Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Eddie Kesler has been a multi-instrumental musician and singer-songwriter the majority of his life. He started out as a drummer playing in bands touring up and down the east coast playing stages like the famed CBGBs in New York and The Cannery in Nashville. All along playing guitar, writing songs and eventually taking up the mandolin to play in several popular bluegrass and acoustic bands over the last 20 years. Finally, after culminating a pretty thick songbook spanning many years, Kesler decided it was time to start laying them down in a solo effort he calls Eddie Kesler & 3/4 Time.
He's since released two separate solo albums in his name. The latest, "What's a Song Worth" has climbed up both the Alt Country Twang & RMR Americana and Country charts throughout summer and fall of 2022 to #5 and #6, respectively on the latter. WASW also scored the #1 Roots album for multiple weeks in his home state of Georgia. The album has been spinning on over 150 stations around the USA and worldwide. The single"Meet Me at the Bar" off the album made it to #4 on the independent country charts.
Kesler tries to do good things with his music as well. All the proceeds of the albums go to charity. The proceeds from the first release in 2017, "Wingman", goes to the American Heart Association in honor of his late father. The latest release, "What's A Song Worth", all monies goes to NAMI.org for mental heath and suicide awareness.
“What's a Song Worth”
Eddie Kesler’s latest sophomore solo release, “What’s a Song Worth” is an expansion of the journey his 2017 album “Wingman” took us off on. His all-original songwriting blending classic-country, bluegrass and folk styles together into an amalgamation of deep, heartfelt, sonic paintings of the struggles artists have trying to be heard this day and age all the while juggling families, relationships and paying the bills.
Kesler handles all the instruments on this one. “My running title for this one while I was in the studio was ‘Songs for Pedal Steel’ using an old ’33 Martin R-18 archtop and lots of pedal steel trying to go after that Neil Young ‘Harvest Moon’ vibe. While I did get capture some of that on songs like ‘Sugar Maple’, some of my other tunes lended themselves to be arranged in a more trad-country way. And I decided that the deeper meaning of this effort was captured in the title track ‘What’s a Song Worth’ about the reason we all do this crazy thing called making music.”
Kesler presents concepts on this release about the struggles of couples, the famous, the lonely, the anxious and the songwriter, all the while void of ego and the all-too-common troubador persona. Just a guy who’s been around the block a couple times in difficult places and really likes to craft stories to an Americana sound.
Listen and purchase downloads of "What's a Song Worth" and "Wingman" below. Name your price for a minimum of $10 and accepting donations for anything more. You can either pay a larger amount when you click on "Album $10.00" button in the players below or the "Donate" button below each player if you don't want to download. All proceeds from album sales of "What's a Song Worth" go to nami.org for mental health awareness and suicide prevention and all proceeds of album sales of "Wingman" go to the American Heart Association in support of heart disease.
To purchase a physical CD, complete with 8-panel gatefold design with lyrics to all songs, liner notes and photos, please order at Amazon.com or contact myself at email@example.com and I will send one to you with an Eddie Kesler & 3/4 Time decal.
Thanks for your continued support and open ears.
New music video for Eddie Kesler & 3/4 Time's "Sugar Maple"...
Eddie Kesler has always had one foot in the country and one foot in the city. And with his first solo release, "Wingman", he brings these two worlds together in a collection of songs written over the span of several years. Stories of love and loss, stories of longing for the road as a roving minstrel as well as longing for home wrapped in the warm confines of a family husk. Stories of old trucks, lakelife, and tough life. This album is a cup that all could drink from.
Kesler spent much of his first half of life playing in bands of all kinds including rock, Americana and bluegrass and mastering many instruments along the way such as drums, guitars, mandolin and bass. Using the storytelling skills he utilizes in his main gig as a visual editor and the scores of songs he'd written over the years, he decided it was time to put the knife to the grindstone and finally cut an album himself utilizing all these skills. Kesler plays most of the instruments on the album except for pedal steel, handled by Drew de Man and the fiddle, drawn by his Georgia Mountain Stringband-mate, Brendan Held. Using no more than a pair of mics and some dedication, Kesler was able to construct a sturdy album on par with productions costing thousands more and with many more players.
Being a closet songwriter for decades yet never gravitating to the spotlight in several bands as a frontman, "Wingman" was the perfect title for his solo release. His songs pay homage to many of the first generation country artists he grew up on such as Don Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Marty Robbins as well as late-model American players like Marty Stuart, Son Volt and The Gourds. "As a youngster, I spent all my summers and many weekends in the country on the lake singing old country and bluegrass with my grandfather." Kesler remarks. "Moving into my teens, I soaked up Kiss, Molly Hatchet, The Allman Brothers and the like. This album revisits a lot of the songs I grew up that are stamped in my memory along with a lot of the stuff I progressed towards as I got older like Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Robert Earl Keen. And being a bluegrass musician for the past 20 years, I wanted to also show what all I have in me that's shares a big space with Bill Monroe and the like. But there's plenty of mandolin on a lot of these tracks too."