The two main components of Travel By Sea are guitarist/vocalist Kyle Kersten and multi-instrumentalist/producer Brain Kraft; the former of Tustin, California and the latter residing in Denver, Colorado. It is from those two locations that Shadows Rise was conceived and constructed, with neither individual having met! Such is the modern age. Yet this cyber-meeting of minds, for all of it`s web traveling, has brought about an atmospheric and organic gallery of moody and rootsy vignettes. With Kersten`s acoustic and vocal performance at the center - a spacious offering of tender and somber alt. country and folk - Kraft, for the most part, offers conservative, well considered shadings of electric guitar, keys, bass, drums, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and even some vocals. The album swells and subsides much like dappled sunlight on a calm cloudy day, with only one track achieving a full band arrangement - "Can`t Be Wrong", a mid-tempo slice of Americana, rich with swirling Hammond tones, recalling Hollywood Town Hall-era Jayhawks. The tracks surrounding this mid-set peak can be likened to the broody yet dulcet musings of similar artists like Jason Molina, Will Johnson and Sam Beam. -- Robinson, Miles Of Music (self-produced)
