Groanbox Boys
Gran Bwa
Rough hewn world roots music played on funky, organic instruments.
Groanbox Boys are the Uk based trio, Cory Seznec, Michael Ward-Bergeman, and Paul Clifford. The Groanbox sound is a unique blend of roots music from around the world performed on accordion, acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonica, and myriad pieces of percussion, including a calabash (African gourd), yew tree log, and the home-made Freedom Boot.
"Gran Bwa" was named after the Haitian Vodou loa (spirit) of the woods. Creole for "great wood" (from the French "grand bois"), Gran Bwa is the great spirit who resides deep in the woods and is associated with the gateway between the spirit world and the living world, the management of time, and medicinal healing.
All of these themes make appearances in this current album, which was recorded by Groanbox sound designer Yann Seznec on one late May night in Edinburgh at the tail end of an intense, soul-searching tour of the UK. Both the music and the vocals were inspired by the plethora of beautiful and bizarre moments experienced on the road. The oldest yew tree in the world, a giant dam with large echo chambers, a mythical elm tree in a forest of pines, the making of a talisman, deer bones, rabbit skulls, caravans, chicken feet, gourds, broken down vans, a Senegalese drum master, lochs and bens, cowboy coffee, a Scottish fiddler, and the dozens of different Groanbox alter-egos are just some of the seeds that helped give life to this album.
Musicians:
-Cory Seznec on guitars, banjos (gourd and open-backed), harmonica and vocals
-Michael Ward-Bergeman on accordion, shackles, and vocals
-Paul Clifford on calabash (gourd), yew tree, freedom boot, kitchenware, and vocals
Behind the scenes:
-Yann Seznec, sound designer
-Harry Kalish and Cory Seznec, photography
-Anna Wolfgang, album design
-Pat Collier, mastering
Copyright 2008, Groanbox Records. All Rights Reserved.
World: World Beat