Eugene weekly., July 22, 2021, Page 14, Image 14

music
Photo by Sabrina Fitz-Fitzgerald
The Uniter
EUGENE ACOUSTIC SINGER-SONGWRITER RELEASES FULL-LENGTH DEBUT,
BURNISHED WITH COUNTRY MUSIC AND TOPICAL SUBJECTS.
By Will Kennedy
N
o one is more surprised that Rudolf
Korv songs sound the way he does than
Rudolf Korv himself. The singer-song-
writer from Eugene is celebrating his
first full-length album, The Divided,
released July 4 on CD and major stream-
ing platforms.
Since moving to Oregon from Arizona a few years ago,
Korv has played diligently around Eugene and the Pacific
Northwest, performing sets of originals and covers with
a big, country-tinged baritone.
Locally, though, he’s perhaps most known for hosting
a well-received songwriter’s open mic Monday nights at
First National Taphouse in downtown Eugene. The event
is back in action after a COVID pause.
“I grew up a ’90s boy,” Korv explains on a recent sunny
afternoon at a table in front of the Taphouse. Born and
raised in Lake Havasu, Arizona, Korv is a self-taught
musician, honing his musical skills as an associate pastor
and playing music almost daily.
Back then, Korv mostly listened to heavy alternative
hard rock from bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden,
Metallica and Green Day. “But the songs I write sound
completely different,” he says: more tender and less
aggressive.
That sound felt out of place to Korv until he moved
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to Oregon where, with the wisdom of age, he found a
creative outlet in Americana music.
“It just evolved that way,” Korv says. “I just ride the
wave.”
From Divided, “Oregon (The Land I Love)” is an
expansive acoustic tribute to Korv’s adopted home
state, brightened by slide guitar. Elsewhere, “When I
Get Home from Memphis” is a country-lite, sad-trav-
eler ballad landing somewhere between Marc Cohn
and Chris Stapleton — Korv’s voice gruff yet some-
how silky.
Experienced with DIY home recording, Korv never-
theless tapped Eugene-based producer Tyler Fortier
to record the debut.
Working with a producer helped Korv focus on the music.
“I can do a better performance when I’m not worried about
hitting the button,” he says. “It was a breath of fresh air.”
And it also took the sound in some surprising direc-
tions. “They hear things you wouldn’t normally hear,”
Korv continues. “I just went with it.”
For example, Korv sang and played all the guitar tracks
on the record before shipping the tracks off the session
musicians, most notably the Nashville-based musician,
Philippe Bronchtein, on the title-track “The Divided.”
Known for his organ work with ascendant Nashville
soul and gospel group The War and Treaty, Bronchtein’s
contribution gives the song a swampy, Stevie Wonder-
meets-Hank Jr. groove.
This turn toward country-funk was an unexpected
development for Korv, but within country music, he hopes
to remain gritty, with real topics and sad songs about
heartbreak and real situations. He wants to represent
the genre well, he says.
And any song in 2021 called “The Divided,” from an
album released on July 4, tempts a topical reading. That’s
not lost on Korv, who says that since the Trump era and
throughout COVID, the barriers between Americans have
only become more entrenched, and we’re worse off for it.
Through music, Korv hopes to remind us to see
ourselves as humans first, and political beings second,
and that’s what the song’s about.
“I identify as a human being; I’m a musician,” Korv says.
“When Trump got elected, right or left, people lost iden-
tity, because they identified through politics,” he says.
“They didn’t know what to do. Everyone’s trying to win.”
“I believe ‘the divided’ will become one,” Korv says.
“It seems so far off but I’m optimistic about it. We’re
built for greater things than what we’re seeing and what
we’re doing.” ■
The Divided is available now on CD from RudolfKorvMusic.com and
on major music streaming platforms. For more information search
Rudolf Korv Music on social media.
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M