Liam Grant is a New England guitarist and improviser cut from the American Primitive cloth. The restless guitar explorations, modal epics, and driving uptempo rags recall the likes of Grant's pedagogue, Takoma Records, and the path that was paved by his forebears John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Peter Walker, Max Ochs and later Glenn Jones, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Jack Rose, and others. 

Bridging that past Grant evokes the pith of the landscape where he was raised. Instrumental memoirs and ruminations on the banks of the Merrimack River. Amoskeag. And the place where the waters flow around it. Salmon tails up the river, the exodus to Stratton-Eustis and the last night on Dead River before the great flood. 

        Prodigal Son 

VHF debut and second widely-available LP by Grant, part of a new generation of underground “American primitive” guitar players serving the traditions and smashing them up simultaneously. Prodigal Son is a portrait of an artist on the road, changing fast, recording things as they spring from the fountain. The sound here is raw – grass and dirt instead of prefab; homemade/handmade instead of high-tech, etc. There’s a visceral quality and immediacy of culture that’s being lost every day in modern life – Prodigal Son is a chance to grab some of it back. “Palmyra” has Liam on Weissenborn-style lap steel, the sound fuzzed out and distorted by the guerilla recording technique. “Salmon Tails Up The River” stretches out to nearly 13 minutes, a dense meditation on 12 string that sustains a dark and heavy mood for the entire duration. On the B side, “Insult to Injury” reverses the mood, with an elegant and unhurried 12 string sequel of deep beauty. Liam’s unexpected take on Loren Conners’ “A Moment at the Door” is a perfect translation of Loren’s reverb-heavy electric drift to unadorned acoustic (and tape hiss) – a frozen moment of absolute grace. Wrapping things up is a take on “Old Country Rock,” with fiddle and banjo, just a brief taste of the barnstorming old-time sound of Liam’s touring trio. 

https://www.vhfrecords.com/catalog/liam-grant-vhf166-lp

https://vhfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/prodigal-sonhttps://vhfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/prodigal-son

His debut LP "Amoskeag" (Carbon Records, Feeding Tube Records) was released in 2023 and his output additionally includes several EP length collaborations such as a live split 10” with Gangloff and Sam Shalbi (Dwarfs of East Agouza, Shalabi Effect, Land of Kush) and a self-titled trio record with members of the Three Top Serenaders. He has also appeared on various compilations including “The Sun is Not True” a 300th release celebration for Carbon Records including artists like Thurston Moore, Bruce Russell, David Nance, and others.