Paul Bond Archives - The Bluegrass Situation

Artist: P.J.M. Bond
Hometown: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Album: In Our Time
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Concerto Records

In Their Words: “In Our Time is an interdisciplinary indie-folk album based entirely on Ernest Hemingway’s short-story collection from 1925. While obtaining my Literary Studies MA at the University of Amsterdam, I started to dream of making a record based on a work of literature. Lightning struck when I reread Hemingway’s In Our Time and discovered a musical potential that had never been unearthed before: there’s nature and bullfights, the unspoken horrors of war, beauty beside chaos, fire and rain, and just so much youthful exuberance contained in Hemingway’s writing. And so I locked myself in a log cabin to write and record the songs, one for each of the stories from Hemingway’s marvelous work of fiction. I am extremely proud of my own In Our Time, and I am convinced that lovers of both Americana and American literature may rejoice and appreciate this album. Listen to it on a long hike, or drive, or on a rainy Autumn day over a cup of tea (or glass of whisky).” – P.J.M. Bond

Photo Credit: Nadia Morsink

Artist: Paul Bond
Hometown: Amsterdam
Song: “Sunset Blues”
Album: Sunset Blues
Release Date: November 18, 2021
Label: Concerto Records

In Their Words: “‘Sunset Blues’ is the title song of my debut album, featuring seven songs that all deal — in one way or another — with fatherhood. This song in particular means a lot to me; it records the moment my girlfriend tells me she is pregnant with our daughter. As a scholar of English literature who is particularly fascinated with the Modernist movement of the 1920s, I took a lot of inspiration for the lyrics of this song from Ernest Hemingway’s writing, who was always urging himself and everyone who was willing to hear it that we have to get as close to the truth as possible, without resorting to poetry or imagery as a means of obscuring the essence of our experience. I am absolutely stoked to have the video for ‘Sunset Blues’ featured on The Bluegrass Situation, and hope that the folk and Americana aficionados here will appreciate what I have tried to do. Fun fact: We shot the video at 4 o’clock in the morning in the Amsterdam Forest (Amsterdamse Bos), to capture the best possible atmosphere to accompany the song.” — Paul Bond

Photo Credit: Gerard Buitenweg

Tag: Paul Bond

STREAM: P.J.M. Bond, ‘In Our Time’

WATCH: Paul Bond, “Sunset Blues”