Caitlin Rose x The Kernal

With a voice equal parts honeyed and world-weary, Caitlin Rose sings self-aware songs of selfdestruction, documenting proclivity and impulse control, bad habits in life and in romantic pursuits. Heralbums brim with incisive, well-observed tracks full of searching vulnerability, ruminating on the thingsdone to us and the various coping mechanisms and behaviors we adopt to feel in control in their wake. Astandout staple of Nashville’s rock scene, Rose is “witty, brilliant company” (Pitchfork) and a“promisingly wry lyricist” (The Guardian) with a “wily and impressive blend of melancholy and cheek.”(New York Times) On CAZIMI, Rose boldly dismisses the preconceived idea of what a “Caitlin Rose Album”should be. Instead, she skips across genres, combining new wave influences like Elvis Costello andMagnetic Fields with the pop stylings of Katrina and the Waves and the melancholy Americana of DavidBerman and Silver Jews alike into one cohesive mix-tape. But rather than disjointed parts, these songsform a cohesive, robust whole, reflecting the multifaceted complexity of a fully-realized person—even ifthings had to be pulled apart and put back together a few times to get there.

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It all started with a red polyester suit. The western-style outfit belonged to Joe Garner's fatherCharlie, who played bass on the Grand Ole Opry for thirty years, famously backing'doodle-doo-doo' star Del Reeves. After his dad passed, Joe went into the attic of his family home,looking for a keepsake. What he found was an alter ego and the beginning of a rich, catharticten-year musical journey that culminates with his latest release, Listen to the Blood.“I thought, I'm going to put this old suit on and I'm going to be my own version of some of thesecountry guys, like my dad and Del,” says Garner. “That's how the project began. I thought of thename The Kernal in terms of 'kerning,' as in getting the letters straight in a design. Aligning myselfis kind of the idea behind the name. I obviously had the love of country music that I got from mydad. But there were definitely some loose ends in our relationship that weren't tied before hedied. That part of it drove me to put myself into this world and try to iron out some demons.Listen to the Blood is the last of a three-album arc, which has been about me trying to provemyself worthy in some ways in a game that my dad had ostensibly mastered.”With a storyteller's eye and sly sense of humor that echoes not only his “honorary uncle” DelReeves, but Tom T. Hall and Roger Miller, Garner delves deep into everything from familydysfunction to road trips to matters of the heart. The music, which he describes with a laugh as“diet country,” embodies the spirit of that genre without any of the slavishness or self-seriousnessof much modern Americana. Rolling Stone has called his style “sweetly subversive, intellectual andaddictive,” while Lo-Down said “the songs have an air of nostalgia but they sound far from old -modern, yet timeless. ”From the joyous, southern-fried grooves of “U Do U” and “Pistol in the Pillow” through therevved-up rockabilly stomp of “Green Green Sky” and the cinematic travelogue of “Wrong Turn toTupelo” to “The Fight Song,” a sparkling '80s style duet with Caitlin Rose, it's a nine-song sequencethat showcases Garner's warm, confidential voice while managing to make profound connectionswith the head, heart and feet.“I think a lot of people can probably relate to the ideas I've been exploring,” Garner says. “Even ifyou come from a good family, you inherit these negative qualities that your parents hand down toyou And then they die, and here you are, left dealing with them. I've enjoyed The Kernal project,because it reminds me of the good things in my family and the ways that I'm able to conquersome of the negative aspects. That part is sometimes hard to communicate, and I'm not even surepeople are interested in that. Otherwise, the album can be appreciated in a pretty straightforwardway - let's play some music and have a good time.