Fat Possum
Guitarist Tyler Ramsey has learned a thing or two from his time in Band of Horses. since 2007. Written both on tour and at home in Asheville, N.C., The Valley Wind, Ramsey’s third solo effort, is delicate and sparse. It is full of thoughtful lyrics, haunting harmonies and beautiful, vaguely psychedelic guitars, implementing a similar approach to BoH’s mellower songs. Recorded in Nashville, Tenn. – with Seth Kauffman (Floating Action) on drums, guitar and background vocals, and Horses bandmate Bill Reynolds behind the mixing board and bass – the album glides from folk gem “1000 Blackbirds,” as its chorus of reverb and intricate acoustic finger-picked guitar lines call to mind Fleet Foxes, to shimmering electric guitars and hypnotic electronic rhythms on “All Night.” It isn’t an easy thing for a support player to find fertile ground outside of a huge band like Band of Horses, but with The Valley Wind_, Ramsey proves he’s more than a one trick pony.