[rating=9.00]
Since the 1980’s, Steve Kimock has held a special and honorary position in the music community throughout the Bay Area and worldwide. Most of us know Kimock from his work within the jam band scene and Grateful Dead-related side projects. From the late 80’s standing beside the late and great Captain Trips (Jerry Garcia) in Golden Gate Park, to more recent Grateful Dead side projects, including Phil Lesh and Friends and Bob Weir’s RatDog, Steve Kimock has been an undeniable influence and innovator on the guitar, especially for younger generations that have followed in his footsteps.
With his anxiously awaited album Last Danger Of Frost we are literally able to listen to Kimock’s brilliance radiating through his acoustic guitar work, without the help of another producer or musician. Minus the track “Tongue and Groove”, every song track on the new album was innovated and brought to life in Kimock’s beloved barn in rural Pennsylvania, accompanied by computer generated sound effects, looping, and back noises. Singularly, Kimock is able to spill his heart and soul out on this album, solely instrumental, while evoking a deep sense of emotion and timelessness through this masterpiece.
Last Danger of Frost begins with a four-song segment titled “Music Tells a Story”, reflecting the passion and relentless effort that Kimock has put into his guitar work over the past forty-plus years. Last Danger of Frost truly tells a story; Steve Kimock’s story. The illustrious album weaves through different periods of a lifetime, giving insight to where this guitarist has contrived his beautiful guitar solo’s on the jam-band circuit for so long; directly from his heart and soul.
Through tracks such as “Surely This Day”, Kimock opens up a portal for listeners to dig deep down into their own hearts, and search for the hope, soul and passion that were dynamically put together to create this beautifully crafted album. The final track on the album, “My Favorite Number”, speaks for itself and the entirety of the album. This album is Kimock’s way of sharing his story and trials and tribulations through the eclectic, brilliant sitar-styled acoustic guitar work that is laid down. We can only hope that the K I M O C K tour, performing Last Danger of Frost to a live audience, will be as magical of a journey as taking an hour and listening to this composition from start to finish. Steve’s newly formed band is currently touring the country in support of this album, along with the help of son John Morgan Kimock behind the kit, longtime collaborator and friend Bobby Vega on bass, and up and coming Bay Area native Leslie Mendelson accompanying on keys and vocals. If the album is any indication of how the live musical collaboration will turn out in the months to come, we are in for a very special and welcoming treat from the master, Steve Kimock.
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