Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Description
Description
Greg Brown brings the powerful words of 19th-century English poet and visionary William Blake to life, setting Blake’s timeless poetry to music with his unmistakable blend of folk, blues, and roots influences. The project grew from Brown’s fascination with Blake’s language and imagery, transforming poems written nearly two centuries earlier into intimate, contemporary songs. Rather than treating the poetry as untouchable literary texts, Brown approaches the words as living material, finding melodies and arrangements that allow Blake’s themes of innocence, experience, love, mortality, spirituality, and the human condition to resonate through his own musical voice.
Recorded with an earthy, organic sensibility, the album places Brown’s warm, weathered vocals and guitar at the center, allowing the poetry and melodies to remain the focus. The arrangements draw from the traditional American roots music that has long informed Brown’s work, giving the centuries-old verses a distinctly modern folk setting. Special guest Michael Doucet of Beausoleil adds his remarkable fiddle playing, bringing a lively Cajun and traditional roots character to the sessions and creating an unexpected but natural connection between Blake’s English poetry and American folk traditions.
The result is both a literary and musical experiment: William Blake filtered through Greg Brown’s distinctive songwriting sensibility, with spare, heartfelt performances that make the poetry feel deeply intimate.
Payment & Security
Payment methods
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.