When it comes to singer / songwriter types, the other guys here know to pass an album my way for consumption. So when music from Pennsylvania’s Damien DeRose crossed our radar, I was an obvious choice to give the album a spin. Damien goes by the guise ‘Peasant‘ on stage and on his album, and within his songs weaves an intricate story within each song.

I can’t help but be drawn in to the storytelling qualities of lots of solo songwriters, but artists like Peasant stand out a bit for me because their songs reveal so much about them as people, whether they intend to do so or not. You get a real person with a very thin space between himself and you, the listener. But like most artists who fall into this category, don’t expect to be blown away one pass through the album. To truly appreciate a record like On The Ground, you need to follow a “apply, rinse and repeat” method of listening.

Of late, Peasant has drawn comparisons to Bon Iver, whose own style of delicate songwriting won many over last year, but I think he lands alot closer to Elliott Smith, who I have always been a big fan of. Even so, maybe Peasant can be the Bon Iver of 2009?

Peasant put out his second full length album last year, On The Ground, a great follow up to his debut long player, Fear Not, Distant Lover and the album is getting a more official release this month. I’m hoping it reaches lots more people and they can appreciate the talent that Damien possesses.

Listen to Peasant below in a recent WOXY.com session…

Peasant – Live On WOXY.com