Turn on, tune in, and slow down to the vibes of Don Piano. The Seattle-based musician, real name Sam Peterson, has been kicking around the local scene for a while currently playing in the band Whitney Ballen. Don Piano is Peterson’s solo project and he is readying a self-titled EP effort for release on November 22nd via Den Tapes. Written over the last two years, the six tracks were recorded “in the damp living room of an old cabin” on Puget Sound’s Budd Inlet.
“Slow Down” extols an unplugged life. The third track on Don Piano’s upcoming EP finds the singer/songwriter walking around town with his “pockets empty” thinking about a letter a friend sent. In the age of instant communication, the lost art of letter writing might not be something you ponder; but Piano does, and he decides the sentiment expressed in the missive was still important, “even though it took a week to hold it.”
Without once mentioning a cell phone and the way it has changed even our written communications, “Slow Down” seems to ask, might not the time it takes to write and send a letter make it more important than our more instantaneous communications. “What would I write if it took a week to get to the person I was trying to reach,” our slack sage wonders while begging the question, does the ubiquitous nature of our digital connectivity lower the emotional quality of our transmissions?
The visuals for the track star Don Piano alongside his sloth-like puppet friend on acoustic guitar. The perfect poster children for a slowed-down life, the duo will have you choosing long baths and origami-making over another day in the rat race.
While you’re at it, don’t miss the Don Piano album release show on November 22nd at the Mosswood Loft in Seattle. Look for Whitney Ballen and Bread Pilot to be on the bill that night also. Check the flyer after the video embed below…
