San Francisco Voice

Earthy. That’s the word that keeps coming to mind as I explore the music made by Micah Anderson. It has the rich texture of fertile soil. It has roots that stretch deep into the ground of musical influence. And it has the bright vividness of colors and smells and sensations that can only be found in nature. It is down-to-earth; earthy.

Micah Anderson is a San Jose musician who plays a version of acoustic rock that’s spiced up with a hint of blues, a dash of country and maybe even a little tiny pinch of gospel. His voice is deep and mellow and steady, like you’d imagine a solid man in an Old Western to have. And his lyrics are filled with snippets of metaphor that hint at the kind of convoluted wisdom found in Buddhist koans.

But it’s the music itself that comes straight from the Earth. The detailed riffs of Anderson’s guitar, the long pull on his harmonica … these things make you feel like the heat of the Earth’s core is coming up through the land and warming your heart. You can put your ear to the ground of his music and sense the vibrations of an oncoming audio train. You can lift your chin to the heights that he reaches as the instrumentals climax and feel the slight wind of their melody there.

It took Micah Anderson three years to put the final touches on the ten tracks that make up his CD, All That It Is. It took me only a few moments to decide that there was something worth excavating in the mines of the lines and rhythms it contains. Explore for yourself on Micah’s MySpace page or website. He’s playing live in the city in September.

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