Sounds | Bask - Dig My Heels

Waaraan denk je wanneer je de naam van deze band ziet opduiken? Inderdaad, aan traditionele folk uit het Baskenland, of toch op z'n minst muziek hierdoor geïnspireerd. Wanneer je dan de foto van de heren ziet, wordt dat gevoel enkel maar versterkt. En dan lees ik dat Bask uit Asheville (North Carolina) komt, als heavy americana wordt omschreven met Elder, Cloackroom, Pallbearer en My Morning Jacket als referenties. Huh?

Ik heb mezelf inderdaad op het verkeerde been gezet. Dig My Heels begint 'gewoon' als een stonerrocksong met wat psychedelische invloeden en een héél klein wolkje doom. Halfweg knallen ze er dan iets wat ik psychedelische country soundscape zou noemen, tussen. Daarna pikken ze de draad terug op. Ik ben nog niet volledig overtuigd, maar het nummer triggert me wel om Bask verder op te volgen.

The Turning verschijnt op 22 augustus 2025 via Season of Mist

Lees

Psychedelic rockers have wrangled with the laws of spacetime since time immemorial, but for Bask, the past half decade has felt like falling through a prolonged series of black holes. 

Before the pandemic knocked 2020 for a loop, the band were all set to traverse North America's dusty ol' trail with kindred spirits Elder. Flash forward roughly four years and they were fixing to tour Europe when another disaster struck their idyllic mountain town. The climb to reach album number four wound up taking one hell of a trip. But on The Turning, Bask bring Heavy Americana to a whole new dimension.

"The past five years have been challenging for all of us", the band says. "So seeing this album finally come to light is therapeutic. The Turning is Bask at our finest. It's our most cohesive and heartfelt effort, an ode to our mountain home in the sky".

For as long as they've been together, Bask have called Asheville, North Carolina home. Drummer Scott Middleton and axeman Ray Worth were already jamming up a storm, when in 2013, they tag teamed with bassist Jesse Van Note and vocalist/guitarist Zeb Wright after the two arrived in The Land of the Sky. "We've been a band longer than we've been with our spouses", Van Note acknowledges with a gold-toothed smile of appreciation. And yet, after 12 years in the same city, Bask still sound of their own time and place. Sharing bills with High on Fire, Black Tusk and Weedeater has led some metal archivists to peg them as stoners, though it was clear right away that these trailblazers were carved from a different neck of the woods.  

Line-up:

Jesse Van Note – Bass

Scott Middleton – Drums

Ray Worth – Guitar

Zeb Camp – Guitar/Vocals

Jed Willis - Pedal Steel

Guest Musicians:

Clay White - Trumpet

Franklin Keel - Cello

Alex Taub ​- Piano, Hammond B3 Organ

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© Garrett Williams