originally published: 09/05/2024
(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Veteran songwriter Gary Van Miert has announced the arrival of If I Stop Moving, I'll Fall From the Sky on October 25, 2024. This is his third collection of "Psychedelic Americana" as The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!
Delivering a potent blend of classic country, blues, gospel, pop and rock to accent his enlightened quips and sardonic euphemisms, the 10-song LP follows 2022’s country/gospel/psychedelic rock opus, The Adventures of a Psychedelic Cowboy and 2020’s blues and country record, The World Will Break Your Heart.
This latest chapter chronicling his American music acumen is made up of psychedelic pop songs, a genre that was widespread on AM Top 40 radio and FM stations in the 60s. Bands such as Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Electric Prunes and The Chocolate Watchband come to mind.
Van Miert explains, “The songs on The Sensational Country Blues Wonders’ new album are about the sky, the universe, and altered states of consciousness. They were influenced by the psychedelic music that was so prevalent on the radio in the sixties when I was growing up. They were also inspired by my sense of awe about the universe. If I Stop Moving, I’ll Fall From the Sky is a trippy, whimsical musical journey guaranteed to put a smile on your face.”
Music has been the muse of his lifetime, “I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show when I was five years old but my love for music actually goes back further. My mother told me that when I was a small child, I took 45 rpm records to bed with me instead of a teddy bear.”
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After embracing the Beatles, he started tracing the music backwards, “I noticed that the Beatles recorded three Carl Perkins tunes, so I figured this guy must be good if the Beatles covered so many of his songs. After becoming a Carl Perkins fan, I learned that he was influenced by Hank Williams, so I started listening to Hank. The Rolling Stones named their band after a Muddy Waters' song, so I knew I should check him out as well. And on and on.”
Having sung and played old country and blues songs for years, mostly as a hobby, Van Miert came up with the concept for “The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!” as a vehicle to start performing within the vibrant art and music scene in Jersey City, NJ.
“I’m a record collector and I have an extensive collection of old gospel 45’s. That’s where I cull a lot of the material I perform and where I got the band’s name, which is a homage to all the great groups from the golden age of gospel,” offers Van Miert.
“The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!” were designed to replicate the original instrumental lineup of acoustic rhythm guitar, electric lead guitar and upright acoustic bass used on the first rock and roll records recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn. Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records and Elvis loom large in my list of influences. Others who have inspired me include Hank Williams, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Brother Joe May, Charlie Feathers, Carl Perkins, Smiley Lewis, Brother Claude Ely, and Ernest Tubb. Simply put, “The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!” are the sound of America, starting at the intersection of all its best influences!”
As a lead up to the album, which sees Van Miert, once again, utilizing skilled session musicians at Nashville Master Tracks, a pair of self-referential singles will hit the digital ether, “Why Did I Eat The Whole Bag of Mushrooms?” drops September 13th with “If I Stop Moving, I’ll Fall From the Sky” arriving October 4th. Each single will be accompanied by a visually-rich animated video with an additional animated visual for “I Rode the Bus with Joey Ramone” releasing in November.
On the touring front, Van Miert and his band have gigged extensively in NYC and New Jersey at many esteemed events including Project Greenville, Riverview Farmers Market, Live at The Lumberyard, Hamilton Park BBQ Festival, Groove on Grove, Liberty State Park Summerfest Concert Series, and JC Fridays and has shared bills with Marshall Crenshaw and The Smithereens (at the Hoboken Arts & Music Festival) while also opening for Evan Dando (of Lemonheads fame).
Van Miert also performs solo as “The Gospel Wonder” at church services and events with a handpicked repertoire of classic Gospel tunes. With a style that’s been described as “an electrifying throwback to the gritty Gospel sounds from the deep South,” it’s in his DNA. “The music that inspired me was born in Nashville and Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. I’ve always been interested in that point where blues, country and gospel music intersect. Elvis Presley and a few others captured lightning in a bottle in the fifties and changed the world. I’ve always had an affinity for this particular brand of American roots music that originated in the South. I’ve been chasing this sound for years now, and having the time of my life doing so.”
He’s also enjoyed dabbling in musical theater, collaborating on the productions, ’Jacques Brel is Alive and Well & Living in Paris', a musical showcase of the work of Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel, and ‘The BOX,’ a disruptive thematic series at Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) that featured theater, dance, readings, solo-shows and visual arts exploring the personal and political impact of current era social upheaval. It was nothing short of sensational.
His interdimensional travel may take him to the outer limits of the space-time continuum but at the end of the day, Gary’s a proud New Jerseyan. For the foreseeable future, he’ll continue to host his monthly ‘Psychedelic Cowboy’ residency at Cafe Peanut in Jersey City because if he stops moving, he’ll fall from the sky.
If I Stop Moving, I'll Fall From the Sky Tracklist
1. We Are Made of Stardust - A song about where we come from, and where we are all going. It was influenced by William Blake’s poetry and watching too many television documentaries about the universe.
2. Why Did I Eat the Whole Bag of Mushrooms? - A cautionary tale. It was inspired by Billy Wilder's great film “The Lost Weekend” and my tendency to overdo things. This song name-checks my favorite Rolling Stones album.
3. If I Stop Moving, I'll Fall From the Sky - This is a song about flying. It’s also about believing that inactivity is the enemy. It’s a metaphor for the addiction to being busy, and that feeling of anxiety one gets about the idea of slowing down.
4. Golden Teacher - This tune is a love song dedicated to a specific strain of psychedelic mushroom called Golden Teacher. It describes the wonder of experiencing a brand-new reality for the first time.
5. Head in the Clouds - This song is about not being present in this world, but happily existing in a world of my own creation. This is another tune related to flying, which I sometimes dream about.
6. I Rode the Bus With Joey Ramone - This song describes a vivid dream I had, about getting on a local bus and sitting next to Joey Ramone. In the dream, he was a very friendly guy. We discussed many things, none of which I can remember.
7. One More Cup of Mushroom Tea - This is a song about drinking a special tea and seeing the mysteries of the universe. This number was musically influenced by Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man”.
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8. Magic Glasses - This song is about seeing the world with brand new eyes. It’s about experiencing a transformation and viewing creation in a different light. The “magic glasses” may also be a metaphor for plant medicine.
9. Gravity - A meditation on the chaos that would ensue on Earth if we didn’t have gravity. With this one I tried to create humor with strategically placed sound effects, as Brian Wilson did on “Heroes and Villains”.
10. Sky Songs - When bluesman Bukka White was asked how he made music, he said, “I just reach up and pull them out of the sky – call them sky songs- they just come to me.” Keith Richards had this to say, “I'm an antenna, I just pick up an instrument and if there are any songs out there, I receive them.”
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