Centripetal Force recently announced the release of Nashville-based guitarist Kevin Coleman’s Imaginary Conversations, which will drop on March 19th and be available digitally and on limited runs of cassettes and CDs. Coleman is a boundless explorer in the world of American Primitive guitar music who channels everything from Piedmont blues to improvised kosmische musik to Appalachian freak folk in his fingerstyle guitar compositions.
Kevin picked up the guitar at age fifteen and has expanded his artistry ever since. He served as a guitar player in the indie dream-pop band So Badly between 2017 and 2019 but shifted his focus to guitar solo music. His recent work is informed by his fingerstyle peers like Joseph Allred and Matthew J. Rolin and the grounded serenity of nature.
Coleman says about his music: “I believe our relationship with our environment can be just as emotionally affecting as any human relationship. So, I try to capture some semblance of how the natural world shapes my thoughts and emotions, as well as how I project my own emotions and ideas onto the Natural World.”
Imaginary Conversations continues the new weird-Americana-folk vein Kevin has explored in his recent records, including a split cassette he released with Allred earlier this year. Coleman weaves dazzling fantasias of fingerpicking guitar with cosmic synth-infused soundscapes and rustic string ensembles on the album’s three tracks. It’s a heady mix sure to appeal to fans of Magic Tuber Stringband, Eight Point Star, and Tacoma Park.
The new record was mixed by Trevor Nikrant of Styrofoam Winos, who also contributes mandolin, pedal steel guitar, and synthesizer. Scott Mattingly of In Place plays guitar on the record, and Jack Dungan plays fiddle. Coleman’s instruments on Imaginary Conversations include six-string acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, bowed banjo, organ, harmonica, piano, jaw harp, wine glasses (!), and percussion.
“Mammut Americanum” is the lead single and first track on the record, a progressive fingerstyle guitar composition that fans of Joseph Allred, William Tyler, and Marisa Anderson should love. The rustic feel of the track calls to mind a sunny ride through Appalachia, but as Mike at Centripetal Force mentioned, there’s also a motorik drive and cosmic aspect.
“Truckers to Pulaski” is a long second track that stretches out over fourteen minutes with a slower pace and more mountain ambiance. Pulaski is a small town in central-southern Tennessee on the border of Alabama. Coleman moved from Virginia to Nashville a few years ago to study music at Belmont University, so maybe he’s more familiar with Pulaski now.
After becoming disillusioned with the music program, Coleman left Belmont, focusing his energy instead on creating unique compositions like “Truckers to Pulaski.” Over the song’s lengthy runtime, Coleman provides plenty of guitar acrobatics that are relaxing but also enthralling to follow along with.
The last track, “Imaginary Conversations On Fish Hatchery Rd.,” is the longest on a record of lengthy songs. Over the course of eighteen-plus-minutes, Coleman and company guide us through the freakiest instrumental folk on the album, providing a layered sound full of kosmische textures. I think I could spot a drum machine, and there’s the synth, too, which adds electronic elements to the American Primitive guitar picking that make this such a unique song. The song flows into an incredible ambient psychedelic passage near the end, making this a great listen for Third Eye readers.
American Primitive Guitar is a cool genre that’s seen a big resurgence lately, and fans of artists like the genre’s classics of John Fahey and more contemporary standard-bearers like Jake Xerxes Fussell should love Kevin Coleman’s Imaginary Conversations. The album’s unique guitar compositions should also appeal to fans of experimental psychedelic music, especially the final track.
Imaginary Conversations is available for pre-order on Centripetal Force Records’ Bandcamp page and will be released on March 19th digitally and on CD and cassette. Centripetal Force’s limited runs of physical media typically sell out – and sometimes quickly – so grab a cassette or CD while you can. Enjoy!
Pre-order Imaginary Conversations by Kevin Coleman on Bandcamp here.
Support Kevin Coleman by finding him on Bandcamp.
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