Karch’s ‘Blueprints’ is an interesting collection of bygone classics. The title is a cleverly chosen one as Karch strips down each song and then draws inspiration from the core of the tune. At that point he reconstructs the tracks and presents them in an acoustic format without straying too far from the nucleus he initially discovered. At the same time, his finger picking acoustic style adds a different perspective. The results hint as to how the songs may have sounded as they were being created originally, but then given Karch’s artistic interpretation. Karchafied!

Most of the songs on ‘Blueprints’ have been part of the performer’s live repertoire on and off over the years. Even though the songs are stripped down they still evolved throughout the live process, but it was time to give these tunes a home. Karch’s revamped renditions give new life and a different vision to songs that we have all become familiar with over the years. I mean come on, there is a cover of ‘Staying Alive’! That alone is worth getting the cd but there are plenty more that will spark your interest such as Van Morrison’s ‘Into the Mystic’, Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing’, or Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’. On the more traditional side there’s Leadbelly’s ‘Take This Hammer’ and Skip James’ ‘Hard Time Killing Floor’. Karch also snuck in one original entitled ‘Sin’ which is one of the standouts.

For Karch, it’s one of the most personal recordings he has done. He has essentially been performing in a solo acoustic environment throughout his career which has given him the confidence to record an album like ‘Blueprints’. 

An interesting song selection makes this well worth listening to. Check it out.

Sláinte

Sean