The music created in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles back in the late ’60s up to mid-’70s was at that time one of the dominant forces in the rock and pop scenes, still serving as a source of inspiration five or so decades on.
It seems though that most of the more modern artists who are inspired by that sound are not essentially located in Laurel Canyon itself. Yet, the duo of Dash Hutton (vocals, drums) and Jesse Tyre Karp (vocals, guitar) who go under the name of The Grand Southern certainly are, and they have done their utmost to draw as much inspiration from both the location and the music it signifies on Don’t Say Anything, their debut album release.
Even the recording concept recalls the heyday of the Laurel Canyon era, as Hutton and Karp have enlisted some serious musical help to create the music on this album. Yet, following closely in the footsteps of the originals doesn’t necessarily mean that you will come up with music that has substance and is, above all, listenable.
Luckily, for The Grand Southern, the duo seem to have actually picked up all the key, essential elements of the Laurel Canyon sound, without really following too closely in the footsteps of any specific artist from the era. Hutton and Harp seem to be cherry-picking the best from those better-known ones, like Gram Parsons and Jackson Browne to those a bit less known (at least today), like Eric Andersen.
By doing that, Hutton and Karp seem to be carving out a sound of their own here that brings the original Laurel Canyon sound to modern times with perfect proof in their cover of Don Henley’s “Boys Of Summer.”
