By: Eric Reyes
May 20, 2020

A mournful but undefeated voice unravels its way across a sawdust-covered dance floor. There are waist-high counters ringing the floor, covered with long-emptied beer bottles, half-drunk pint glasses, and the occasional fancy stemmed glass, olive sitting in a shallow pool of condensation and gin. Everything is either well-worn hardwood or aluminum sided. Streamers in red, white, and blue hang limply from the rafters, a balloon, the helium content dropping, floats lazily to the ground, never to touch the sky. 

This is the image in my head as I listen to Singer/Songwriter Eli Gauden. I can imagine her on the knee-high stage at the head of this figurative dance hall, a single halogen spotlight trained on her. A guitarist with hooded eyes accompanies her, and an energetic, if a little tired, piano player just off to the side of the stage tickles the ivories. Her voice is almost playful, taking full advantage of Folk’s Raconteur roots and using her vocalizations as just another element of the story, the tale. 

Though sleepy, though easy-going, moseying its way across the airwaves, this is not a track to sleep on. Let it ignite your imagination as it did mine, and listen today.  Stream it below, and tell us what you think of it on social media at: @gasmaskmagazine.

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