A-Sides with Jon Chattman: A Music Site Minus The PretensionInformal. Exclusive. Not the Same Broken Record.

Mar
6th“Nights” of Hayden, “Beats” with Tim Chaisson, and Jon Patrick Walker Video Premiere

To paraphrase Dave Grohl’s killer Grammy acceptance speech last year, it’s the “human element of making music” that’s most important. The artists featured on A-Sides today take that to heart, and have been producing music without bells and whistles (sorry pretenders of the autotune era) for quite some time.

Toronto’s Hayden Desser or simply Hayden emerged in the mid-90′s golden era of alt-rock with his unique blend of rock and folk. He just dropped his seventh full-length album entitled Us Alone, and is currently on the road with his band in support of the record which has already been hailed as one of his best. Following a performance in New York City, Hayden and said band stopped by the Music Conservatory of Westchester to film an A-Sides Music session. They performed “Blurry Nights” off Us Alone followed by an oldie but goodie “Don’t Get Down.” Watch the first song below followed by an interview. Click this link for the exclusive performance of “Down.” As old school WCW wrestler Saturn used to say… “You’re welcome!”

“Blurry Nights”

Hayden Interview

Whereas Hayden got his start in the big city of Toronto, singer/songwriter Tim Chaisson was born and raised within the beautiful pint-sized splendor of Prince Edward Island. And some might say he was born into the music biz (I say he was anyway.) Chaisson is a a sixth generation fiddle player, who plays it on stage at every live show. At an A-Sides session at the Conservatory last week, Chaisson came with his guitar and cousin (Koady Chaisson) and banged out a killer stripped down version of the already niftily acoustic track “Beat This Heart.” The song is off his new album The Other Side, which should bring him the acclaim in the states he so richly deserves. Watch his performance below followed by an informal chat filmed by a very shaky yours truly (too much coffee). Watch. Listen. Love.

“Beat This Heart”

Interview

Bonus Jonas:
We go from north of the border to Brooklyn, which sounds like an album title for somebody. BK’s Jon Patrick Walker has piled up extensive theater credits – including Young Frankenstein and High Fidelity- as an actor over the years, and has also guest starred on a bunch of television shows as well. Nowadays, he’s focusing on his own music. The artist recently formed a band and dropped his self-released debut The Guilty Party yesterday. A-Sides is pleased to premiere the music video for his first single “House On a Hill.” The audio version of that track can be found here. You can also listen to his “The Ballad of Jesus Jones” below.
Watch. Listen. Love.

About A-Sides with Jon Chattman:
Jon Chattman’s “A-Sides Music” series usually features artists (established or not) from all genres performing a track, and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometimes humorous) way. No bells, no whistles — just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and over manufactured, I’m hoping this is refreshing.