Blue Ghost Blues

VINYL. The blues has grown up a lot in the last ten years, since guitarist Andrew Burnes left New York for Georgia, bringing a de facto end to the powerful abstract blues of Haunted House. In the time since, a new generation—sometimes referred to as Freak Folk or New Weird America and spearheaded by Tom Carter, Jack Rose, and Ben Chasny—has followed in the footsteps of Loren Connors, John Fahey, and a handful of others who have long maintained that the blues is something more than 12 bars and a backbeat. After the demise of Haunted House Connors continued preaching the gospel, often with his wife Suzanne Langille, playing a slow, distorted, reverb-drenched blues as the world slowly began to come around. Then, in the Summer 2010, the stars aligned just so: Andrew Burnes was in town for a few days, percussionist Neel Murgai was available, and Brooklyn's Issue Project Room was booking matinee concerts in their courtyard. The band had only existed for a brief two years and had been absent for a decade, but they picked up right where they left off with only a brief soundcheck as rehearsal. Another matter of months, and they were in the studio, recording this follow-up to their 1999 Erstwhile release Up In Flames.