“QUALITY OVER QUANTITY” IS THE DRIVING FORCE THAT SHAPES THIS CANADIAN TRIPLE-THREAT’S EMOTIVE, MINIMALIST STYLE
By Bill DeMain
ARIEL POSEN BELIEVES in a unified field theory of music. “Playing the guitar is not what I do, it’s just a part of me,” he says. “And I think my playing — and singing and writing — represents me as a person very well. I’m an understated guy. I try not to talk too much. When I do say something, there should be meaning and value there.”
This approach has been at the heart of Posen’s sound since his solo debut in 2019, and it reaches a new plateau on his third album, Reasons Why. Standout tracks like “I Wish That We’d Never Met” and “Broken But I’m Fine” radiate a lean and soulful elegance, with lyrics that explore the vagaries of the heart. And whether he’s conjuring cumulonimbus textures in a dreamy soundscape or just peeling off quavering slide licks, there’s never a wasted note.
Posen, the son of klezmer musician parents, started gigging around Winnipeg on his own at 14. But he says the “gateway that opened the door” to his future was hearing Stevie Ray Vaughan. “He was so aggressive and powerful,” Posen says. “It was the first time I thought, ‘I want to do that.’ Not what Stevie Ray did, but being a more serious, sophisticated guitarist.” That led to “my 10,000 hours of practice” and much dissecting o
