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The Devil is defeated

by Adam Kurtz

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1.
Alchemist 04:56
When the fog seeps in to mask and spin apart your innocence And you’re chilled by god’s solemn songs and his arrogance Now the floor drops out and a frozen clock is left hovering And the sun will sleep unaware you wasted time recovering Cause when your senses numb and all you did is done This web you spun will be a smoking gun And you’ll have no one on your side Even you will not be on your side So try to understand you can’t kiss the devil’s hand And be sorry that you, you can’t be sorry that you did
2.
Architect 02:34
A fatal flaw is fucking up the blueprint Tho designers have espoused its strengths so eloquently And now it’s clear as wind that we have been a bit too rash By racing through construction like a 100 yard dash We skipped creation of a foundation all our own And I learned you can’t build love on love alone Now there’s gotta be some way to build a future There’s gotta be some way to make a plan with what we’ve Got on hand and what we can take from our world For the sake of all our laughing little boys and girls I’ll dig a ditch and throw in stick and bricks and stones Cause you can’t you can’t built love on love alone No you can’t you can’t build love on love alone So who’s gonna be the one to fix the blueprint Who’s gonna be the man to mend the plan? Cause everyone’s an architect at heart but that heart is not yet grown So we hope to build our love on love alone But you can’t you can’t build love on love alone
3.
Atmosphere 03:31
Are you tired? Are you shutting down in the afternoon? Is your melody a little out of tune? Are you cold? Even when I start a fire? Are you weathering the years since you left home? Cause I see your dreams are getting mixed up in this polluted atmosphere And you need and I need a breath of air that we can share in this atmosphere It’s call too clear we can’t find it here No respite is lurking in this atmosphere But wait, what keeps keeping you up at night? And why won’t it whisper you’re all right? Do you fall? Is the sky cold when you drop from such a height? Do you think of this as free falling or flight
4.
Burning Away 05:35
I am luckier than most cause I can see forward and backward without turning all around It’s an illuminating trick that I learned when I was sick of being knocked and tossed around But when I’m left to find my way alone I get swept up in cyclone of fire And it burns and whips my atmosphere killing off my will to persevere until all I got is lost I’m delusional at best I am the first who will attest to my dissecting attitude I poke and pick apart each word like I’m turned on by absurd and unproductive points of view Sometimes I start with a melody that I can sing intrinsically for hours But then silence takes its place and leaves a dark and heavy space in its exhaust leaving me lost I’m lost in a maze with no escape stuck in a fog that won’t abate Can’t you see I’m lost fighting flames under a trance when all I want is just a chance To live without burning away I swallow air to feel alive and in a gasp I’m hypnotized by this alluring siren song Forbidden fruit is overripe sweep addiction mars my sight of what is right and what belongs And now confused by indecision and another new revision I throw my hands in the air Cause these time lines out in front of me are hopelessly entwined and crissed and crossed
5.
Illusion 04:35
I got a weakness for illusion Like I paint on top of gray a pure blue sky There’s no use missing the horizon And no use fading out before you die Yeah I try my best to listen To the susurrations just outside my door But even breathing interrupts the meaning And I’m forced to raise the glass that I abhor But not before I sneak a final sip of tired pride As I leave behind a world worth fighting for I can’t find my footing I’m lifting off the floor I’m lured in by the illusion That burned too bright and I could not ignore I thought that I could be the king and I could settle every score And mastermind a world worth fighting for So friends come gather round and tell me your reasons For getting swept up on this fleeting breeze Yeah I’m reaching out for an anchor I’m reaching out but nobody sees Yeah I’ve got my arms out wide but not enough fight left inside And no one hears enough to disagree And no one even knows enough or cares to pretend to agree I can’t find my footing I’m lifting off the ground I’m lured in by the illusion That sentimental fictions are profound I thought that I would be the king the greatest king we ever crowned But you can’t be king when you’re the only one around Cause nothing that you do and nothing that you say makes a sound Maybe illusion is all we’ll ever know Maybe that’s just how we get down
6.
The Funeral 04:12
Thick with life the forest looms in front of me I lost your trail when I lost my friends And all I’ve got to comfort me Is what I can’t find in the trees I search for clues as to where you plunged ahead of me I find a broken branch it’s all I need I jump I run Without a care in this world I’m too caught up in the chase to even care how I look And I followed you on the roughest thickest most destructive route Like I had no where to run to And I followed you until every bone inside me broke in two And I had no way to go on The funeral was well attended and subdued Everyone was there and they were crying and you were crying too I didn’t know I could look away (tho I wanted to) I saw the whole parade I heard the cannons fire I watched the last one who remained beside my grave I saw you lay your flowers down and walk away I saw you kiss the setting sun’s final decay and walk away I watched you walk away And I followed you on the roughest thickest most destructive violent icy route Like I had no where to run to And I followed you until every bone inside me broke in two And I had no way to go on
7.
Easy Love 02:31
Romeo and Juliet sure had it good It took just a coupla hours til they understood That there ain’t no easy love I tried to tame the fire but it burned me good I never been burned so bad guess I just misunderstood That there ain’t no easy love And I feel like a blind man leading a blind man through the woods We each hope the other one remembers where we’re coming from And how we could be tempted by an easy love Cause there ain’t no easy love And when the world comes crashing down around Like leaves detaching from the trees at speeds to speedy to predict It’s easy to get caught up in the rubble and pretend that we can reconstruct a middle As we try to make amends by wasting time again Rehearsing lines again in search of an easy love Romeo and Juliet sure had it right Cause we’ll never never never never never never never never never see the light Til we give right up on easy love Cause there ain’t no easy love
8.
Surrender 05:19
Everybody put down your guns it’s your commander in chief I know everyone is choking back tears from the smell of defeat Now we’re stuck in a trench as the battle goes on The will of the king’s not the will of the pawn Hour after hour does a lot to empower a desperate prayer I gotta think big picture we got a chance at victory I declare So put down your guns and shut off for the night Dream a sweet a dream there’s an end in sight We gotta stay cool Now what’s the matter? What could you be after? What’s the longest you have ever held back laughter? Who’s the king and master of this cold disaster? Why have all the virgins left for greener pastures? Listen up I just got the word we’re going in for the final kill See what we’ve been training for, someone else’s metaphor unfulfilled When everything’s gone we’ll have nothing to lose This sounds like an offer we can’t refuse We won’t surrender We can’t surrender We’ll never surrender
9.
Oxidation 03:40
Oxidizing in the rain I’m growing weak but who’s to blame Whispers are retuned unanswered, silence is the greatest shame My home is colder now no one deigned to stay around To open doors to open mind but who will lead the deaf and blind A new revision churns impatient scolding me for wasting time While the rains unrelentlessly scream and shout I’m calling out now Who is gonna bail me out? The water level rises fast it’s dangerous so bail me out I can’t know if I’ll stay afloat for very long so bail me out I’m adored, but I’m facing towards an empty shore so what have I been drowning for And what’s in store for this old pair of broken oars Left adrift and hardly missed and functionless for evermore We’ll have to wait to take the bait, which we create by tempting fate
10.
Westbound 10:48
I’m looking for a bigger piece of the pie I looking for the fullest moon ever seen in the sky But it’s a long way, it’s a long way out of here I’m in a hot air balloon with the ropes clinging tight Didn’t wanna cut ‘em too soon now it’s time to take flight ‘Gainst the jet stream, yeah I gotta get outta here So I’m west bound, I’m westbound, oh yeah I’m westbound I need a holiday There’s still a lot of shit that I ain’t seen Like the Golden Gate Bridge and some roads in between So I’m packing, I’m packing for a holiday I wanna see what missing seasons will do to my mood And to my ice cold east coast attitude So I’m taking, I’m taking a holiday I must confess there’s just a little bit left I need a change of address I’ll sell all the bullshit I got on the way and ditch the rest of this mess I’m on a self-mandated and over-discussed kind of quest And I know – yeah I know – that it’s a long way, it’s long but it’s the only way outta here I’m wide-eyed, maybe so But after being blind at least I might find the right road But it’s a long way Yeah it’s a long way Oh it’s a long way But I gotta get outta here

about

Adam Kurtz grew up a poor black child playing Beatles songs on guitar and then recording songs he wrote on the 4-track he somehow conned his brother into buying the summer after 9th grade. After college, he moved to Boston and joined Lost Pilot as its lead guitarist with an old friend and then started a band in the same role with his college roommate Patrick Walsh called the Fifty Mission Crush. After Patrick defected to Paris for love, Adam moved to Maine for solitude and spent the next era writing songs and recording them on his laptop (ProTools). Wanting a fuller sound, as opposed to a singer-songwriter paired down guy-and-a-guitar approach, Adam put a band together to flesh out the songs and record a full length album (The Devil is Defeated).

Zebulan ("Z. E.") Coffin and Douglas Parker are old pals who were living together in a small apartment in New York. Adam had met them during visits to NYC and knew he wanted Z.E.'s solid low end skills and Doug's impeccable metronome-like drumming. They were easily enticed to come to Portland - they love the rainy weather and the coffee - unfortunately for them they were thinking of Portland, Oregon, and actually thinking of Seattle. Adam selfishly played dumb until after the move. A three piece band was a great start but Adam always had wanted to add a lead guitarist and keyboardist. After jamming a few times with Z.E. and Doug, Adam put out a call for auditions for lead guitarist. It was a lengthy process - Adam demanded that the guitarist be able to "shred mightier than the Warrior Prince Shred of the Land of Shredding" and also to "play with the sensitivity of a baby unicorn tear dropping onto a cloud of misted mother's milk."

Many tried out and were rejected for various reasons, but then one guitarist made an immediately strong impression on the three. The Colonel showed up lugging his Fender Strat without a case, and quietly and humbly asked to use the effects pedals strewn about the room. Adam, Z.E. and Doug were not psyched, but decided to go forth with the audition. The Colonel had clearly listened to the demo tracks that had been on MySpace and added lines of his own creation that were complementary and perfect. The guys pitched in to help get him the necessary equipment and The Colonel was in. He also knew a guy called Demian Ridge who played keys. By no means a virtuoso, Damian fit in personality-wise and musically and also knew how to program synths. He assured the guys that that would come in handy some day.

credits

released June 10, 2008

Adam Kurtz - Vocals, acoustic guitars
The Colonel - Lead guitars
Douglas Parker - Drums, percussion, background vocals
Demian Ridge - Pianos, organs, background vocals
Zebulan Erastus - Bass guitar, background vocals

All songs written by Adam except Atmosphere which is written by Adam with lyrical
assistance from Jeremy Brown

Produced, recorded and engineered by Adam at Halfway Rock Studios, Harpswell, ME
Mixed by Keith Mann and Adam at Keith’s Apartment Studios, Portland, ME
Mastered and duplicated by Odds Are Productions, Saco, ME.

Album design and layout by Adam, band photo by Nathan Kurtz, back cover photo by Jeremy Brown, inside photo by Adam, Devil image provided by Wolfe Editions.

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Adam Kurtz Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitarist, pedal steel guitarist, manic-album-maker, wing enthusiast.

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