deonblyan's Channel

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1,948 video views

2 months ago
Deon Blyan Live

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DEON BLYAN

Deon Blyan Live "Not The Time" at Brixx in Edmonton July 21, 2009

Deon Blyan Live "The Little Things" at Brixx in Edmonton July 21, 2009

Deon Blyan Live "War & Peace" at Brixx in Edmonton July 21, 2009

Deon Blyan "Thing Called Fate" LIVE in Edmonton June 14, 2009
2:16

2 months ago

Deon Blyan

"I Won't be Far" Live at the Marquee Room in Calgary, AB Canada. May 17th, 2008

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deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  6 Videos Added to playlist: Deon Blyan Live
1:16

2 months ago

Deon Blyan_New Album_Video Blog Day 1_081610.wmv

This is my first "kick at the can" with this whole video thing so...please excuse the terrible quality, it'll be better tomorrow I promise

58 views

deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  7 Videos Added to playlist: Turning To Wave - Studio Video Blog
1:34

2 months ago

Deon Blyan_New Album_Video Blog Day 2_081710.wmv

Day 2 in studio Deon chats with Jonny Nordstrom, Jonny is the bass player on the new album.

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deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  7 Videos Added to playlist: Turning To Wave - Studio Video Blog
1:24

2 months ago

Deon Blyan_New Album _Video Blog Day 3_081810.wmv

Day 3 list of accomplishments:

Nathan Carroll came in a recorded some fantastic lead guitar and pedal steel this morning. The afternoon was spent...

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deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  7 Videos Added to playlist: Turning To Wave - Studio Video Blog
1:01

2 months ago

Deon Blyan_New Album_Video Blog Day 4_081910.wmv

Day 4 and we are way ahead of schedule, these days are great due to the fact that we get to be very creative and ad a bunch of stuff to the songs w...

46 views

deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  7 Videos Added to playlist: Turning To Wave - Studio Video Blog
1:39

2 months ago

Deon Blyan_New Album_Video Blog Day 5_082010.wmv

And the week of recording ends with some guest's in the studio, Ryan and Becky Anderson from F&M stopped by to do some some singing and help us fin...

77 views

deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  7 Videos Added to playlist: Turning To Wave - Studio Video Blog
3:46

2 months ago

Deon Blyan: Across 23rd Street

Video for "Across 23rd Street" from the new album "Turning to Wave" released March 1st 2011.

Filmed and directed in NYC by Greg Gillespie, concep...

782 views

deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  2 Videos Added to playlist: Deon Blyan Official
3:23

2 months ago

Deon Blyan: Brooklyn

Filmed on a sunny day in November 2010 in Brooklyn NY.

Song: Brooklyn

Artist: Deon Blyan

Album: Turning To Wave

Filmed and Directed by: Greg G...

610 views

deonblyan uploaded
- 2 months ago
  
  2 Videos Added to playlist: Deon Blyan Official

About Deon Blyan

deonblyan.com

Created by

deonblyan

Latest Activity

Dec 22, 2011

Date Joined

May 24, 2008

About this user

The new album, Turning to Wave, was recorded in Edmonton, Alberta once again and features some of the city's best musicians: James Murdoch adds the ear candy; Nathan Carroll strums and plucks the catchiest of guitar hooks; and F&M lends some golden background vocals. Alberta native turned Nashville resident Chad Melchert plays solid yet emotive drums, and from Deon's current home (Calgary), Jon Nordstrom adds his soft touch on bass.
The way most romantic men fall in love with a girl after the first kiss, Deon seems to have fallen in love with cities over the past 3 years; while listening to this album you will find yourself yearning for a vacation "if for only two days". His enthusiasm for New York, Vancouver, Toronto, and Sausalito is infectious, to say the least.
Much of the album was co-written with James Murdoch (who also acted as producer) and when comparing Deon's earlier albums to this one, it's safe to say Murdoch's presence added some fresh air which gives this album distinction without manhandling Blyan's sound.
In conversation Deon expands on this, "Murdoch and I have really found a comfortable groove in our relationship" says Deon, "if you are going to truly work with a producer, then you have to be willing to be transparent with the song ideas, lyrically and musically. After I finally decided to record again it just made sense to work with James. We wanted Chris Wynters in the room as well but he was in Scotland for the week".
Deon goes on to explain the writing and recording process for Turning to Wave." I had 5 great tunes ready to go, but that was it when I decided to record, so I panicked and almost didn't go ahead with it - but I decided that I'd put some structure around finishing some more songs so I set a schedule of Wednesday nights and Sundays to force myself to finish the ideas I had. After a quick morning of playing the tunes on acoustics' in Murdoch's living room, and doing some co-writing, I realized how good the ideas were and got really excited to record".
When asked about the sound of the new album Deon says, "We consciously put less on this one, we were happy with the sound of the last one, but wanted to allow some "head room" on these tunes". The live sound of the songs on this album give them a cohesion and energy that creates an additional hook in itself, supported by melodies that you'll find bouncing around in your head days and weeks after you thought they'd been forgotten. It's still easy to compare Deon to Jim Cuddy, Neil Finn and Teddy Thompson, but the unique Blyan twist takes a less twangy shape here. Nevertheless, we still hear pedal steel, beautiful clean electric guitars, as well as some banjo on Turning to Wave. And, it is in fact the crafty guitar work by Nathan Carroll that adds to the cohesion mentioned earlier.
Further to the cohesion in sound, we experience a mature turn for Deon and his songwriting on his latest collection. He takes us on a journey to some of his favorite places on tracks like "Brooklyn" and "Across 23rd Street". We are also taken to some of the deepest emotional places a person could visit in the songs "Earthquake" and "I Don't Know", and we are even transported to a fictional town in "Winnipeg Italy".
The impression that it's difficult to pigeon hole Deon into a neat and tidy genre or musical realm grows quickly as the notes and melodies float from the speakers. We also learn that Deon is constantly moving forward, both figuratively and literally; and lucky for us, he pauses now and again as he's Turning to Wave.

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