via Kentucky.com
8 p.m. Feb. 19 at The Burl, 375 Thompson Rd. $15. theburlky.com.
Here is an intriguing winter diversion — a pair of proven song stylists familiar to regional audiences through music made with their highly visible bands playing in a duo setting. That’s the premise for a week-long string of performances featuring guitarist Tyler Ramsey, formerly of the acclaimed North Carolina troupe Band of Horses, and fellow fret-man Carl Broemel of top Louisville rock export My Morning Jacket. Both artists have new but very different recordings to promote.
Ramsey will be previewing music from “For the Morning,” his first solo album since departing Band of Horses in 2017 and his fourth album overall. It’s a hushed, neo-country colored set of songs that sound summon early ‘70s Southern California introspection with a heavy Neil Young-meets-Eagles accent. It was recorded during sessions in a home studio constructed outside of Band of Horses’ Asheville, N.C., home base.
Curiously, Ramsey echoes some of the sounds Broemel designed on past records. But on “Wished Out,” the latter’s fourth and newest album, the mood shifts. While Broemel has said Southern California, especially a series of drives and hikes through Malibu, inspired one of the record’s highlight tunes, “Starting from Scratch,” much of the new music accelerates into a huge, bright and pop-worshiping electric drive that might catch fans of his previous solo albums (especially 2016’s fine “4th of July”) off guard. Broemel cut “Wished Out” with help from two of his MMJ bandmates, bassist Tom Blankenship and keyboardist Bo Koster.
Though essentially a co-headlining bill, Ramsey and Broemel will be very much a team when they play The Burl on Feb. 19. The two will collaborate on each other’s songs and serve up, as indicated on Ramsey’s website, “some special covers.”