Local singer-songwriter Stephen Bluhm’s new album, Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here., debuts Friday, April 19th. The album was recorded in Athens and Hudson with piano, guitar and eleven orchestral instruments including cello, oboe, flute, piccolo, clarinet, violin and viola. It features a cover by the formerly-Hudson based artists Kahn & Selesnick.
On Thursday, April 25th at 8pm at the Avalon Lounge in Catskill, Stephen will celebrate the album release with Meghan Mercier on cello, Jackson Spargur on violin, Erin Starr on Flute, and Scott Vorwald on clarinet and sax. Alex P. Wernquest opens with a rare solo set.
Although it’s not an easily classifiable genre of music, Stephen includes Nick Cave, Stephen Sondheim, and Burt Bacharach among his influences. His latest album is “artful pop pieces, but no drums or synthesizers. I’ve been calling it Chamber Pop”, says Stephen, sitting on a comfy sofa at Rev cafe.
“It’s going in a very different direction than my first album,” he says. Many of us remember Stephen performing in Hudson with synthesizers and a pop backing track, however this new album “has a dreamy feel. The songs are slower, more contemplative. It’s a different side of myself.”
Stephen has been working on this album for over four years. “The concept started as lullabies for grownups. The songs mention dreams and sleep, spirituality and love. It’s another world you step into for thirty-five minutes.”
Throughout the years, you may have seen Stephen sing at Club Helsinki, Spotty Dog or Ör Bar (now Wylde). He recently performed at the Park Theater in Hudson. Stephen has lived in our neck of the woods, in Columbia and Greene Counties, for over fourteen years, “I love the area and its natural beauty.”
On his album, Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here, Stephen incorporates musicians from Bard College’s The Orchestra Now and the Bard Conservatory Orchestra.
“After a performance by The Orchestra Now,” says Stephen, “I walked up on stage and stood up amid the French horns and asked if anyone wanted to record with me. I admit I was a little surprised at how much they wanted to do it. I chose the most enthusiastic one!”
Album reviews are coming in and people love it!
Utterly charming. The halting, clipped vocals with a sudden appearance of sumptuous string writing is unexpected and elegant. There’s a faux-naïvete that I find very appealing. The music, at first blush, appears naïve. But on a close listen, it’s very assured and complex writing. And the arrangements are really just wonderful. Sufjan Stevens meets Kurt Weill meets Stephen Foster.
Tom Judson
Quietly and beautifully stunning. There are wonderful lyrics throughout, and this is a deeply emotional piece of work. I am sure I am going to be spending serious time with it; it’s the kind of record that I can’t listen to casually.
Anthony Kaczynski, Guitarist for The Magnetic Fields
Like walking through a meadow
Brian Dewan
Even though you can stream the album on Spotify, the best way to support local musicians is to buy it directly from the artist. Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here. is available on vinyl, CD, and digital download on Bandcamp. In addition, vinyl copies will be available at John Doe Records in Hudson, Spike’s Record Rack in Catskill, and River Street Beat Shop in Troy.
Absolutely dreamy!
Wissahickon forever.