R2 Mag – May/June 2021 – 5***** review “really rather special – fantastic songs” Shindig May 2021 – 4**** review Uncut – June 2021 – preview “sustained by the spirit of 70’s American folk & country” Folk Radio UK – Song of the Day – 10/03/21

Turner Cody arrived at the Sidewalk Cafe in New York City in the fall of 1999. There he cut his songwriting teeth alongside other members of the Anti-Folk scene including Adam Green and Jeffrey Lewis. New York was a different place at the end of the 20th century. The fertile mix which had so inspired artists in the 70s and 80s had not yet disappeared. It could still be felt in the open mics in the East Village and in the avant-garde performance clubs around the corner. The Rock’n’ Roll scene from which bands like The Strokes would soon emerge was in full swing in the bars of the Lower East Side, its leather-clad acolytes drinking and carousing deep into the night. This was the New York that Turner Cody and his fellow aspiring song- writers inhabited from park to pad to all-night diner.

A chance encounter with the French folk-rock trio Herman Dune resulted in many European tours and an artistic collaboration which remains strong to this day. From then on, Cody’s haunts would not just be the bars of the East Village, but the cafes of Paris and the beer halls of Berlin.

The indie-folk inspired approach of his early albums evolved into a studio sound reminiscent of Cody’s heroes Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, Lou Reed, and Hank Williams. His last 7 albums were released as the compilation The Great Shadow in 2019. Songs Of Turner Cody: A Tribute Album featuring Adam Green, Jeffrey Lewis, Herman Dune, Diane Cluck, Timesbold, and many others was also released in 2019.

Cody’s commitment to songwriting has remained consistent over his fourteen records. His lyrics draw on a wide range of influences. Any fan of fiction and poetry can detect hints of Poe, Fitzgerald, and Melville; of Ginsberg, Kerouac, Rimbaud, and even the vernacular of American cinema. Cody’s love of songs extends to Steven Foster, Civil War ballads, Jazz standards, show tunes, and to all the luminaries of his craft. Cody is above all a wordsmith. Language is the cornerstone of his work.