#fancy gap

[kvetch19]

[libraryofva]

Recent Acquisition - Postcard Collection

Blue Ridge Parkway, Fancy Gap, Virginia. 

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Fancy Gap: A Novel

By Zak Jones.

[dustedmagazine]

Fancy Gap — Fancy Gap (Ghost Choir)

Fancy Gap’s self-titled debut is a confluence of rock and country. Lead singer Stuart McLamb’s voice retains a twang, and there is a country aesthetic in songs like “Little Heart Racer” and the pedal steel adorned “How to Dance.” Elsewhere, arrangements featuring Charles Crossingham’s electric guitar solos suggest that rock is hardly adjacent to their approach. McLamb’s previous gig, as frontman for The Love Language, also plays a role in their sound. The name of the band and recording are taken from Fancy Gap, Virginia, where McLamb lives.

“Strawberry Moon” was originally written more than a decade ago by McLamb, its demo arranged like an eighties pop song. For Fancy Gap, he has revived it as a duet with Sharon Van Etten. With guitars front and center, and Van Etten’s soulful voice exchanging verses with McLamb, it is one of the most memorable of the album’s songs. Another guest turn is by Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara on “Filthy Habits.” Tight vocal harmonies between McLamb and Lazzara are buoyed by an enormous sounding Hammond organ and Crossingham’s rhythm guitar. There is a sense of Springsteen in the song, particularly the “sha-la-la’s” in the chorus.

“Magnolias” features piano on the first verse, followed by a rock rhythm section playing big beats. Here and elsewhere, McLamb and Crossingham perform duet vocals, with a variety of spacings between the two singers. The penultimate chorus has the drums and bass drop out, leaving rhythm guitar and piano to play underneath close-part vocal harmonies. The end of the song brings the entire band back for a rousing conclusion. “40,000 Miles” is another standout, with a spare first verse sung by McLamb, followed by duet vocals and then an explosive guitar solo. Guitar and vocal overdubs build up the song’s texture until its conclusion. Another one of the album’s best songs is “Whispering Winds,” where the duo adopts the Laurel Canyon sound with a rustic arrangement and honeyed vocals.

Fancy Gap may be where McLamb is based, but the band is far-flung and fluent in their influences.

Christian Carey

[fractialis]

Waterfall next to an abandoned inn near Fancy Gap, Virginia (at Fancy Gap, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEmTbFzAHrY/?igshid=pt853yi5lll1

[mbsposts]

20170720 view into North Carolina going south from Fancy Gap, VA

Photo by:   Nicole Brantley - August 21, 2015

Source:  https://www.charlottefive.com/a-willing-distraction-day-trip-to-fancy-gap-va/

[mbsposts]

2926 Stone Bridge Img_14087 by Edward Via Flickr: 14087 Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge over VA-52, (7982) Fancy Gap Hwy, Milepost 199.4 Blue Ridge Parkway, Fancy Gap, Carroll, VA. May 28, 2015. GPS Coordinates: 36.665749, -80.692303

20170720 passing under the bridge and heading down the mountain on US 52. 

[mbsposts]

Fancy Gap, Virginia by Fen Via Flickr: Driving photos on our way home from vacation. Virginia, September 2008.

20170720 - I-77 approaching exit for Fancy Gap, VA