Mike Pope - Songs For People High & Low [LP]

Described by American Songwriter as "Absolute folk finesse", Southern California's best-kept secret, singer-songwriter Mike Pope, releases the emotional and stirring Songs for People High & Low :  a collection of songs that succeeds at juxtaposing beauty and lonesomeness through a world that shimmers. Like Alan Lomax in the early 1930s, Blind Owl Records has captured the elusive local legend during his prime, spanning two albums that showcase his masterful compositions.The sound is reminiscent of the rustic American folk aptness of Paul Clayton and Townes Van Zandt, the British melancholy of Nick Drake and Bert Jansch, and the classic modern feel evocative of Andrew Bird and Elliott Smith. True to it's roots, the album was recorded with a gorgeous analog production that warms his acoustic guitar and vocals. Mike delivers it honest and real - on his own or in a room accompanied by his various ensembles, painting a lush Americana scenery with violin, banjo, bowed bass, washboard, piano, synth, and haunting bluegrass harmonies.As said by Mike Pope in one of his few interview pieces, "my music is ephemeral and passing and happening in moments of shared experience." Where he was once a mythological folk apparition of a distant past, now listeners can hear the prodigious finger-picker and storyteller for all of time on Songs For People High & Low."You can instantly hear why Blind Owl was so keen to get this artist into a recording studio. His guitar style really is reminiscent of Jansch."- Americana UK"Comparisons aside, Pope has renewed the ancient folk melody, gave it new life, a second life." - American Highways