Milton Busker & The Grim Work Drop a Full Length Album

A wonderfully woven album release from Milton Busker & The Grim Work delivers a robust and lush set of soundscapes that range from classic and roots driven Americana and folk rock to a sort of edgier country soundscape almost like alternative country and it's all done with this massive amount of Personality which is one of the biggest attributes of the record and part of why you get attached to everything.

The first track, 'Bucket of Blue", does such a great job of reeling you in with a heavy-handed country in Americana rhythm, tonality, and particular warmth, but it's the energy that feels almost like you're right there in the moment with the band.

There are times when you're listening to songs on this record, and it feels like they recorded it live on the floor, and everyone involved was just feeding off of each other's energies the entire time.

I love hearing records like that because it just makes you know that seeing them live would be great.

There are also some attributes about this track that are almost like Staples that you hear throughout the rest of the record, and I love that about it too.

One of my favorite tracks on the record is a song called "Earth and Air", which provides such a unique approach, giving you the acoustic guitar that has that heavy Americana feel, but it's clean and feels good to listen to. This ends up opening up into a cinematic, almost surf rock feel, but it also has the aesthetic of an old western film.

It's such a unique atmosphere that gets provided with songs like that and I love how you get sucked into this atmosphere and you let it engulf you.

This is absolutely the type of record that you listen to all the way through. One or two songs simply won't do.

As I mentioned earlier, listening to a few tracks may actually give you some of those hints or staples that run true throughout the rest of the release, but it will not give you the full range of what you can get from the entire album.

At times, it even feels like this is somewhat of a concept record with songs that interconnect in different ways.

You just don't really want to miss anything, and listening to the entire record serves as an amazing experience or even an escape.

The title track, "Made of Stars", is quite a brilliant one and certainly displays a lot of that color and lush instrumentation with a lot of acoustics and what sounds like mandolin but comes through this outstanding tone.

These are the songs where you get that folk-rock vibe more. It still has little hints of southern tonality to it, but it's really a folk-rock single.

The vocal performance throughout the whole album is spot on simply because it's got some heart to it. A lot of the songs can tell some stories and can be descriptive at different times, so sometimes, while you're listening, you're able to paint pictures in your head, but the tone of those vocals matches the warmth of the music a lot of the time.

This is also true to say about the energy levels. Those vocals match the energy level of the music all the time, and so you're getting this great fluctuation of intensities here and there, but an amazing balance dynamically, which is important because there are layers of textures going on throughout this record.

I also love songs like "My Old Friend" because those are the ones that thrive off of this sort of classic country sentiment. You get that thick-laid, cinematic underbelly, and there's a story to be told with songs like this. These are the kind of tracks that grab you lyrically a lot of the time. The music sets an amazing mood for those lyrics, but it's the lyrics that get you wanting to know the rest of the story and listening intently.

There are more than a few surprises throughout this record, and the guitar work is brilliant, along with the entire band's ability to just connect with each other musically and create songs that feel like they're whole.

I think it's incredible how they're able to paint those pictures and create those moods so very well, and this is a very satisfying album.

Again, it's got so much tonal warmth and lyrical sentiment that you can't really turn away from it because it is bursting with character all the time.

With the release of such a beautiful record, we wanted to have a talk with Milton about where it came from and what might be coming up next for the project.

Here's what happened.

Buzz Slayers: Let's talk about Made of Stars! This was such a great blend of cinematic rock and Americana with loads of character! Where did this record come from?

It came from a bunch of different places – the death of my father in 2017, the early days of the pandemic, gun violence in America, and the bottomless love I have for my friends and family. It’s a mix of songs that I wrote fairly close to the recording and songs that are many, many years old

Buzz Slayers: I'm hearing a few different approaches on this release! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

I’m a huge fan of rock/Americana artists like Wilco, the Jayhawks, and Kathleen Edwards; Elliott Smith and Nick Drake were big influences on me, as was grunge music from my teen years. When we were driving back and forth from home to the studio, I had Andrew Bird’s “Inside Problems” and Big Thief’s “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You” on repeat the whole time. But I’ve also been influenced by show tunes and pop songs - I’m of the mind that a good song is a good song, no matter the artist or genre.

Buzz Slayers: Are you performing live right now? Any touring in support of this release?

On June 5 we will be opening up for The Brook and the Bluff at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe, VT, and we have some local shows lined up for the summer, but we don’t have plans for a tour at this time. If the right show offer came along, we would try and jump on it, but we also have to maintain our non-music careers and families.

Buzz Slayers: Did you record this in a home studio setup, or did you go to a big studio for this?

We recorded this at Lane Gibson Studio in Charlotte, VT, which unfortunately just closed this past year. We’ve tried the home recording path before, but we haven’t been satisfied with the results. It’s like carpentry – I can reach some books, watch a bunch of YouTube videos and then create a pretty good cabinet, but if I can find someone who specializes in building cabinets, it will take them considerably less time and look a heck of a lot better.

Buzz Slayers: Now that this is out, what's next for the project?

We actually released this back in 2022 and are currently recording our third studio album at Future Fields Studio in Burlington. We’re hoping to release that sometime in the summer or fall of 2025.

Buzz Slayers: Are you planning any music videos in the near future?

We did two music videos for this album – Internet Famous and Bucket of Blue.

Internet Famous was an idea I had to make my good friend Rob do silly internet memes. We worked with director Brandon St. Cyr (who directed “That Person Aside You” from our first album”), to create a really fun look at someone hoping to go viral.

The video for Bucket of Blue was directed by my daughter for a senior project. She enlisted her friends from the Vermont Ballet Theater and School in a piece that she choreographed and had filmed by local photographers Mike and Jocelyn Dunn. The band didn’t actually have anything to do with it, and I think it turned out really great. You can see both videos on YouTube.

Buzz Slayers: Who's in your headphones right now?

This Could All Go Nowhere – The Brook and the Bluff

Green – R.E.M.

White Male Privilege – Medium Build

The Mexican – Babe Ruth

The record – Boygenius

I’m a Song (Live at The Print Shop) – Stephen Wilson Jr.

Buzz Slayers: This was a pretty big album! Was it a big undertaking? How long did it take to finish this?

It didn’t feel like a big undertaking, but it did take a long time to finish, thanks to various acts of nature including COVID19. We had originally been booked at the same studio we recorded our first album at (Robot Dog Studio) but they lost their space. Then we had a global pandemic. After we were able to secure Lane Gibson, it was about 4 days of recording (spread out over a few months), followed by a few more months of mixing, mastering, artwork. We started in February ‘22 and released in October ‘22.

Buzz Slayers: What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

Some damn fine songs, supported by a damn fine band.

Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

I’m so grateful to anyone that takes the time to listen to my songs. I hope you like them and share them with like-minded folks. Thank you!!!!

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