One of my favorite authors of all time is Samuel Beckett.
Most folks don’t recognize the name immediately, but Beckett is most famous for a play called Waiting for Godot. His style of writing is known as absurdism. Absurdist literature is interesting because as you read it, you’re not entirely sure what’s happening. There are really only two options – either absurdist authors are geniuses at creating intricate symbolism and depth or they are just throwing random words out on the page. The thing I love about it is that there is really no way to ever know. Beckett himself seemed to enjoy that fact and would never really divulge any information about the true meaning of his writing. He would always claim that it was open to the interpretation of the reader/viewer and that was where true meaning could be found.
If Samuel Beckett had been an American folk singer I’m pretty sure he would have been Dan Reeder.
Reeder’s most recent album, This New Century {2010}, is a work of genius. Throughout the record Reeder ponders the deeper questions of mortality. One of my favorite songs on the album, Maybe, recounts his personal experiences with death and the conclusions he draws about life’s finality. Other songs like Bitch Nation seemingly describe the fallacies of modern Western Civilization.
Still other tracks are a little more difficult to decipher. A beautiful ballad called Angels May describes all the ways that angels might interact with us mortals. One of the more interesting proposals Reeder mentions is that “on a good day, they may feed you ravioli right out of the can.” I’ll let you decide what that one means.
Despite all of the intriguing lyrics, the poet delivers his message through a blues-infused style of American folk music that makes you feel as if everything he is saying must be true. Even if you are not sure what it is he’s saying. His sound will take you back to a time when you were sitting on the porch listening to a good friend pick at the guitar. It is calm, soothing, and thoughtful.
But you don’t have to take my word for it, hear for yourself…
If you love the music, you should also check out Dan’s art. He creates a very interesting brand of modern art that you can see here.
Let me know what you think in the comments section below! I’d love to hear some other opinions on a unique artist.
See you next time!
kyle.
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I really like his sound..Thanks!
Good work, young man. I got turned onto Reeder cruising through an earlier iteration of emusic.com. I was blown away. I find most of the world sense-of-humor-deficient, and Reeder’s cannot be denied. I am tickled to find your review on the Internet – I had started to think I was the only one who thought him a major, if unfairly unrecognized, talent.