Head to Heart (Rusty Reid album) – Queen City Sounds and Art

RustyReid1_lg — Rusty Reid, photo courtesy the artist

When Rusty Reid’s “I Went Searching” starts out you’re expecting to get lost in some Sinoia Caves style dark synth labyrinth into a murky dystopian science fiction future. But when the guitar, bass, drums and Reid’s vocals come in it morphs into an unconventionally psychedelic rock song about raising your own awareness and consciousness. It’s reminiscent of Kenny Rogers’ old band The First Edition and the sentiments reflect a search for peace, grace, love, truth and basic human decency and non-conformity. Hippie ideals. Marianne Williamson would be into these sentiments, the kind we need more of now in this rough age. The music, part psych folk and part country, is also grounded in a sound akin to Krautrock American style. It is fascinatingly out of step with what you might assume to be psych or country or art-y progressive rock and that’s what makes the song so immediately appealing if enigmatic. It’s not coming from a place meant to alienate or seem cooler-than-thou. And it’s unabashedly unusual, eccentric and ultimately accessible. Listen to the song on Soundcloud and follow Rusty Reid at the links below where you can also further explore Reid’s sprawling epic new album Head to Heart.