The End Of America | Fiona Grace

Not sure how a band named The End Of America can make me believe the line Every little thing’s gonna be all right so readily, but with their acoustic guitar, soft voices and three-part harmonies they manage to make it happen (even when a certain supergroup does a certain halftime show and makes me wonder if the end really is near).

Actually, “The End” isn’t really an eschatological warning at all, but rather a references to the actual, physical extremes of the American continent which, for the members of the group, symbolizes an idea in their music. Taken from their bandcamp page:

In the past James Downes, Brendon Thomas, and Trevor Leonard discussed recording music in remote locations where they could separate themselves from the buzz of computers and modern life. From these discussions came the concept of The End of America: to travel to the ends of the continent in search of musical inspiration and to write and record their songs there.

The thought is simple enough - and while the idea of recording music in isolation isn’t particularly new, the extremes these guys go to in order to gather a true, raw cut of their music is laudable. Every track off of Steep Bay is an unedited cut - sometimes recorded in a canoe, around a campfire, under the stars… there is an undeniable effect those kinds of settings have on the power of a song, and this album is full proof of that. In their words, “It’s as much a documentary as it is a record,” and even at the expense of a imperfect recording they went to great lengths to keep Steep Bay an extension of their story.

The End Of America are currently on a two-week tour - you can read their tour blog here, check out their website, and purchase their debut album Steep Bay (for the price of a friendly super bowl bet!) at bandcamp. Check ‘em out!

The End Of America | These Things Are Mine