LISTEN: Stephen Bluhm Shares Early Peek at New Albums

Both the vocal and instrumental versions of Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here. come out this Friday

April 17, 2024April 17, 2024 Ron Hart 0 Comments Bard College, Hudson Valley, John Cale, New York, Nick Drake, Out of the Nowhere Into the Here, Pennsylvania, Stephen Bluhm

Stephen Bluhm (Image: Howlin’ Wuelf Media)

New York’s Hudson Valley has always been an oasis of musical talent across a wide swath of genres.

And few artists in recent memory have captured the grace and serenity of the area’s calmer environs like Stephen Bluhm on his forthcoming second album, entitled Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here.

Recorded, mixed and produced by Bluhm and featuring a host of gifted guest musicians, both the vocal album and its instrumental companion is a rippling creek of strings, horns, flutes, piano, reed instruments and other timelessly evocative musical sounds that evoke the feels of orchestral pop classics by Nick Drake and John Cale.

“I wanted the album to sound like stepping into another world,” he tells Rock & Roll Globe. “I get that feeling from John Cale’s album Paris 1919, which doesn’t sound at all like 1919 or 1973, when it was released. It’s its own weird little universe. My friend, the musician Brian Dewan, gave me a huge compliment when he said my album is ‘like a diorama… like walking through a meadow…’ because he got it and he articulated it so well.”

Stephen Bluhm Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here., self-released 2024

For Bluhm, who grew up in rural Pennsylvania, the key to creating this album was achieving a level of comfort and familiarity in the process and possessing no fears in any glitches that might transpire in the interim.

“I put my background as an audio engineer to use and recorded everything myself in cozy living rooms,” he saya. “This gave the album the cozy, intimate sound I desired. I fought the urge to smooth everything out in the production. With digital, every detail can be perfect, and too many albums are dulled by perfection, in my opinion. I intentionally left in little flaws, and the little bit of roughness gives the ear something to grab onto.”

And in terms of keeping the essence of these records at a local level, Bluhm recruited talent from within his adopted area to ensure the music’s authenticity.

“I wanted the best classical musicians I could find in my area of the Hudson Valley, so I sought out members of The Orchestra Now, Bard College’s post grad orchestra,” he reveals. “I was a little intimidated because I thought they might only like classical music. But they were joyful and eager to play something different from what they do every day, and I think they appreciated that I shared a passion for their instruments and talents.”

As for Bluhm himself, he cut all his parts on piano at his own home.

“I played my own piano on the album,” he admits. “It’s a 1937 Steinway grand, and before I took it home, it spent 80 years in a liberal church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. While making the album I listened to loads and loads of pianos on many albums and couldn’t find anything that sounded like my recordings. I worried about that at first, but then thought maybe it’s the sort of thing where another artist will hear my piano and say ‘man I want the piano on my album to sound like the piano on Out of the Nowhere!’”

Stephen Bluhm Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here.: The Instrumentals, self-released 2024

Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here. is being released on 12” LP vinyl, CD, digital download, streaming platforms and 2xCD set including both vocal and instrumental versions on April 19 via Vintage Annals Archive. The instrumental version is being released separately on the same date on digital download and streaming platforms.

However, you can listen to both titles, in full, below two days before their official release.

“The title, Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here., describes the strange mystery of creativity, the making of something out of nothing,” explains Bluhm. “It’s a reference to the writing of the music, the finished album you can hold in your hand, and the spirituality of a few of the songs. The cover art by Kahn & Selesnick invokes a world similar to the music, a place a little beyond our own, where dreams, ideas, and mystery are intertwined.”

Treat yourself today to an early listen to Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here, and make sure to pre-order the album on Bluhm’s Bandcamp page and follow him on his Instagram.

Vocal album: