Everytime I read something about Cass McCombs, there is always some mention of how rarely he grants interviews (except via e-mail) and how so little is known about this enigmatic artist.  See what I mean?  I too just fell into the trap.  So what if the guy moves around a lot and doesn’t grant a lot of interviews with the press?  I’m cool with a little bit of mystery.  In the end it really doesn’t matter much what he says because it’s his music that’s creating all the buzz.

[publicity photo]

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But in case you’re wondering who is this Cass Mccombs fella, here’s what we do know to this point.  McCombs has released four albums to date beginning with his debut EP Not the Way (2002), his first full-length album A in 2004, the widely acclaimed PREfection (2005), and his most recent release Dropping the Writ (2007).  He’s been called a songwriter’s songwriter by some and the late BBC broadcaster and music tastemaker John Peel called McCombs “unobtrusively brilliant”. 

The list of artists that McCombs has opened for over the past 4 or 5 years reads like a Who’s Who’s of A-list indie sensations including Band of Horses, The Shins, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, and Modest Mouse to name a few.  His bio once simply read:  “Cass McCombs was born in the Bronx, Haiti, and Tahiti in 1977.  He is a Scorpio.”  His songs are catchy as hell.  He’s been called “one to watch”.  I hear the eccentric twist of Andrew Bird mixed with the indie-folk bends of Sam Beam.  His music is at times dark and lonely and other times swirling in a wall of sound.

I imagine that he spends a great deal of time sitting on park benches watching people or talking to himself.  Or both.  Maybe he’s enjoying those things so much he doesn’t care to talk to us.  I can respect that either way.  Now I imagine he doesn’t talk to the press because music writers imagine things about him.  Or quite possibly, he just wants to do his own thing.  But here’s one more thing that I know for a fact.  He is coming to town to sing.

You can catch him on Monday, August 10 at the Gravity Lounge as Satellite Ballroom Presents Cass McCombs with special guest openers Birdlips.  The show starts at 8pm and tickets are $6 advance or $8 at the door.  [live video performance of “That’s That” from Dropping the Writ on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic with Nic Harcourt below with info on where you can download the entire live session for free]

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That’s That by Cass McCombs [live on KCRW]

[You can download the entire KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic session as a compressed zip file by first heading to Cass McCombs webpage here and then click on “New!:  Download KCRW Sessions“]

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