C.R. Avery is an american iconoclastic hip-hop beat-box blues soloist : member of a band (Tons Of Fun University), lyricist (for Jolie Holland), playwright and poet (the international slam poetry circuit), he also took part in the albums of Be Good Tanyas and Po Girl. Finally, Tom Waits being one of his biggest fans embarked him on his german tour. C.R. Avery is what you could call a "musicians' musician". Tom Waits, Ani DiFranco, Utah Phillips, Sage Francis and many others admire him and have already played with him.
« Magic Hour Sailor Songs » is his seventh album, but only the first one to be available in Europe. Having played before thousands of people during festivals and also smaller venues in Berlin or Edimbourg, C.R. Avery is a unique and electrifying artist. He can altogether beat-box, sing and play harmonica and keytar (... a red red one, à la 80's Herbie Hancock !). Inspired by various influences, C.R. means to hip-hop what Jimmy Reed meant to Chicago blues ; a modern times troubadour traveling solo. If Lawrence Ferlinghetti could play harmonica like Little Walter, you would get a clearer idea of this revolutionary work and explosion of genres which can be felt when listening to Magic Hour Sailor Songs.
C.R.'s writing talents and vocal rhythm have now brought him to the front of the international scene. He is also winner of the CBC national Poetry Face-Off contest. Sizzling, smoky and touched by years of cigarettes and acapella impro sessions in cabarets around the world C.R.'s voice is at once recognizable.
C.R.'s lyrics come from his poems, dominated by ineluctable and sudden death as well as a competition spirit issued from the world of slam. His songs are then made with a rare demand for perfection to satisfy an audience both focused on intellectual clarity and visceral honesty.
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