"...eshewing the luxuries of auto-tune and looper pedals for a maximum dose of humanity..."
Meet West of Home
Steve Suh and Jeff Ames have been playing together for over 11 years. Given their ages, that may be a minuscule blip in the grand scheme, but to them, it’s a significant amount of stage and rehearsal hours they’ll never get back. So they play on...
Ames’s guitar playing is a flashy hodgepodge of his middle school metal influences blended with a lifelong dive into jambands and bluegrass. And while Suh started playing and singing a little later in life, he makes up for this by easily surpassing Ames in music theory and agility, while also swiping the occasional Jeff riff, changing a note, and taking full credit. Their healthy competitive nature keeps things interesting on stage in a veritable masterclass in one-upmanship, while being self-aware enough to keep jams bite-sized and tasty.
Between these two songwriters-at-heart, they’ve created a sizable chunk of listenable neo-Americana tunes. However, while the demands of their days jobs keep the songwriting rate to a modest clip, they’ve resorted to filling that void covering their favorite bands and influences — and, of course, throwing in the occasional crowd-pleaser. West of Home puts together a diverse repertoire from artists ranging from The Wood Brothers and Jason Isbell to Alice In Chains and Miley Cyrus — providing a sexy evening of acoustic ear candy that seems to work surprisingly well.
To the benefit of the listener, the duo spends an unhealthy amount of rehearsal time dialing in their harmonies and obsessing over vocals. But they are dirty, grunge-hippies at heart, eschewing the luxuries of autotune and looper pedals for a maximum dose of humanity through live music. It should be noted, however, they reserve the right to integrate said pedals into their act if they can figure out how to use them.
Sample Tunes
After a long stint in a mostly original band, the duo is excited to take a break from songwriting and get back to covering the bands that inspired them over the years. Take a listen.