Buck Curran
Buck Curran, the prolific singer, songwriter, luthier living in Bergamo, Italy, has a lot going on. Buck’s Obsolete Recording label seems to be endlessly pumping out the jams, in the form of interstellar ambience, ruminative ragas, and melancholy melodies.
I thought the best way to cover all the things going on with his label, Obsolete Recordings, would be to hear it straight from him.
Hear Buck discuss the ten-year anniversary of the pivotal album Red Planet, from his project Arborea featuring himself and his former partner Shanti. We also discuss his partner Adele’s adaption of Erik Satie’s Gnossienne No. 1.
Finally, we get to the crux of the announcements – the time-sensitive endeavor to reunite Buck with a custom-made guitar. Hear the incredible story of how this guitar was made, how it slipped through his fingers, and how he found it ten years later on the other side of the world, in a guitar shop in Japan.
Buck is offering various subscription levels to Obsolete Recordings. I can’t urge music lovers enough to utilize Bandcamp subscriptions to support artists in a sustainable way – and you get instant access to their entire back catalog. It honestly feels advantageous because you get so much more than you pay for. There are a few subscription tiers, and the days that the guitar is on hold are swiftly counting down.
In his own words, this is the ask:
Hello Friends and Supporters of Obsolete Recordings! As I am looking to the future I am hoping to do quite a lot. Above all yes, I strive to bring you the very best music possible. And so with offering this subscription I am hoping to embark on my next recording projects which are going to include realizing a dream of mine. In 2009 I commissioned a guitar to be made by a guitar maker who has been a primary inspiration for me throughout my life as a musician and guitar maker. I even hand selected the Red Spruce during a trip to a farm in Maine one year. I had thought about this guitar and designed the specs over a period of 10 years. Through a period of hard work as a full time musician on the road and some other life transitions I was not able to pay the balance and the guitar was sold to another person as the maker was no longer able to wait for me. Through the last 5 years I have wondered about the guitar and often looked for signs of its existence on the internet. Well after years of thinking on this instrument and wondering where in the world it was….I have finally found it in Japan at a respectable guitar shop. So the plan is to quickly raise the funds to buy this guitar and once I have it to make an initial series of inspired albums. The first of these albums will be a studio album celebrating the instrument…featuring its voice and all its tonal color. The second album will be using the guitar to accompany my voice…so very much a song oriented album. The third album will be to use the guitar as part of field recording project which I have been ruminating on and making plans for, for almost 15 years. As I have traveled around Italy, where I live now, I have found many wonderful historic places that have the most beautiful natural reverb. Some of these places are in churches, some are in historic ancient Roman sites. The acoustic guitar sounds beyond amazing in these spaces. So the idea is to record music using the guitar in these unique spaces and make an album of these field-recordings. So I hope you join me in this meaningful endeavor and can help me achieve the highest level of creativity through such an inspiration as this. As a primary gift for your support with this project I am offering All of my digital back catalog here on Obsolete Recordings Bandcamp, as well All of my future digital recordings. For those subscribe at the 100 to 500 dollar Level you will receive all past and future digital albums plus any physical albums I have (Vinyl and CD) and one large custom watercolor painting (valued at 500 dollars). For those at the 500 Level you will get everything mentioned plus I will organize a concert at your home or any place you prefer. Thank You Dearly for listening and I hope you’ll join me on this musical adventure.
Buck Curran
Find Buck Curran and Obsolete Recordings on Bandcamp.
