Greg Laswell - Three Flights from Alto Nido (2008)

Pointing out that alto nido translates from the Spanish as high nest, Laswell explains that Three flights up implies that you re on your way to a high nest, even if you re not quite there yet. Whereas Through Toledo was intimate and autobiographical for the most part, the EP reflected the transitional time of coming out of it, Laswell explains. With this album, I wanted to do something really big sounding a little bit bigger than I am, really. In a sense, the album was shaped around the fact that 2007 was a difficult and strange year for just about all of my friends and family members.

With his elegantly expressive piano technique and feathery acoustic guitar work, Greg has drawn comparisons to such reputable songsmiths as Jeff Buckley, Coldplay, Ron Sexsmith and Radiohead. His intense lyrics and sweeping melodies amplify to create an eloquent sound that matches his hypnotic and haunting tenor.

As with his prior Vanguard releases, Three Flights From Alto Nido was written, recorded and produced at his home studios in San Diego, Dana Point and Santa Ana, CA. The task of mixing the album was placed in the hands of Greg Collins who has mixed, produced and/or engineered tracks for Grammy winners U2, Joss Stone and the Dixie Chicks as well as many other notable acts.