The Brooklyn-based musician Steve Gunn is a bit of a journeyman: he records loose and rangy solo albums as a singer-songwriter, he once played in Kurt Vile‘s backing band the Violators, and he’s amassed a fascinating body of instrumental work as a guitarist. His Gunn-Truscinski Duo, with drummer John Truscinski, falls into the latter category. The pair make sprawling improvisational music that conjures both the rumbling energy of the city and the wide-open vistas of the American west.
In two weeks, they’ll follow their cult-classic second album Ocean Parkway with Bay Head, a record of more concise and deliberately composed but no less exploratory pieces. Today, SPIN is premiering “Seagull for Chuck Berry,” a tribute to the late legend that starts with a crystalline melodic line and eventually explodes into noisy orbit.
“John and I have discussed many times over the years much we like Chuck Berry’s music, and I think some of his songs have had a direct influence on our duo playing,” Gunn told SPIN in a statement. “This song, ‘Seagull,’ was somewhat of a homage to him, and we recorded it coincidentally on the day that he passed away. It only made sense for us to dedicate the song to him.”
Bay Head arrives November 3 via Three Lobed Recordings. Hear “Seagull For Chuck Berry” below.
