Liam Kazar - Due North

pull off: making something brand newsound like a cherished memory.” But on Kazar’s debut albumDue North, out via Woodist and Mare Records, the album’sten tracks are full of so much charm, wit, and heart it can’t be asleight of hand.The Kansas City-based, Chicago-raised musician andacclaimed chef / founder of the Armenian pop-up restaurantIsfahan, describes the making of Due North as a personalrevelation, where the more he wrote the more his songsshowed what kind of artist he’s always wanted to be. Whilehe’s consistently been a dream bandmate over the past severalyears, performing with artists like Tweedy, Steve Gunn, DanielJohnston, and more, making his own songs presented a chance tofinally find his own voice. But figuring out how to step out wasa rewarding challenge. “This record kind of all stemmed from aconversation I had with Jeff,” says Kazar. “I showed him someof my earliest songs I was working on and he told me, ‘It soundslike you’re writing for the people in your bands, you’re notwriting for yourself.’ He was completely right. I was not writingsongs for myself.” With that needed insight, Kazar decided tostart from scratch and write songs that felt like himself.“These songs totally blew me away the first time I heardthem: they sound like David Bowie meets the Band,” saysMare Records co-founder Kevin Morby. Due North was mixedby Sam Evian at his Flying Cloud Recordings Studio in upstateNew York. Along with drummer Spencer Tweedy and bassistLane Beckstrom, Kazar enlists keyboardist Dave Curtin(Woongi), co-producer James Elkington on pedal steel, as wellas Ohmme and Andrew Sa on backing vocals.