Local country-folk solo artist Clay Hazey’s self-titled debut EP is everything one could hope for from a folk record. Right from the opening licks of steel pedal, acoustic guitar, and laidback drums, you feel a warmth from his music. His voice is powerful and classically folk, like that of John Denver and he effortlessly throws his voice up and down quite an impressive range. He makes good use of vocal stacking; he’s a solo artist, but sounds like he has a full band of people singing alongside him, for example, the chorus of “Red” and, my personal favourite from the record, “Not Hard to Forget.”
The third track, “Past Two,” brings in the mesmerizing vocals of Ocie Elliott’s Sierra Lundy. Their voices blend so perfectly together and the songwriting is lovely. It is the kind of song I can imagine being covered around a campfire for years to come, much in the same way as Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” giving you the inexplicable warm fuzzies.
Hazey’s music gives me the same feelings as when I listen to Twin Peaks or Mt. Joy, this carefree, open road, barefoot, forever young feeling; it has a coming of age-ness to it. It is the kind of music I want to see on an outside stage in late summer, surrounded by all my friends. This is a top-notch debut release and I would imagine, and hope, that we will be seeing much more from this artist soon.
