Spotlight: Peirson Ross

From time to time I feel that I need to spread the word when I find great artists, and through this blog I will put the spotlight on them. I hope you enjoy it.

The first to hit the spotlight is the folk musician Peirson Ross from Toronto.

Peirson's music comes and grabs your attention through thoughtful lyrics, a soothing yet energetic voice and experimental musical settings. I first heard of him through a common friend on the disc golf scene and caught a show in the back room of Rivoli in Toronto. His presence made a big impact on me and he was a great inspiration for me to dig deeper into my own musical path.



If I were to mention three key aspects of Peirson I would say: His voice, musical depth and instrumental experimentation. Let me delve into this...

What will strike you the most about him is his voice. Not only does it range from a breathy, calm singing that lullabies you into calm relaxation to rocking, high energy notes that take away your focus from any other sense than your hearing and establishes a direct connection between Peirson's voice and your ear drums. He masters beautiful high notes and will make you wonder if your hearing is still functioning as he just keeps going when you thought he must surely stop for another breath.


Another great part of this musician is the diversity that comes in each song. He seems to step out of the conventionally shaped song form that so many artists follow, and instead he makes it very interesting to listen to. While many produced musicians' songs have a limit to the number of times you can hear it, Peirson will offer you a depth that doesn't fade.

In many of his creations he will incorporate instruments and ideas that make you widen your thoughts about what genre he plays. Take the song "A Boy Caught on Words" from the album with the same name. It starts off with a calm and basic guitar and voice setting, both with delicate and technical originality, and then moves into a beautiful gospel choir feel at the end. Other examples are the tablas in "Mend" and string arrangements on "Way back when". Regardless of the song there is always something that you didn't expect which keeps it interesting.

Now, I can't just stop there. There is one last thing that needs to be mentioned, and that is his lyrics. You get the feeling that he really knows what he's writing about. The presence in his words make you attach easily without them being excluding. As with the musical diversity you will find that the lyrics has depth enough for many spins under the needle and you will find many layers in each story, so once you think you've gotten the message then something new pops up from under the surface.


The conclusion is that you if you like folk/world music then you might have found yourself a new goldmine here, once you're hooked you will never let him go.


If you'd like to check him out you can visit him on PeirsonRoss.com, search for him on iTunes or check out his videos on youtube.


Ross also acted as co-producer for a few of my own studio tracks (Stones, Brown Grass and Sinking Ship) which you can check out on my website: VideGeiger.com


I hope you have enjoyed this first spotlight, please leave a comment, subscribe and check in later for new posts. As usual you can find me on facebook, iTunes and youtube.