Combining his melodic vocal-driven songcraft with lush kaleidoscopic production and guitar textures, The Wheel spins open an interdimensional portal that weaves indie folk-rock into psychedelic dreamscapes on his debut self-titled album. A longtime producer and session guitarist, Avram Brown, the man behind The Wheel, tapped his good friend Raymond Richards (Local Natives, LCD Soundsystem) to co-produce and engineer, so he could fully focus on surrendering to the role of artist.
Additional collaborators on the album include violist/arranger Kyleen King (Brandi Carlile, The Decemberists), recording engineer Larry Crane (Elliot Smith), and the late great Ralph Carney (Tom Waits, The B-52’s) whose contributions on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet are sadly the last tracks he ever recorded.
Brown grew up between New York City and Rochester, NY where his earliest musical inspiration stemmed from his parents’ ‘60s- and ‘70s-heavy record collection. With folk music roots that ran deep, poetry and songwriting came early, but soon gave way to a fascination with improvised music. An obsession with psychedelic rock, jazz, experimental, devotional and avant garde music bloomed. Ultimately, The Wheel came full circle to blend the elegant simplicity of a lyric, a melody and a few acoustic guitar chords with the never-ending sparks of a reverb-drenched electric exploration that reveals itself to both player and listener in a moment that only destiny itself can document.
