TRACK LISTING:
- All I Know 4:16
- No Place For A Wicked Man To Die 4:16
- I Could Be Anything 2:33
- Sand Turns To Glass 5:14
- Angels And Ashes 4:37
- Bleed 3:33
- Shotgun Love 3:58
- Old Soul Young At Heat 3:41
- I've Seen A Lot Of Love 4:43
- River Road 4:14
All I Know’ is a confessional, a fearless introduction to Elliot C Way and his journey through love and life's strange and wicked ways. After fifteen years of writing, living hard, playing hard and trying to find his place in the world. The road has been long and rough along the way but that road has led to this moment in Way’s life, to this very personal collection of songs.
As a child, Way like so many was failed by the school system. Struggling with conventional learning he turned to music, finding a place of comfort and identity. From a young age Way dedicated himself to carrying on the traditions of the great ones he idolized and learned from, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt; the songwriters for whom words were of the greatest importance.
As a young man Way formed and nurtured a number of rock bands throughout the years, playing solo and acoustic always felt like a homecoming, a place of warmth and comfort.The songs that he had collected during the most difficult of times, the confessionals, he set aside waiting for the right time to share with the world… NOW. These therapeutic, hopeful, and sometimes tragic songs are the culmination of Elliot’s walk through this human experiment of life.
In 2016 After a short lived stint in Austin Texas, and a longer stint in a Van back in Vancouver, Elliot found himself back in his home town of Fort Langley, BC. In a small old farm house he dubbed ‘Old Man Mountain’. Replete with a wood burning stove, a porch, and a stunning view of the valley, Elliot made the little shack home for a few bliss filled years. Eventually life took some turns as it always dones in Way's story and he decided to move back to the big city. But before leaving, he knew that ‘Old Man Mountain’ would be the perfect setting and backdrop,so he turned his little country home into a makeshift studio. Inspired by the home studio recording techniques of Springsteen's ‘Nebraska’, Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ and Link Wray’s self- titled album, Elliot set out to record these very personal songs. Enlisting the help of good friend, bass player and producer, Erik P.H. Nielsen as well as fellow songsmith Bob Sumner, the three friends cleared out the bedroom, moved some couches around and dusted off a few cobwebs. They spent a week recording in this little shack on a hillside. The band The Wild North along with a few friends hanging around, they spent their days and nights sculpting this old but fresh batch of personal folk songs into cosmic country funky grooves. In every song you can hear shades of Townes, Waylon, Kristofferson, Dylan, and Springsteen. After a week of recording at ‘Old Man Mountain’, and sleeping at Way’s favourite dive bar motel down the road (The West Country Inn), the EP was finished. Everyone involved could sense that something special had just occurred.There is palpable and natural magic that can be heard and felt in these recordings.As fate would have it, Elliot moved back to East Vancouver just as the pandemic hit, which put the brakes on the release of the record. Producer Erik Nielsen decided that they could use this time to their advantage, intuitively knowing that there was more gold to be mined. He asked Elliot to write a second side to match the first, a task that seemed an impossibility to Way considering the first batch of songs took a decade to write and collect. Life does have its funny ways however, and for better or worse around this time a wave of turmoil would strike Elliot’s personal life.
After leaving his home with nowhere to go, he took shelter at the 2400 Motelwhere he would write 5 songs in 3 days. These songs became the perfect companion to the Old Man Mountain recordings, reminiscent of life’s tough lessons that can be hard in the first half of All I Know. Erik and Elliot's his dream team of players would then embark on the final chapter of this record , and together at Erik’s new studio in East Vancouver they would complete the sonic journey and put the final touches on these new but familiar songs giving us Elliot C Way’s long overdue introduction to the world..... All I Know.
Please enjoy. North Country Collective Warning! This record contains music and lyrics that might express feelings of loss, heartache and love and might cause you to feel emotions. Listener discretion is advised.
Released November 27, 2024
All Songs written by Elliot C. Way Side A recorded at Old Man Mountain, Langley B.C. Canada Side B recorded at Hoj Loj Recorded and Produced by Erik P.H. Nielsen Mixed by Erik P.H. Nielsen and John Raham Mastered by Graemme Brown Zen Mastering Photography by Victoria Black & Mandy Lynn Art design by Erik Grice
Vocals / Acoustic Guitar - Elliot C. Way Backup Vocals - Kendel Carson Fiddle - Kendel Carson Acoustic & Electric Guitars - John Sponarski Bass Guitar - Erik P.H. Nielsen Piano / Organ / Pedal Steel Guitar - Matt Kelly Organ - Geoff Hillhorst Drums - Leon Power
