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Listen on Subvert

  • ‘Let Me Be A Friend For Lost Time’ after a few months

    I released a nearly 8-minute experimental folk song on May 22nd, and it intersected with some things. In June, Lolabelle invited me as their featured performer at One Longfellow Square where they have a residency. In July, I played a solo show with Jes and a duo version of Chico States (Joe + Ella on violin). At both of those shows I did songs in the improv/compositional style of this long single.

    A few people reviewed it! But perhaps my favorite quote comes from Javier Reyes (aka Santiago), an active participant at Subvert co-op. The song is exclusive to Subvert, a project I care about a lot and which seeks to bring ownership of platforms to artists themselves. In his collection North American Hits, he wrote:

    This is the most oblique and cubist perception of a hit that I’ve experienced. Everything not in its right place. And yet, you can tell there’s a song behind, scattered in beautiful small pieces.

    Thank you Javier!

    Another exciting “review” came from our local alt-weekly in Portland, The Bollard. Chris Busby put together an odd poetic collage, juxtaposing Oliver Wendell Holmes, my words about co-ownership, and others’ thoughts on platform malaise to evoke an implicit point—a method of open structuring not unlike the song’s.

    AnEarful, a great blog out of New York, wrote:

    “For over eight minutes, Silver, aided by Christy Armstrong (drum programming) and Tolly Kaiser (bassoon), seems to assemble the song’s many layers in front of your ears. As he plays angular acoustic guitar, his halting attempts to ‘articulate my perspective’ are strangely moving.”

    If you haven’t heard the song yet, you can listen at Subvert here: https://www.subvert.fm/alex-silver/tracks/let-me-be-a-friend-for-lost-time

    My collections, all with write-ups on music I’ve found this year: songs less off-sync with the shuddering landscape, First Library w/ Commentary, Second Library w/ Commentary.

  • Spring Shows, Band and Solo

    We just did a very intimate show in a South Portland woodshop with one of my favorite artists this past year, Christy Armstrong. I’ve seen her twice and am so moved each time. The morning after playing, I drove up to Montreal and saw Dirty Three at Le Gésu. So writing here on Monday, I’m full of weird beautiful feelings and images—colorful exhaustion and gratitude.

    Black and white comic-style drawings and a handmade cardboard model of a train. Text reads, "at 'Bandsaw 3' [address] April 10th - 7PM $10-15 PWYC. Showbill April 10, 2020. Sable Island Pony, Silvie's Okay, Christy Armstrong, Chico States."

    A few upcoming local shows to point out:

    • May 13, 2026 – Portland, ME @ WMPG Local Motives radio show (Chico States)
    • May 25, 2026 – Portland, ME @ The Apohadion (Chico States) w/ John Andrews, Lisa Liza
    • June 3, 2026 – Portland, ME @ Longfellow Square (solo) – This one will be me, playing more improvisational stuff, as the “featured” set during an open mic.
    Poster for Chico States show at The Apohadion in Portland, Maine. Black and white picture of a house, presumably in Portland, with a drawing of a person in front of it. The top and bottom margins are red with mostly white font. The text reads, "John Andrews & The Yawns (Streetsweeper Record Release) Portland, Maine Apohadion Theater Monday May 25 with Lisa Liza and Chico States. See you there!"

  • Photo Diary: Happy New Year – January 1st Walk

    Boulder lightly covered in snow, in a Maine woods with a snow-covered forest floor.

    Scarborough, Maine, January 2026

    Happy New Year! I went for a walk on January 1st, inside a light bluster of snow. I take pictures in these woods all the time, and it’s always hard to create any kind of distinction in the mess of branches. It’s very satisfying when I can bring out volume and character, however.

    In this snow, the greens, browns, grays, and whites formed their own ready blocks, especially in the picture above. But this rock may just be extremely clear, as itself. A photo of it from the summer remains a favorite for presence. It leaps into your thoughts.

  • Press for I Saw A Galloping Horse Cover No Ground

    We’re not sure how it happened, but I Saw A Galloping Horse Cover No Ground was included in The Best Country Music on Bandcamp for November 2025! I was personally very happy to see it listed next to a release by Eiderdown Records, who put out really wonderful stuff, including a new favorite On A Moonlit Hill In Slovenia by Lori Goldston. We’re feeling very grateful and excited for upcoming things, including a brief New England tour in early March.

    Screenshot from Bandcamp Daily. Photo of Alexa Rose and a crop of the Chico States album cover showing green gingham fabric and drawings of horses. Text reads: "BEST COUNTRY. The Best Country Music on Bandcamp, November 2025. By Ben Salmon. November 21, 2025. November’s best country (and country-ish) releases on Bandcamp run the gamut from Arkansas old-time music to Rocky Mountain soundscapes to bluegrass made by a movie star, plus a previously unheard album by a legend of the genre. You’ll find all that and more below. Enjoy!"

    Ugly Hug Premiere of “A Dozen Beers.”

    We were fortunate to get a song premier at The Ugly Hug, a Chicago-based music journal started by Shea Roney. Since that publication, I’ve paid attention to the blog and they are hustling! It’s exciting to see new ground-up journalism show its face in the era of social media and press consolidation. They’re doing small festivals, riding along documenting tours, lots. I really respect what they’re doing.

    No Expectations 126: Anywhere

    This is another Chicago-based blog, running through Substack. Josh Terry is from Michigan 🙌. Beautiful writing and a project I want to connect with more intimately. I wonder if Terry brushed shoulders with any of the Michigan bands I came-of-age with. I like this, about the album: “it’s the platonic ideal of No Expectations-core: clever, freewheelin,’ and a little drunk.” More about platonic ideals please…

    The Bollard Bulletin for Nov. 3, 2025

    This was by far the most astute reading of Joe’s songwriting—and personal-public world—also, by far the most entertaining writing. The Bollard is Portland’s progressive alt-weekly, run by Chris Busby, and Busby either did great research or just very much vibes with what Joe puts down. I’ve known Joe for 11 or 12 years and I haven’t caught the cultural references, hidden meanings, or even explicit meanings that Busby caught. If there’s one album review to read, it’s this one—which is cool, because it’s also from the source closest to home in Maine.

    Estrenamos el nuevo disco de Chico States

    Spain?! This is fun! Joe speaks Spanish but this came by way of the Butte, MT label that put out the record, Anything Bagel. It’s a small label doing very handmade work (see the beautiful tapes they screen-printed for us), but they’ve really done a ton to promote our band. Feeling very very grateful for that too. Like The Ugly Hug, they’re another example of this generation’s music-loving people working hard to steer us from an empty culture of irreverent consumption—toward one where music is exciting and really matters to you through time.

    Rosy Overdrive – New Playlist: November 2025

    We were really happy to be the first song! on Rosy Overdrive’s November 2025 playlist, with Doda. Not only were we included, we had a nice write-up that connected us to some other artists Rosy Overdrive elevates. I was happy to see the second song was Idle Ray, a project of Fred Thomas’ that goes back to a summer I lived in Michigan. Maggie and Luke and I spent a lot of that 2018 summer together (we three were Raw Honey then) and Maggie was recording Riverbed with Fred as an engineer. We practiced all the time and did a few very interesting shows near Ann Arbor. The most special to me was playing with Idle Ray and Simon Joyner at Ziggy’s in Ypsilanti. At that show, Idle Ray was just a tape player with pre-recorded material and an unmic’d classical guitar. The sound, to me, fit the conditions of the room so much better than a PA could. I wish I could see that format again.

  • show at hi-fidelity Saturday, November 9 (Chico States)

    Show poster for Vega, The Clearwater Swimmers, Windier, and Chico States at Hi-Fidelity on November 8. 7pm, $12.

    All these bands are super talented and pull out new emotions in their songs—yet each leave space for you to sleep soundly that night. Can’t wait for Saturday at Hi-Fidelity.