Flying Canyon

Singer-songwriter Cayce Lindner sports a thick gray beard, calls Northern California home, and plucks an acoustic guitar. This means most music writers are gonna describe his new project, Flying Canyon, as a symptom of this whole freak-folk, indie-hippie fad. And while Glenn Donaldson's production — transforming doom-metal grooves into woodland dirges — does lend a modern sound to Lindner's rustic folk rock, the dude truly possesses a fragile old soul. On "The Bull Who Knew the Ring," the voice reflectively muttering, "Bring me one last song for Jerry Lee/ This old boat ain't gonna make it out to sea" feels as torn and frayed as Kris Kristofferson's during his "Sunday Morning Come Down." Meanwhile, the candlelight introspection of "Down to Summer" and "Revolver" recall the lush, summer-of-love balladry of the Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin — "Today" and "Comin' Back to Me," in particular.

Related Content

• Saturday at Hardly Strictly: Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson Become the Great HSB Unifiers
  October 3, 2011
• Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music
  October 5, 2011
• Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2011: Robert Plant, Thurston Moore, Broken Social Scene, and More
  August 10, 2011
• New Albums: Jefferson Airplane Live in S.F., 1966-1968
  August 4, 2010
• One Last Spin: A Look Back at the Year in Bay Area Music
  December 28, 2011

More About

• Singer-song Cayce Lindner
• Glenn Donaldson
• Kris Kristofferson
• Marty Balin
• Justin Farrar

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Then again, Lindner is no retro-revivalist still bemoaning the death of the '60s. His music hovers in a netherworld between the past and present, returning us to Donaldson's recording techniques, which further enhance Flying Canyon's not-this-but-not-that vibe. As a member of the ambient-drone outfit Thuja, the dude honed an aesthetic that can only be described as granola-industrial (picture exotic flora reclaiming rusted-out steel mills). It's a sound he applies masterfully to Lindner's tunes, making Flying Canyon's debut a true slice of American beauty. — Justin F. Farrar