Music
Press
"Seth Glier sings with palpable commitment and energy. He writes his own stuff, and he's bold as all get out. Watch out, everyone." - (singer/ songwriter)
"Seth Glier's new album, "The Trouble with People," is an intoxicating cocktail, composed of powerful melodies and daring lyrics, poured straight up with raw emotion. Just this side of cynical, Glier's music may be sentimental but not sappy. He reveals a powerful, but not lethal, dose of honest disillusionment without quite shedding his last shred of youthful innocence." - Jayne Pearl - Talkers Magazine
“Listening to Seth’s music gives me hope for what’s to come. The next generation is alive and well” - Livingston Taylor
"....But it was a 19-year-old pianist from Shelburne who initially grabbed the
audience's attention. Seth Glier began with "The Trouble with People," an
introspective view of the world that gave voice to evaluations seemingly
beyond his years. Glier's inventive melodies, punchy keyboard style, and passionate tenor vocals resounded throughout the park and neighborhood. He showed a musical maturity that collided with his youthful, boy-next-door appearance; and he is surely headed for
certain success." - Rambles.Net
Ellis Paul, a veteran singer-songwriter who first made his name in New England's folk clubs in the 1990s, found himself in a disconcerting position last year. He had decided not to renew his contract with Rounder Records, his longtime label, but wanted to make a new album.
With no immediate ideas for funding, Paul took a novel approach: He enlisted his fans, posting a letter on his website asking for donations. Since July they've surprised him by contributing more than $90,000 through a Framingham-based online service called Nimbit, along with checks sent in the mail.
"When you're only selling 20,000 or 30,000 records, you don't really need a label," he says. "We figured we could do this in-house, but we just needed the money, and where was the money going to come from?"
In a growing trend reminiscent of the old-fashioned ways of artists and patrons, musicians around the country - including local singers Mieka Pauley, Mark Erelli, Kris Delmhorst, and former Throwing Muses singer-guitarist Kristin Hersh - are depending on their fans for unprecedented financial support. And it's not just limited to American artists. In France, singer-songwriter Grégoire channeled fan funding through the website MyMajorCompany.com and released "Toi Moi," which peaked at No. 2 spot on the French album charts.
Even as the economy deflates and the record industry continues its downward spiral, indie artists are finding that their supporters are eager to help. In a sense, the fans are replacing - or at least augmenting - the traditional role of a label, which previously would have financed the album with a monetary advance and then taken care of the promotion and distribution.
Piano-playing songwriter Seth Glier, who lives in Western Massachusetts, is only 20 but has already built a fan base that supported him on a recent monthlong tour. Through online efforts, Glier raised $2,500, which came in handy as he and a bandmate zigzagged across the Northeast and had to pay for gas, tolls, and the occasional hotel room.
The initial goal was to raise $500, which Glier accomplished within two hours and then kept going. Glier admits it takes a certain caliber of artist to ask fans outright for money. "It was an idea I had a couple of years ago, but I have a really hard time asking for help," he says. "When I was able to unclench my fist, it was great to realize how many people were there for me."
The fans aren't technically just giving money to these artists: They're buying services.
To fund "The Day After Everything Changed," his new album out in the fall, Paul allowed fans to buy different tiers of sponsorship, ranging from $100 (the "Antje Duvekot Level," named after the local singer-songwriter) up to $10,000 ("the Woody Guthrie Level").
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The higher the contribution, the greater the goods. For $100, you got an advance copy of the album with a bonus disc of demos and outtakes, along with tickets to one of Paul's shows. For the top-level contributions, of which Paul received a few, fans got several perks - everything from a one-year membership to Club Passim to a signed acoustic guitar to a credit as an executive producer of the album. - James Reed
"Glier turns more than a phrase or two over the course of the 12-song release that indicate the lyricist is fully engaged with his Muse...The songs are wonderfully conceived " - Donnie Moorehouse - The Republican
"With a light, feather-like vocal delivery, sharp observational lyricism and hooks that would grab Moby Dick, he's a formidable talent." - Acoustic Live Magazine
"Talent like Seth Glier's brings out the psychic in all of us: He's
gonna be huge! The kid is going places! My crystal ball says it
is true. Seth has in his gifted voice, the fingertips and the skymiles to
fly anywhere the music take him." - Ellis Paul
"When it come down to Seth Glier's music, either you love it or you've never heard it before. He is just one of those artists who is so ahead of his years."
- CD Baby
Discography
Albums Include:
Why - 5 song EP released September 29th 2004
Space - Full length CD, released November 19th 2005
Sojourn - Released on June 1st, 2007
The Trouble With People - Released on November 3th 2009 by MPress Records
Photos
Bio
"When it comes down to Seth’s music, either you love it or you've never heard it before.” - CD Baby
Seth Glier will grab you...if not with his powerful falsetto or his melodic prowess, then with what Performer Magazine calls his “intoxicating groove.” The 20-year-old singer, pianist and guitarist – who abandoned studies at The Berklee School of Music after one year because he “decided I should be playing for people and not for grades” – aims straight for the gut on his MPress Records debut, The Trouble With People.
Glier was raised on the music of Joni Mitchell, Martin Sexton and Jeff Buckley, but considers his brother to be his greatest influence. “My brother is autistic and non-verbal. I learned to communicate with words better once I realized how to communicate to someone without them.”
Beginning as an act of solitary creation, THE TROUBLE WITH PEOPLE was recorded in Glier’s basement over the course of three months. In the comfort of his own home and without the constraint of being on the clock, Glier patiently treated each song like a scene in a movie. “I felt as though I was collecting footage for a film rather than recording an album,” he recalls. After carefully assembling a palette of sounds including a string quartet and vinyl scratching, Glier and co-producer Ryan Hommel recruited Alan Evans (Soulive) to play drums on several tracks. The result is an expansive set of songs with lush arrangements that elegantly support Glier’s unabashedly honest lyrics.
A Western Massachusetts native, Glier released several DIY albums before catching the attention of MPress Records founder Rachael Sage last fall. Sage observes, “Seth's songwriting is classic, and hearkens back to great piano-based songwriters who broke in the '70's like Billy Joel and Elton John...but he has an impressive range that grabs new audiences immediately, and his sense of melody is incredibly strong.” Upon signing Glier, Sage brought in Grammy® Winner Kevin Killen (U2, Tori Amos, Elvis Costello), to re-mix Glier’s original tracks.
Recently featured in The Boston Globe for his “100% Fan-Funded Tour”, Glier is already a seasoned troubadour. He has performed hundreds of shows across the country – including a set for more than 25,000 people on the National Mall in Washington D.C. – and has shared stages with John Mayer, Martin Sexton, Erin McKeown and Cheryl Wheeler. Other notable supporters of Glier's music include acclaimed singer-songwriters Ellis Paul and Livingston Taylor, as well as legendary producer Russ Titelman (Steve Winwood, Cyndi Lauper, Eric Clapton). Livingston Taylor says, “Listening to Seth’s music gives me hope for what’s to come. The next generation is alive and well.”
On November 3rd, MPress will release Glier’s label debut THE TROUBLE WITH PEOPLE, featuring 12 original songs. The physical release will be preceded by an October 6th digital-only version, via iTunes. Highlights of the album include the soaring ‘Gotta Get Away’, the Beatles-influenced instrumentation on ‘Naia’, Glier’s commanding title track, and the insightful ‘Someone Else To Crown’. A sophisticated collection that shows surprising maturity and self-reflection, the album weaves understated tales of real people in quiet pain. Maybe the term ‘old soul’ has meaning after all…
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