Kris Gruen

I have a review of Kris Gruen's debut album, Lullaby School, in today's edition of Seven Days. It was a good album for me to review because a lot of the artists that influenced Gruen (Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, etc.) are ones I'm regularly enjoying. So, I had a good sense of what he was trying to accomplish. Plus, it gave me another opportunity to take a shot at the local folk scene.

The local folk scene is bland and stale. It's basically populated with a bunch of people who grew up listening to Carole King's Tapestry and never progressed beyond it. The whole scene is completely disconnected from what it going on outside of Vermont. That's why I like Lullaby School. Whether you like the album or not, at least it utilizes contemporary influences better than the rest of the folk scene in central Vermont.

You can read the review here.

Kris Gruen | Tender Theory
Kris Gruen | Further Down
Kris Gruen | In the Clearing