sounded more natural to me and also more accessible. The other highlight was “The Runaway.” I’d love to hear Goliff with a full band at one point. I think getting rid of the programmed drums and working with a bassist and drummer would be a big plus. The more rock oriented songs really seemed to be his strength to me and working with other musicians will certainly raise the bar. This is a solid start and certainly points to an artist with some potential. I hope to hear more soon and wish him luck on his evolution.
1 Comment
Veronica
10/26/2020 11:20:23 pm
i’ve been listening to this artist for a while now and im so excited that he’s starting to get recognition! i find his songs somewhat relatable and his music is amazing to listen to when studying or for a quiet evening. he’s going places i just know it.
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