Mason Reed

Mason Reed has a story to tell. A story filled with broken hearts, bad luck, bloody concrete, rotten chances, ghosts, devils, witches, and women your mother warned you about. When you listen to his music, you can hear something special happening. Reed's new five-song EP, ?You Can't Come Back From Heaven,? featuring his unique, soul-filled, smoky voice, is evidence that the singer-songwriter genre still has a few tricks up its sleeve, and that real Americana music hasn't been fluffed over with soft, computer-generated guitar sounds and auto-tuned pop punk vocals.

Instead, some of the genre's underground heroes, like Reed, are conjuring music and sounds as raw and haunting as ever before.

Recorded over five days in January 2010 in Los Angeles, California, and produced by Reed and engineer Steve Holroyd (Ryan Adams, Tom Petty), the new EP features an appearance by bass master Jorgen Carlsson of the band Gov't Mule on three of the tracks, including the first single, ?Not Perfect.? Reed says: ?This record is about lost loves and found purpose. It's a gritty, bare-knuckled representation of giving it all up to face your dreams and demons head on.?

In addition to his songwriting skills and musicianship, Reed is also known for his monster work ethic. Reed and band are currently booking a self-proclaimed ?never-ending tour? to support the new EP, which will be released February 23, 2010, and will be available online and at shows. ?I'm a work horse for sure,? says Reed. ?Road, studio, road, studio. This is the schedule we have, and I love it. I wouldn't have it any other way. Even the bad days are okay as long as I keep moving.? It comes as no surprise that the first track lyrically reaffirms Reed's affinity for the troubadour lifestyle: ?I don't love nobody, but I love that road.?

After moving from coast to coast and at one point playing guitar in the New York City subway to pay the rent, Reed also took part for a stretch in the Los Angeles singer-songwriter scene (which manifested in an internet series he co-writes with filmmaker Matthew Arnold called ?Legends of La La? ? www.legendsoflala.com). Despite his travels, he still considers Arizona his home: ?All my true friends, the ones you never lose no matter what, they are all from the desert.? He's settled again in recent times in Tucson, a location that seems to suit his gritty, dusty, go-for-broke music.

In a move that would frighten many but is perfect in its simplicity, in 2005 he gave away everything he had except his writings, his guitar, and a small bag of clothes, broke his lease in Denver, Colorado, and moved to California to pursue his dreams. ?I decided to invent my own life,? Reed says. He's been after it ever since. His CD ?Witches & Whiskey? came out that same year, and featured Max Bennett (Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Frank Zappa) on bass. Reed spent the next four years touring, writing daily, honing his craft and connecting with audiences everywhere he's played.

This talented young singer-songwriter ? he's been writing music since he was five ? is so serious about his art that he considers it his religion and his lyrics smack of poetry from a published work. Yet, instead of publishing his words as a book of verse, he wraps them with his music and sings to the heart the way of many modern troubadours from Bruce Springsteen to Tom Waits. The OC Metro said Reed, ?is a highly-gifted musician born of Van Morrison and Bob Dylan.?

Reed has discovered a new sound and a new way with the lyric. As you watch him dance with his guitar, pulling her close and pushing her away, you are sure there is something fresh and magical happening in the world of music and this singer-songwriter is giving everything in his heart to his audience. He feels there is a second renaissance dawning where, ?art is going to flourish as well as science,? and he would ?like people to figure out how to trust each other once again. No one trusts anyone anymore.? It appears that he is going to bridge that gap of trust with a new sound spoken from the wildest place on earth to conquer, the human heart.