By Kevin J. Hosey

Let’s discuss recent releases by a pair of expatriate Buffalo/Western New York musicians, both more than worth acquiring,

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Tim Easton – Find Your Way, Black Mesa Records – Born in Lewiston, N.Y., and growing up in Akron, Ohio, Nashville-based singer, songwriter and guitarist Tim Easton blends Americana, folk, rock and other roots music, simply refering to himself as a troubador and propagandist. He plainly addresses people’s needs and feelings at the best and worst of times, always seeking grace before anger.

The title track opens the album with elegiac folk rock aided by cool, echoey steel guitar; Easton, recovering from a loss, seeks to grab a new day and beginning instead of wallowing in the past.

On “Everything You’re Afraid Of,” he recommends to stop questioning life and go out and actually live it, accompanied by a light, shuffling rhythm and guitar.

Grace and understanding can’t help everything; on the softer  “Little Brother,” a drifter who can’t find much purpose emphasizes with his brother, a pained combat vet unable to find himself or connect with society.

“Bangin’ the Drum (Inside My Mind)” is real good upbeat bluesy Americana featuring harmonica and dobro as Easton tries to decompress.

He shows two ends of the same story on the wistful and sad “What Will It Take?” as he tries to win back his love, and “By the End of the Night,” acoustic Latin flavored folk where he and his partner have indeed fallen in love.

Easton and his music can be found at Bandcamp.com as well as at TimEaston.com, and a Kicksarter campaign has been started for him to record a new album this year.

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Robert Poss – Drones, Songs & Fairy Dust, Trace Elements Records – The former Buffalonian and Amherst High School graduate isbest known as guitarist, singer and songwriter for Band of Susans and he also worked with avant/noise guitar groundbreaker Rhys Chatham. He released this aptly named, exhilarating CD and digital release in 2024.

The pieces here run from walls of sound rock to rumbling, experimental soundscapes and almost ghostly electronic passages.

The album opener, “Secrets, Chapter and Verse,” is a pounding, charging upbeat rocker with loudly ringing, well layered guitars; Poss is very adept at blending the right amount of pop in the more rock-oriented songs without missing the sound exploration side.

Another rocker, “Skibberdean Drive,” is a loud, stinging, thick instrumental; there is subtle but interesting interplay among the guitars.

“S Romp,“ a very cool, pulsating, distorted song with some stark keyboard added to hard guitar, sounds like a tribute to the classic NYC electropunk band Suicide (Alan Vega & Martin Rev).

On “Your Adversary,” a sharp, rough rocker with exciting sheets of sound, Poss’ vocals sound a bit like a mad Andrew Eldritch (Sisters of Mercy).

“Hangstrom Fragment” is an almost conventional, if tough, rocker with a really nasty guitar solo.

Poss stretches out on songs like “More Snow is Falling,” with pensive, chiming guitars droning nicely before a higher pitched guitar comes in and out of the mix.

“Out of the Fairy Dust” is a standout; its ringing, keening guitars are thickly but dreamily layered before focusing a bit; the drums provide a strong rhythm counter to the guitars.

”Into the Fairy Dust” builds from one lead guitar part to several, then more guitars and drums build the sound and effect, reminiscent of Chatham and early Glenn Branca pieces.

“Trem 23” has more percussive layered guitars, and the echoey, elegiac guitars of “Skew Forest” have a serious movie soundtrack feel.

Poss is active on Bandcamp.com, posting solo songs, pieces and collaborations as well as some old Band of Susans songs, and can be contacted there or at robertposs.com (which is where Trace Elements records can also be contacted).

Kevin Hosey is a longtime chronicler of the Buffalo original music scene.