News, Reviews

Grant Pavol Shares Poignant Single “Men Who Taught Me Chords”

August 13, 2020
Photo Credit: Kate Killet

Grant Pavol Shares Poignant Single “Men Who Taught Me Chords”

Debut Album About A Year Out Sep 4th

On Shamir’s Accidental Popstar Records

Singer-songwriter Grant Pavol released a poignant new single, “Men Who Taught Me Chords,” off his debut album About A Year due out September 4 on Shamir’sAccidental Popstar Records.

It follows initial track “Bones,” which premiered on WXPN and memorializes Grant’s grandfather and prominent author/playwright/screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, The Princess Bride, Marathon Man).

Speaking further on “Men Who Taught Me Chords,” Grant explains: “Several of the artists who profoundly influenced me musically (some who literally taught me chords and techniques on guitar and bass) were later outed for various forms of personal misconduct. This song is about the regret that I often feel when reflecting on my past influences, and attempting to navigate the music industry in a positive, just, and kind way.””Men Who Taught Me Chords” is about reclaiming your art and your independence; a song against false idols.”

It’s a contemplative and reflective piece; the instrumentation exudes charm and shows resilience and resonates with honesty and human intimacies within the gentle lifting vocals that consume this delicate and vital release. This track is deeply immersive, the melody captured is momentous and guides the intensity of this track throughout different glaciers of smooth to fierce.

Grant met Shamir at DIY shows in Philadelphia, eventually signing to his record label and releasing the Okay EP to praise from Clash, Dork, WXPN and beyond. Born to a creative family of writers and musicians, Grant taught himself to play guitar as a teen and soon began performing at shows in Philadelphia.

Like his influences Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, Grant’s vocals and lyrical melodies carry the sincerity of his sound. Whether he’s strumming his guitar in his bedroom or tracking songs in a friend’s living room, Pavol is always immersed in the craft of singing and songwriting – and he has his family, friends and Philly to thank for that.

Pulling from minimalist composers, hip hop production, and ambient recordings, as well as ‘60s folk and country music, he recorded and produced this debut album himself in a dorm room during his freshman year of college. As the title implies, the album is about a year in Grant’s life between the end of high school and the end of his freshman year of college – a period of immense personal change, between his family’s health problems, move away from home, and worsening depression, whichstrained many personal relationships. In many ways, the album is about the concepts of change and success, and Grant’s own attempts to attain personal contentment in the midst of tumult and confusion. In the end, it’s about hope and how the struggle for joy can be won.

https://accidentalpopstarrecords.com/collections/grant-pavol

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