Arden, North Carolina (February 5, 2021) — On their first release of new material since last year’s Scripting The Flip, Organic Records’ Jon Stickley Trio continues to refine its powerful, cutting-edge approach to acoustic instrumental music.
From the opening acoustic guitar arpeggios, “Future Ghost” unfolds as a juxtaposition of moods and meanings, using intermingled minor and major scales and ambiguous harmonic moves to create characteristically memorable melodic phrases. Meanwhile, as Stickley and violinist Lyndsay Pruett glide from alternating solo passages to intricate unisons, drummer Hunter Deacon’s steady groove, spare fills and occasional rhythmic shadowing of the other Trio members effortlessly guide the group toward the relaxed, satisfying end to “Future Ghost”’s succinct 3+ minutes.
The result — a mash-up of jazz, folk, rock, bluegrass and more into a unique kind of modern acoustic dance music — is a deceptively modest, yet ultimately masterful demonstration of the musical wit, unselfconscious virtuosity and fierce compositional chops that have earned the Trio a place on programs and playlists rarely occupied by instrumental ensembles.
A master of thought-provoking, often whimsical titling, guitarist Stickley came up with “Future Ghost” for the new track. “What would I be like as a ghost?” he asks.“Would I hauntingly terrorize those who deserve it, bless those I love, or selfishly spy on the ones I’m still obsessed with? This song explores those questions while rocking out in the prettiest way we can.”
Listen to “Future Ghost” HERE.
About the Jon Stickley Trio
Jon Stickley Trio is a genre-defying and cinematic instrumental trio, whose deep grooves, innovative flatpicking, and sultry-spacy violin move the listener’s head, heart, and feet. “It’s not your father’s acoustic-guitar music—although Stickley’s pop showed him his first chords when he was 12 years old. Instead, Stickley’s Martin churns out a mixture of bluegrass, Chuck Berry, metal, prog, grunge, and assorted other genres—all thoroughly integrated into a personal style,” writes Guitar Player Magazine. With inspiration ranging from Green Day to Duran Duran to Tony Rice to Nirvana, Grateful Dead, David Grisman and beyond, the Trio, which features violinist Lyndsay Pruett and drummer Hunter Deacon, is making waves with their unique sound. Along with releasing two full length albums and one EP in the past few years, the Trio has zig-zagged the nation, though they still call Asheville, NC home. Stickley says, “The Trio feels fresher and hotter than ever, we’ve hit our stride in terms of creating tunes that are uniquely us and that’s a really exciting place to be musically.”