Kalistani Major History

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Neveras Alt-Folk Guitarist Jorgenson drops first LP
12-track outing for VDR includes songs from earlier EP
Vrassa City, Vrassa
July 17, 4903


Donnie Jorgenson plugs in to bridge Alt-Folk with Alternative

Since the arrival of Joanie Yeardly more than a year ago, the Alt-Folk scene in the Western Districts has been in a sort of slow-motion explosion. Besides Yeardley, a handfull of new musicians have begun recording primarily in Vrassa City, and have been receiving national airplay at an ever increasing level.

"I think that maybe the Alt-Folk movement has sort of come of age," said Donnie Jorgenson, the Hutori born Neveras Virtuoso who toured the Republic last year in support of Yeardly, and has now finally released his own debut LP, titled "Jorgenson". "I think people are ready for some more low key, quieter music that they can just listen to, but which still rocks."

The Alt-Folk style borrows as much from Alternative as it does folk. Says Jorgenson: "Well, I grew up on that Kalistani Alternative sound. It's literally in everything, in hip hop, in electronica, in rock, in reggae, and even to some degree in pop... That adjective characterizes the music of this Republic. The ability to kinda experiment with the way songs are structured, it doesn't have to be just verse chorus verse, you know, it can be different. Plus, I can also play so many more interuments in Alternative than I could if I was just doing mainstream music. I think Kalistani audiences sort of demand it, in fact that their music is sonically and structurally interesting, its such a different thing than what other countries are doing." Jorgenson has been called a Virtuoso, mainly due to the precision and the skills he exhibits on the guitar, and the fact that he recorded all the instruments for the record.

But Alt-folk is firmly rooted in folk music styles too. "Joanie (Yeardly) certainly typifies more of the folk aspects, I think than I would," said Jorgenson. "I say that because her music starts out with her on the guitar. It is always an acoustic guitar and it is always a rhythm guitar, like you could hear around a camp fire or something. She really has a lot of passion in her voice, and I think that is key for her. For me, I sort of switch that relationship between the voice of the human and the guitar. My guitar is to my music the way Joanie's voice is to hers, and my singing is like something anyone can do. But in this way they are both music of the people, of the folks, and I think they attract audiences because these two kind of styles play off against one another."

Along with Yeardly and Jorgenson, other alt-folk records are being released by VDR, who has seen their profile raise dramatically in the past year around Yeardly's success. One album which will be out in late August is by a Dulnerstaad based keyboardist named Jennifer Stepanov, whose also draws from the folk traditions, but produces elaborate and lush compositions which she herself plays. "Stepanov's voice is like a staccato violin at times," said Jorgenson. "I met her at VDR when I was finishing my sessions and she was just coming in. I was blown away." Stepanov and Jorgenson will play at an alt-folk showcase in High Bong in September, along with other folk musicians, and it is rumored that Yeardly will reunite with her touring partner for the show. "It'll be a great show, a real cool way to send out the summer."

Donnie Jorgenson's debut Album, titled "Jorgenson" on VDR is released this week, and is expected to do well. His first single, "If I Were You" is already on the air on Radio 1, and you can watch the video here.