I've Been Thinking

Those of us who aren't actors have the inability to emote, to express ourselves in such a way as to convey something more exaggerated than the everyday human emotions of joy, anger, sadness and so on.


Peasant, aka Damien DeRose, to my knowledge is not an actor. According to his bio, "when Damien DeRose turned eighteen, he dropped out of school, packed up his guitar, and bought a sailboat in California with a friend. The plan was to sail down the coast, live life the simple way, and let the wind dictate the pace. However, as life would have it, DeRose’s journey took a different course and while the ship may not have left the harbor, he would find himself on a new journey writing and traveling across the U.S and Europe".

Since then, he's released the On the Ground, and has appeared on Daytrotter, WOXY, and Amsterdam Acoustics amongst others. Based in folk, his simple song structures and instrumentation allows for his transendent voice to shine through. He's got a voice that just expresses so much emotion without any effort. There are no vocal gymnastics or production tricks to help him with this, he's just blessed with a voice that embodies the complexity of the human spirit.

His next LP, Shady Retreat is out March 2, 2010 in North America and April 5th in Europe. There will also be a tour in the spring to support the release and judging by some of his recordings, I think this is one of those cases where you just have to hear it live.

Peasant - Hard Times (mp3) (buy)

Peasant - Well, Alright (mp3) (buy)

[Edit:] Peasant fans in Toronto will be able to catch him on Feb. 25th at Rancho Relaxo, and Feb. 26th (with Kurt Vile and Fucked Up) at the Opera House. Oh, happy days!