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Family

by Noah Gundersen

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1.
David 03:39
i keep kicking at the curb with my worn out shoes i keep running into strangers that say i know you i don't want to be a proud man, i just want to be a man a little less like my father and more like my dad i want to hunt like david i want to kill me a giant man i want to slay my demons but i've got lots of them, i've got lots of them i try to keep my conscience clean i try to keep myself out of your bad dreams i try to wash my hands for you every night lest you find my strangling fingers wrapped around tight i want to hunt like david i want to kill me a giant man i want to slay my demons but i've got lots of them, i've got lots of them
2.
Fire 04:47
i was born in a lighthouse where my mother lay and she wont wake for no shouting i was raised by the water by the crippling waves and the gulls gave me my singing voice when the devil came to visit me he said son i am your enemy fear me but it came to my surprise i was drawn by the fire i set off west in the springtime before the flowers had bloomed and the frost and ice followed me i met a lot of fine women with the small of their backs shining like the crescent moon when the finest came to visit me she said son i am your enemy fear me but it came as no surprise i was drawn by the fire hey i am looking for freedom in the wild eyes of the dancing girls hey i am looking for freedom in the open arms of america i was told to find jesus in a stained glass church where the light shines red like blood but the eyes of his children were so bitterly burned that i could not stand to look at them when he finally came to visit me he was dressed in the rags of poverty and it came as no surpass it came as no surprise hey i am looking for freedom in the wild eyes of the dancing girls hey i am looking for freedom in the open arms of america
3.
Nashville 03:37
packed up my piano and a suitcase full of clothes and i went looking for a better place to hide ride across the border in a broken down sedan with a bottle and a rifle on my mind on and on and on and on the miles stretch for hours the radio keeps spitting out the tunes every other song is just another tired rhythm another tired lover's tune it's a long, long way back to nashville where i come from, where i been it's a long, long way back to nashville but i promise i will see you again through the ice and fog this morning the sun is coming up i'm standing on the shores of the hudson bay over glass fired violet, silence, silence calling up the day and every man is an island, an island in his own special way there's a white ghost out on the water, the water with one good song and nothing else to say it's a long, long way back to nashville where i come from, where i been it's a long, long way back to nashville but i promise i will see you again in heaven
4.
oh my darling this is getting harder the world is growing smaller everyday oh my darling your memory slowly fading i know i keep complaining but i'm not as strong as i was when we were younger back in texas when our love was new but it's not that the love is missing it's just not around it's just flowing under like rivers underground and if i say i love you like you know i do would you say you love me to if you do, i'll keep on loving you oh my darling can you even remember all the time we've spent together all the life that we have shared we were married down by san antonio on the shores of corpus christi we spoke our vows when we were younger back in texas when our love was new but it's not that the love is missing it's just not around it's just flowing under like rivers underground and if i say i love you like you know i do would you say you love me to if you do, i'll keep on loving you oh my darling
5.
Honest Songs 02:58
As we gather round the table To say a prayer for those we love All the words that will spoken they will never be enough to encompass all the feelings that our brittle hearts can bear all the storms that rage inside us fill our organs up with air and the sound it makes is an honest song our hearts sing an honest song All the time spend catching raindrops all the time we spent in bed all the hours we have wasted we will never see again so be good with what your given for its all you have to give we are only passing shadows in a might wind and the sound it makes is an honest song our hearts sing an honest song so tho I tremble in the darkness in the cold and freezing snow I am grateful for winter because the winter comes to show that our troubles never over and work our work is never done but with the turning of the season we will always see the sun and the sound it makes is an honest song our hearts sing an honest song may our hearts sing an honest song
6.
Garden 03:42
banks coming down they're taking all our hard earned pay lord giveth, but he taketh away i pay our debts but works getting hard to find these are hard times i built this house with my own two hands now their gonna take it and five acres of land and all of our children are growing up way too fast in these hard times but wait, oh wait see how the morning breaks it's the simplest of love songs, but it's all our hearts can take and though we lose our stake heaven is where we make it even in the smallest places, can a garden grow i took this job in part as a sacrifice for my unborn children and my beautiful wife i always worked hard on all of these sad estates with no hard times but wait, oh wait see how the morning breaks it's the simplest of love songs, but it's all our hearts can take and though we lose our stake heaven is where we make it even in the smallest places, can a garden grow even in the smallest places, can a garden grow
7.
Family 03:34
say something awful as if fucking the world is your right and i watch you stumble drunk out into the night to cat call ladies you're thirsty for blood, you're picking a fight and i wanted to ask you man, what do you do in the daylight so bum me a cigarette, buy me a beer till i'm happy to be here, happy to be here with all of my family, hookers in heels and the men who watch them like hungry black eels run into me sunday tell me you had one hell of a time and through the haze and the gun smoke, i'm forced to believe you're probably right someone lies bleeding someone got violent and did not think twice and i watched you my brother, making a fool of the moon tonight so bum me a cigarette, buy me a beer till i'm happy to be here, happy to be here with all of my family, hookers in heels and the men who watch them like hungry black eels am i just a spark

about

In an era of social media and perceived self-importance, Noah Gundersen is in many ways the antithesis of his time.

Noah's newest EP, called Family, pays homage to the people who have shaped his life--rather than the self-aggrandizing so common to the often homogeneous world of singer-songwriters."Family comes in many forms," says Noah. "It lives with us, for better and for worse. It shapes us. Thats what this album is about."

Fittingly, a member of Noah's family, his sister Abby Gundersen, plays violin and sings vocal harmonies on the EP. Her soft voice and lush string accompaniments compliment beautifully what are a magnetic and emotionally charged group of songs. The two have been playing music together since Noah was 15 and Abby was 12 years old, while growing up in the Seattle area. They've also performed in the local band The Courage together. "The musical communication I've had with Abby is unlike anything I've experienced elsewhere. It's a really special thing. Having her with me makes me so much more confident in what I'm doing," says Noah. (Also, Abby recently moonlighted as a tour accompanist for acclaimed singer-songwriter Jarrod Gorbel).

The songs on Family are consistently impressive and defy genre. Whereas roots-tinged songs like "Family" conjure up shades of a solo Ryan Adams, the sweeping and etherial "Fire," bears similarities to the lush harmonic feats of Fleet Foxes. Perhaps the album's standout track is the pulsating "David," which combines the haunting darkness of Tom Waits with the lyrical angst of Neil Young. "The song is about who I want to be, while realizing who I am. I want to be less like my Father and more like my Dad."

Family, produced with Daniel Mendez, was released on August 6th, 2011. Made in just a short week in Dallas, Family is only a brief taste of what's to come from Noah Gundersen.

credits

released August 6, 2011

Recorded by Daniel Mendez. Produced by Daniel Mendez, Noah Gundersen and Abby Gundersen. Mastered by Ed Brooks.

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Noah Gundersen Seattle, Washington

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