Shane Leonard

At the outset of his forthcoming full-length album with new project, Kalispell, Shane Leonard sings “Central plains, I’m a ghost / second-hand man on the coast” and counters at the close, “My heart is where I started / I am westbound”. The cyclical album recounts Leonard’s experiences over a period of his life that began with songwriting for now-defunct band Lowtel and opening for acts the likes of Bon Iver and Megafaun, shifted to teaching high school English after an escape east to Massachusetts, and eventually came full-circle with a return to the Midwest and his music.

The Eastbound EP contains two alternate versions of songs from the full-length and another unreleased track. Leonard’s writing shows his affinity for Steinbeck, Twain, and Fitzgerald, in that the lyrics find a striking balance between blunt sentiment and abstract wordplay. His interest in the song forms of Appalachia also comes across as the tracks move steadily forward through use of minimalistic sonic textures rather than the usual verse-bridge-chorus lineup.

Leonard’s sound bears the intriguing mark of his experience playing in diverse settings – an MIT gamelan, old time stringband, jazz trio, and classical orchestras – but most of all, it resonates with honesty. The songs unfold slowly, patiently. They are the work of a person less interested in arriving than taking stock of the preceding details of the journey.