I’d like you to stop whatever you’re doing for a moment. For a moment, forget about the hustle and bustle of whatever internet drama you might be engaged with minute by minute. Forget for a moment put aside the pet peeves or micro aggressions that antagonize you hour by day, day by day. You’ve just been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, they tell you. What would YOU do? Obviously, this is rhetorical. I’m also betting that until you read that last part about the diagnosis did you truly pause and reflect. What indeed… would you do? For Charlie Edwards, his answer was to get inspired, kick cancer’s ass, and put together a cosmically phenomenal rock and roll album. And when I think about it, I honestly can’t think of a better or braver answer than that. In fact, I really need to do a gut check on myself to assure myself that I could even respond the same way. All that makes listening to the project I’ve Tried Sleeping‘s self-titled album that much more interesting of a journey. The album is to be released to streaming services on November 13th, but you can hear it now on Bandcamp:
The name I’ve Tried Sleeping is a bit of a mysterious origin other than Edwards learning that several other artists share the same name and “rather go Highlander on them” opted to come up with the name. Thought that was pretty funny. With an extensive, long running history of playing music in various ways and projects, Edwards has written by his account at least a thousand songs. For this 10 track album, the credits are:
Charlie Edwards (Vocals and Guitar), Jay Condiotti (Lead Guitar), Eddie Ramirez (Bass), AJ Ramirez (Drums and Percussion), Kelly Porter (Electric Organ and Synth) and Calista Edwards (Cello).
Of interesting note, Calista is Edward’s 13 year old daughter. Edwards recollects the production:
“A lot of magic took place as this record came together. It was a beautiful thing. Everyone who touched the project was pulled into its vortex and given the freedom to be themselves, shined.”
Indeed, given the backstory, having family on the album, you truly do get that sense or impression of that type of energy upon hearing it. It feels like people really rallied around him on this effort. It was produced by Michael Schettler (Spokane Recording Studio) and Jay Condiotti (Musicland) in Spokane, Washington (You guys know I’m going to give a big shout out to that being the PNW writer around here).
Edwards writing covers a spectrum of lyrics topically, you would probably imagine on this album. He references things ranging from the pandemic, social justice, and conspiracy theory to lighter hearted things like Netflix and his favorite band (Zeppelin) as well as deeper, introspective things like depression, mental illness and mortality (specifically in “Your Arms Around Me”). Edwards is right in his bio’s assessment of how one should experience the album, it transcends perfectly at loud volume, front to back, while letting your mind wander.
He cites influences of Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Bruce Springsteen to name a few. I would certainly echo that in my audible analysis as well. However, there are a couple more that I did not spot in his bio, that I would say I think I hear in there too. I would also recommend this as a good listen for those who enjoy Bowie and Collective Soul. I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, go have a listen and let me know!
At some point along the way, I was so overcome emotionally by each song that I was unable to make it through singing it. This became the bar or standard for the ones to keep and the ones to throw back.
Charlie Edwards aka I’ve Tried Sleeping
¡LISTEN NOW!
Don’t forget to support this project and to follow on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Spotify. You can also check out their official website. If you enjoy his music and are able to provide monetary support, you might consider downloading it on Bandcamp.
You can obviously find it in the following Playlists on release day: Less Than 1,000 Followers (Building Something Golden), Fresh Singles (Your Arms Around Me), Indie Only (Some Kind Of Mother), Alterindie State Of Mind (Not Talking Squatch), Debut Bands (Off The Radar) (Flying Anyway), 12 New Songs This Week (Without The Faintest Idea), Sickest & Dopest (Hard Hitting Rock), and Unknown but Essentials! (Listening To Zeppelin).
Remember that you can always find me here AMS Radio for all my social media and collaborations.
P.S. If you enjoy discovering new artists and fresh new music you can subscribe to this blog Less Than 1,000 Followers and follow the Playlist with all the artists that we have presented here!!!
This coverage was created via MusoSoup #Sustainablecurator
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