Shrimp and cheesy grits. This is one of those dishes that holds a very specific geographic connotation for me. The first time I ever tried a dish similar to the one Kasey prepared and is featuring on eating/sf today, I was in Louisiana. And as a result, I can’t help but to associate this dish with Louisiana, the South, and Cajun cuisine. This is despite the fact that my San Francisco-based foodie wife’s version of the recipe actually surpassed the version I tried in New Orleans. Anyways, with that in mind, I think today’s pairing makes perfect sense. Seth Augustus is a San Francisco-based musician and on his debut album, To The Pouring Rain, his guttural, throaty vocals are accented by skeletal, spooky atmospheric backing instrumentation steeped in heavy doses of voodoo and ghostly blues. Indeed, this is an album that is stitched together in such a way that is sounds like it would make the perfect soundtrack to skulking around in dark, foreboding alleyways in the heart of New Orleans or stomping around in menacing, alligator-filled Louisiana swamps.
To The Pouring Rain calls to mind the later works of artists such as Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. The album opens with the title track “To The Pouring Rain”, a swampy tango featuring a blustering bass line, ringing guitar, and clanking, sparse percussion. Razor-frayed acoustic guitar and simple, hushed drums form the basis for the guttural blues of “Trickeries of the Great Emptiness.” The rest of the album is similarly sinistral, and based around primitive, roughly-hewn folk, blues and jazz melodies. Its a great addition to your collection. Check out a couple samples from the album below, and buy it on Amazon.
Seth Augustus – Trickeries of the Great Emptiness
Seth Augustus – Tiny Little Head
Head back to eating/sf to read the recipe for shrimp and grits!
