Kite’s Keep

Ben Garnett is best known in bluegrass circles as the longtime guitarist with Missy Raines and Allegheny. But he’s also a rising star on the new acoustic music scene.

It was while majoring in jazz guitar performance at North Texas University that Garnett discovered artists such as Tony Rice, the Punch Brothers, Darol Anger, and Edgar Meyer, and discovered his own musical niche.

His debut album, Imitation Fields, was produced by Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers and earned Garnett a berth in that musical realm where jazz, newgrass, folk, string band, and even classical and electronica intermingle freely.

Kite’s Keep,  Garnett’s all-instrumental sophomore release, is very much a collaborative effort with contributors (on various tracks) Eldridge (guitar), Darol Anger (fiddle), Brittany Haas (fiddle), Paul Kowert (also from the Punch Brothers, on bass), Ethan Jodziewicz (bass), and Matt Glassmeyer (piano).

The imaginative titles of Garnett’s original compositions suggest the nature of the music, which is marked by intricate instrumental interplay, freewheeling melodic exploration, and provocative solos: “Sebastian’s Garden,” “Post Office Prodigies,” “The Clock Maker,” “Apocalypse Club,” “A Place In Between,” and “Somewhere Near Hope .”

Therein, the players sculpt imaginative sonic landscapes that evoke a kaleidoscope of subtle emotions and states of mind.