Take a Long Trip Backed by the Mountain Sound of John Vincent III
image from John Vincent III's official video for the song "Bluebird Singing."
“Well, I seem to rely on myself
Where am I hiding?
These dreams don’t seem to do
The same as they used to now, no, honey, oh
When I ask myself, “What the hell am I doing here?”
What am I doing here?
I thought of you”
You know those bands or artists you listen to endlessly and timelessly. What makes them so special? Lyrics, vocal, guitar, drums, style….it’s hard to figure out why. With John Vincent III, his songs and poems wind down roads, down rivers, up mountains and across hills and valleys. His music is flawlessly written, wide ranging, folk rock that drifts through American landscapes. He’s a writer of gorgeous songs that we at the orange acid just can’t stop listening to.
“If you are living a life that feels right to you, if you’re willing to take creative chances or a creative path that feels like it’s mostly in keeping with your sensibilities, you know, aesthetic and artistic, then that’s what matters.”
Originally from Houston, TX, Vincent III has traveled a disparate road to get to where he’s wanted as a musician. In 2014, Vincent III began to get serious about his music career and his craft. His Mountain Sounds EP from 2015 showcases the talent he would later fully hone on his most recent album “Songs for the Canyon.”
You get a clear glimpse of the young talent of John Vincent III in the short film by smallsounds. It’s an intimate look at a young song writer, and you can clearly see he has something. It just wasn’t quite fully formed. Isn’t that how art begins? An idea or a sound without a clear direction or purpose? Well, John Vincent III has clearly found his sound on his latest album. The struggle creates the art.
You hear a voice with a soul surrounded by layers of guitar and true lyrics, true songwriting. Influenced by Bon Iver, The Districts and The Doors, he crafts songs that force you to stop, pay attention and listen. He’s developed a sound that’s so intimate, yet powerful, but not too powerful. It feels as if the songs on Mountain Sounds aren’t quite where Vincent wants them yet, just not yet fully formed. He moving towards something bigger and more complete.
Following the release of the Mountain Sounds EP, Vincent III released “High Ridge & Stones“ in 2016 and then “Songs from the Valley,” a critically acclaimed album that bleeds out his own, refined acoustic quality. It seems as if this is where Vincent III found himself as an artist with this 2019 album. He found his sound, sonic level and where he wanted to be. He toured on the album, took time and then the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Vincent III packed his van and headed out to the road with his girlfriend.
“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”
He crafted his latest album on that trip and came back with absolutely stunning tracks made for a road trip to nowhere. It’s lazy to characterize this music as folk pop. Too many times labels, media, venues or money wants to put music in a box. A live youtube video of John Vincent III deserves more than a folk pop label. Quality deserves a proper label, if it even needs a label at all. It’s simply the music of a great songwriter.
Truth. Capital T Truth. There a lot of capital T Truth in the music of Vincent III. It’s refreshing. The honesty and passion to be honest despite society telling you not to be honest. Following his trip, where he set out to detach from everything, he settled in Los Angeles and went all in on his song writing. Inspired by the music of the 60’s Laurel Canyon, Vincent III pushed himself and designed his own song structures.
He clicked with producer Tom Elmhirst. Adele, Beck, Cage the Elephant, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse….Elmhirst is a master artist, and he gave Vincent III the freedom to get his shit together and produce a great album. We need help from others. Alone on the road, Vincent III processed his life experiences and developed sonic awareness. Elmhirst provided the space.
“The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death.
It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:
”This is water.”
”This is water.”
It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive in the adult world day in and day out.”
John Vincent III is currently on tour all over the United States. Go out and see his show. Lean in to the sunshine and see this guy play music.
Sep 12 Thu
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 9:00pm
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Sep 17 Tue
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
San Francisco, CA, United States
Sep 19 Thu
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Sep 20 Fri
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Sep 21 Sat
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 7:00pm
Sep 24 Tue
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Sep 25 Wed
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
South Salt Lake, UT, United States
Sep 26 Thu
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 7:00pm
Sep 30 Mon
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 7:00pm
Oct 1 Tue
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Oct 2 Wed
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Oct 4 Fri
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 7:00pm
Oct 5 Sat
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Oct 8 Tue
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
South Burlington, VT, United States
Oct 9 Wed
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Oct 11 Fri
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 7:30pm
Oct 12 Sat
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 6:00pm
Oct 13 Sun
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 7:00pm
Philadelphia, PA, United States
Oct 17 Thu
The Roadtrip: A Tour by John Vincent III @ 8:00pm
Oct 18 Fri
“Drove my car from Houston to California
Took a hit in Tucson woke up in LA
For some god forsaken reason this curious feeling is creeping in my mind
Just lean into that sunshine
Hey woah where’s the light
You keep fading in and out of sight
But I keep my eyes on them winding roads they lead me back
Lead me back to bluebird singing”