Fort King

You Should Know


Fort King is Los Angeles singer/songwriter Ryan Fuller, and judging by the cd-r full of mostly rough demos I received from the musician, I'd say his stuff sounds like an alt. countrified version of Elliott Smith. Vocally is where the Elliott Smith comparison makes sense, but the music is much folksier. "Black Palms," a single ready for pressing in my opinion, sounds like it could be a b-side off of last year's AA Bondy record, and that's high praise considering the quality of that album. On the song, Ryan sings over gentle finger-picked guitar with a country twang in his voice: "Cut herself so she would bleed/ didn't eat to go unseen/ told her mama that she was fine/ dressed her wrist with iodine." There's definitely some solid material here and I'm looking forward to hearing a full album with the studio treatment. Ryan is being courted by a couple small labels, so expect to see at least an EP by the end of Summer/early Fall. In the meantime, swing by the Fort King Myspace page.-- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Fort King - Black Palms
MP3: Fort King - To The Moon

Tags: Fort King, Captain Obvious