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Acoustic Double-Neck Guitarist Ian Ethan Case's new album "Into Open Land" is an exploration of the largely untraversed musical territory that this unique 18-string instrument provides access to.
Unveiling the true musical potential of an instrument that has previously seen little serious use as more than a stage prop, the Vermont artist employs a wide variety of highly-innovative playing techniques that take full advantage of 18 strings, two fretboards, and his experience as a drummer, bassist, pianist, and composer.
The nine-part musical whole of "Into Open Land", more than simply validating the use of the instrument, is the beginning of an epic journey through pristine worlds that present to the alert and engaged listener countless intriguing gems of fresh insight and inspiring, expansive views of reality as something tangibly deeper and more infinite than our physical surroundings.
Solo pieces such as "Appalachia By Air" and "North By Northeast / One Straight Line" simultaneously intertwine drumset-like percussive ideas and groovy bass lines with inventive melodies and counter-melodies, always supported by a rich, colorful, three-dimensional harmonic context.
Meanwhile "band" tracks such as "Fourth Corner" and "Call of the Hill" (featuring Case's overdubbed self-accompaniment on drumset, electric bass, percussion, and multiple double-necks) present an even more powerful and complete view of these highly detailed, multi-layered compositions.
Tying the whole album together is an unpretentious and consistently adventurous spirit that steers clear altogether of "The Road Less Traveled" and heads straight out into open land, where one has the freedom to explore and discover without limits, and thereby realize more of what has always been.
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"Simply Amazing...I feel like I am witnessing something that's brand new. I'm not aware of anyone that's doing anything like this." - Mark Michaelis, WGDR / Goddard Radio, Plainfield, VT
"Ian Case represents something so new in musical approach, that the result is near impossible to pigeon hole into a 'sounds like' statement. It has been my personal privilege to observe his unwavering and deep exploration of this new technique and on a relatively rare instrument...the original music of Ian Case is not to be missed." - Emmy-Winning Composer / Producer Peter Bruce Wilder
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