Search - Blake Rainey and His Demons :: The Dangerous Summer

Born in the cradle of epic tales and haunting contrast the silent wilds of the Alabama border in Cedartown, Georgia singer/songwriter Blake Rainey draws musical and literary inspiration from both southern roots and city-bound relocation. A regular on the Atlanta and Athens music scenes for the last 6 years, Rainey has been recognized by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Flagpole, Stomp & Stammer, and Creative Loafing as one of Georgia's finest songwriters. Rainey laid down roots first as front man for the punk and power-pop trio The Young Antiques. He later co-produced Faith Kleppinger's Asleep at the Well with David Barbe, and recently worked double-booked as lead guitarist for The Indicators. In 2003, the songwriter went solo dropping the raucous intensity of his previous affairs and releasing the quieter, critically acclaimed Appetizer Sickness 13 sparse, articulate 3-minute novellas with time signatures. Music publication IndieWorkshop had this to say: "Elsewhere less-figured and endearingly open singer-songwriters, like Sufjan Stevens and Devendra Banhart, have gained attention by enveloping the small moments in something entirely genuine, be it delivery or arrangement (or both). Rainey defers to a similar grace with his own soft accounting. "Fields of PA" sounds like a letter read aloud, entreating memories of Paris, London and winter with a gazer's nod: "Dreaming really is no different / Than a memory that never happened." Rainey now follows that effort with 2007's The Dangerous Summer, opening wide Appetizer Sickness' bare bones presentation to make room for a backing band. As a whole, the group is called Blake Rainey and His Demons featuring Joe Foy on stand-up bass, Terry Onstad on cello, Justin Sonfield on guitar, Jeff Dehner on muted, breathy percussion, and Robin Najar providing vocal harmonies in the background. What Rainey does on The Dangerous Summer is paint a picture in syllables and soundscapes. It's a dark watercolor, washed in the mu