With his gravelly narration and ramblin’ guitar licks, Eli Elkus always takes us on a journey. His songs lead us through trailer parks and back alleys and introduce us to the unsavory characters that no doubt occupy the shady corners of his mind. With Nonsemble, we get a full-on, whiskey-filled taste of Elkus’ self-described “freak folk” style. Check out the album below and hear what the man himself has to say about it.
“My first ‘solo’ effort since being a ‘grown-up’ is what I’ve been calling a ‘Nonsemble’ of a few musician friends from around New Hampshire. Thus, the EP is titled just that, Nonsemble. It is a compilation of folk songs written during my travels on the never-ending TroubaTour around the states and in various short-lived living situations around New England over the past few years. The songs were written and performed under a few archetypes of characters I’ve been developing – each an amalgamation of folks I’ve met in my travels around the United Circus of America.”
“The songs were inspired by (and poke fun at) the lifestyle and aesthetic of elder troubadours I once idolized. A sort of eccentric and satirical take on stuff to like tobacco and places like the infamous Wall Drug (which any a traveler who’s been through South Dakota has most certainly at least seen a billboard for). There’s more made up words than ever and plenty of abstract word play for those who dabble in semantics. It is a new concoction to me that, for lack of a one word qualifier, I’ve been calling vaudevillian inlaw country hobo wingnut freak folk children’s music for adults… with a twist, of course.”