In an era of hype, trend mongering and style without substance comes a band that stands for craft and integrity. Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls look for hope and life affirmation in that heart of darkness throughout their second album, Packed for Exile, released independently on Still Small Recordings.
Firmly entrenched in organically American music, the band mines elements of rock, country and folk coupled with rich storytelling and the poking and prodding of emotional contexts both personal and worldly.
Packed for Exile follows Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls’ first release, The Vain Hope of Horse, which PASTE Magazine called “a wonderful debut: ragged, soulful and well-written.” The compelling collection included guest appearances by Tom “The Nightwatchman” Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Wilco’s Nels Cline on lap steel. The songs resonated with strains of working class rock’n’roll and rustic punk, leaving Dave Marsh, legendary rock journalist and author, to comment, “Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls speak to the heartache and joy in the world, with the wisdom not to try to separate them, and the skill to make all of it beautiful.”
The Greedy Souls include the core of Heath, Jason Federici (son of late E Street Band member Danny Federici) on accordion and organ, Ben Perdue on upright and electric bass, and Heath’s lifetime compadre Abe Etz on drums, as well as distinctive touches from guitarists Jonathan Chi and Aaron Gitnick, pianist Chris Joyner and fiddle player Ysanne Spevack.
“It’s Americana in terms of being American country, folk, blues, punk and rock ‘n’ roll influenced,” he says. “We like to call it Post-Americana Acoustelectric, Agit-POP, Arena Folkountry Rawk…. It’s all working class music, with common themes – love, loss, redemption and the search for justice.”
