Stream Valley Maker’s new album
As his senior at the University of South Carolina Austin Crane wrote 10 narratives from the Book of Genesis under the moniker Valley Maker. Crane already had a fanbase for music written under his own name, but he adopted the Valley Maker moniker full time and has continued to pursue music under that name since. Now living in Seattle and making more headway with his music career than ever before, Valley Maker released their sophomore album last week titled When I Was a Child via Bricklane Records. The record took years in the making, originally recorded in Columbia at Archer Avenue Studio and released for a brief time in 2013, Valley Maker rerecorded some songs to release to a wider audience. In everything that Crane’s ever written, whether it be his solo material or under the Valley Maker moniker, his music carries the weight of his travels and relationships. When I Was a Child carries beacons of his travels in each song, whether it was his post grad world travels from Colorado to Bulgaria, his time spent in Kentucky, and now in Seattle, this album is an album with a huge perspective on life, religion, and relationships new and old.
Valley Maker’s sound is built on unconventional guitar tunings and a distinct pinking style along with Crane’s lyrical writing. Joining Crane in Valley Maker is Amy Godwin whose voice follows Crane’s like a shadow, haunting and confident through, her voice brings the project to a new level outside of the typical singer songwriter realm.
When Valley Maker returns to Columbia October 7th they’ll be joined by old friend The Lovely Few and rising Columbia act Dear Blanca. Both bands have new releases in the works, The Lovely Few on Charleston record label Hearts & Plugs and Dear Blanca possibly releasing another EP with Post Echo, though that’s yet to be seen.