"A feast for the ears." Rein van den Berg
The celestial sound of the vibraphone and the irrepressible joy of its “operator” Michael Emenau instantly brings every Sussex audience into a world of wonder. Tethering the vibes lush, resonant sound to earth with driving fingerstyle guitar and award-winning roots songs is the work of Sussex's co-leader and multiple CFMA Contemporary Singer of the Year, Rob Lutes.
Since 2015, and over three albums, the two founders of this innovative CFMA Ensemble of the Year nominee have blended diverse musical worlds and transported audiences to destinations fresh and familiar.
For its third album, SHINE, the band has enlisted Joe Grass (Patrick Watson, Mara Tremblay) on pedal steel guitar and Morgan Moore (Martha Wainwright, Barr Brothers) on upright bass to produce a multi-textured sound that is not quite like anything else you've may have ever heard.
Genres be damned. Sussex is country-jazz, ragtime-folk and Tin Pan Alley-blues. Sweet vocal melodies, sophisticated textural vibes chords, sultry bass lines and soaring pedal steel runs interweaving through a set of literate, melodic songs about backyard memories, roadside motels and bittersweet love. These are songs that offer 101 ways to fight - or dance with - the darkness.
With six well-crafted originals from Lutes, the luxuriant jazz-Americana instrumental Skating from Emenau, and three underappreciated gems from the early 20th century, SHINE travels a unusual sonic landscape that somehow leads close to the very heart of American music.
Since 2015, and over three albums, the two founders of this innovative CFMA Ensemble of the Year nominee have blended diverse musical worlds and transported audiences to destinations fresh and familiar.
For its third album, SHINE, the band has enlisted Joe Grass (Patrick Watson, Mara Tremblay) on pedal steel guitar and Morgan Moore (Martha Wainwright, Barr Brothers) on upright bass to produce a multi-textured sound that is not quite like anything else you've may have ever heard.
Genres be damned. Sussex is country-jazz, ragtime-folk and Tin Pan Alley-blues. Sweet vocal melodies, sophisticated textural vibes chords, sultry bass lines and soaring pedal steel runs interweaving through a set of literate, melodic songs about backyard memories, roadside motels and bittersweet love. These are songs that offer 101 ways to fight - or dance with - the darkness.
With six well-crafted originals from Lutes, the luxuriant jazz-Americana instrumental Skating from Emenau, and three underappreciated gems from the early 20th century, SHINE travels a unusual sonic landscape that somehow leads close to the very heart of American music.