Biography
-
Born
16 November 1988 (age 35)
-
Born In
Shelburne, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States
SETH GLIER: THINGS I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW (Official Bio)
"(Seth Glier's) exquisite tenor echoes Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.” - USA TODAY
Singer-songwriter and Grammy® nominee Seth Glier knows the challenges of emerging into adulthood all too well. Over the course of just a few short years, Glier has gone from opening act to headlining his own shows as well as major folk festivals, all culminating in a nod from the Grammys® this year for the work he did on his sophomore record, THE NEXT RIGHT THING. Having spent the majority of his teens and early twenties on the road, the now 24-year-old Massachusetts native describes his new album THINGS I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW as "a reckoning with adulthood.”
THINGS I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW offers one young man’s perspective through expertly crafted stories entwined with exceptional musicianship and rife with incredible lyrical detail. Glier’s songs aim straight for the gut and cast light on the challenges of adult life, through the lens of the everyday person.
For his third album on MPress Records, Glier opened himself for the first time to the opportunity of working with co-writers. As he explains: “I co-wrote a tune with Livingston Taylor, and a few with Ellis Paul and Marshall Altman. I’m very protective of my words, so co-writing seemed scary, but in the end I trusted these writers and we found a common vision.” Glier, who has received two Independent Music Awards for his previous works, self-produced this LP, THINGS I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW with longtime collaborator Ryan Hommel and brought on Grammy® Nominee John Shyloski (Johnny Winter, Stephen Kellogg) to mix and master.
Since the release of 2011’s THE NEXT RIGHT THING, Glier has shared the stage with artists as diverse as James Taylor, Ani DiFranco, Martin Sexton, Toad The Wet Sprocket and Edwin McCain. A troubadour in every sense of the word, he plays over 250+ shows a year, and when it came time to pen this record he decided to do it from the road. Bits and pieces of songs were strewn across state lines, sung into mattresses, recorded in one fan’s kitchen in Cleveland and on another’s rooftop in San Francisco. As Glier asserts, “I wanted ‘Things I Should Let You Know’ to be a transformative experience for the listeners and I knew it couldn’t be if I wasn’t being transformed along the way.”
The title THINGS I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW might suggest something secretive, or that the young songsmith has something to hide. However, as Glier is quick to clarify, in fact the opposite is true. "This record is about confession, it’s about baring all your skeletons in the light of day, making some much needed room in your closet, and living wide open."
The album’s opener and title track is a stark confession accompanied by layered vocals and a hushed and haunting musical arrangement. One of the last songs composed for the album, it marks a brash departure from formula and sets the listener up for an expansive ride full of cinematic twists and turns. From the driving, story-telling pop of “Man I Used To Be” to the uplifting, New Orleans-influenced “New World I See”, Glier’s impressive range as a vocalist, pianist and guitarist stirs the listener to reflection, the same way writing it did for Seth.
As a national spokesperson for the Autism Awareness Foundation, an advocate for Musicians On Call, and with a ROCK THE VOTE Road Trip 2012 stop under his belt, Glier has become increasingly comfortable expressing his social beliefs, both onstage and off. Not surprisingly, when pressed for what song he is most proud of on the album, Glier chooses the Woody Guthrie-inspired “Plastic Soldiers” “because it’s definitely the most political song on the record.” In his signature narrative style, Glier sings from the point of view of a father and soldier, coming to terms with his choices in life and refusing to lead his son down the same path.
On the chilling and intimate “Too Hard To Hold The Moon”, Glier gets incredibly personal, dropping the character shield and revealing that the track ”is about my Mom and Dad…about my Mom standing by my father as he learns to live in sobriety.”
Everything comes full circle with the album’s powerful closer, “I Am Only As Loved As I Am Open”. Amidst a swirling drone of harmonium, pump organ and bowing strings, Seth Glier ascends into adulthood by delivering his most mature collection of songs yet - revering acceptance and reveling in self-discovery.
THINGS I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW will be available nationwide January 12, 2013. For an updated tour schedule and Seth’s complete discography, visit www.sethglier.com.
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
