Steve Von Till is best known as singer and guitarist for the atmospheric me… Read Full Bio ↴Steve Von Till is best known as singer and guitarist for the atmospheric metal band Neurosis, replacing Chad Salter in 1989. He is also in Tribes of Neurot and Culper Ring, and records solo work under both his given name and the moniker Harvestman. His solo albums comprise of original songs and traditional folk arrangements, using minimalistic acoustic guitar and vocal styles.

Outside his semi-professional role as a musician, he works as an elementary school teacher. His father, Steven Von Till, Sr, is a civil attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, United States.

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Perhaps the history of the song is innate within us. At least that's what we might glean from Steve Von Till's third Neurot Recordings solo outing A Grave is a Grim Horse. Intertwined with interpretations of songs by Nick Drake, Townes Van Zandt, Mickey Newberry and Lyle Lovett, Von Till's powerful yet subtly graceful originals merge with a lexicon that manifests as something beyond signature, something beyond the concept of persona that popular culture has repeatedly sold us over the past 50 years. Where his previous releases showed reverence for folk music forms of the past, A Grave is a Grim Horse peers directly inward, drawing from this history of song and earnestly embracing the need we all share to etch our mark upon the artifacts that will ultimately survive us.

Listening to the album, there's a troubling theme that reveals itself only when we're not seeking it. It tells us that we are nothing more than part of the sum of an elusive whole, but sometimes the patterns that define us can be harnessed, as they are here. And, what's most striking about the album is that Von Till's originals are so immediately captivating and threadbare that they seem more familiar upon first listen than the works of the time-honored songwriters to whom he pays tribute. Songs like the title track and "Looking for Dry Land" show Von Till coming into his own as a composer and arranger, perfectly adorning songs with flourishes of swooping strings, pedal steel, organ, et al. There's a somber restraint throughout, allowing the plaintive melodies to elevate each song beneath Von Till's breathy whisper that's reminiscent of similarly raspy, whiskey-throttled voices of Mark Lanegan and Michael Gira.

Steve Von Till is most widely recognized as vocalist and guitarist in Bay Area heavy post-psychedelic punk legends Neurosis. But, the breadth of his talents and interests reaching far beyond that band's thunderous intensity have been well established over the course of related projects like the experimental offshoot Tribes of Neurot, psych-drone band Harvestman and acoustic guitar based solo releases As the Crow Flies (2000) and If I Should Fall to the Field (2002). Von Till's intense obsession with ancestry and many things ancient is deeply ingrained in all his work, but none more than within his solo recordings. His first two albums focused intently upon sounds and stories of ages past, eloquently serving to reconnect with forgotten mythologies and long-buried verse. While the same reverence remains on A Grave is a Grim Horse, it is also Von Till's most personal and confident effort to date. Having traded city life for a rural existence in the open skies, wilderness and dense forests of Northern Idaho, the songwriter's dedication to these transcendent themes seem all the more focused and equally freed from contemporary trappings.

Ages ago, folk songs traveled through human history like a plague mutating and adapting the characteristics of each carrier and compounding the ghostly weight of the past. Von Till shows a depth and breadth to his songwriting that makes If I Should Fall to the Field flow like the bloodlines that connect us all.

The album opens with the parched weight of the title track, as the singer mournfully strums a bleary twanging guitar line, yearning for a departed elder, singing, "what the dead reveal to the living/ My blanket can't keep out this cold/ A grave is a grim horse to ride." The last line poignantly punctuated by a loud, chiming guitar line drenched in reverb. "Clothes of Sand" is a reinterpretation of a rare Nick Drake song, unreleased in his lifetime, that Von Till makes his own by fitting its claustrophobic candor with a smudged, fatalistic sounding string accompaniment. Elsewhere, "Valley of the Moon" is a deeply impassioned account that seems both a chronicle of the singer's own pilgrimage in anticipation of catastrophes to come as an echo of those who'd previously endured similar hardships. While the song sounds wholly autobiographical, it is inspired by the Jack London book of the same name that eerily parallels Von Till's own exodus from city life. "Looking For Dry Land" is a moving attempt to reconnect to that very humanity that has long since departed. The finality of album closer "Gravity" is incredibly moving. "What's done is done/ What's gone is gone" Von Till sings seemingly simultaneously to bid farewell to a past, a loved one...perhaps even all of us.

It's a resignation, just as the title suggests, echoing that of an old Irish limerick of the grim horse that delivers us to whatever may lie beyond this life. And, at the same time, it's an immense release to realize that we've only played a temporary host to this virus of song. A Grave is a Grim Horse is a beautiful vessel to that end.

http://www.vontill.org

Warning of a Storm
Steve Von Till Lyrics

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Staring out the window pane
Seeing through yourself
Counting your blessings again
Wondering when it will be
And how it can be then
See the warnings of a storm
As patterns unfold themselves
To try and be whole

Is this too much to ask
To live free with a quiet mind
And trust in someone else
I want to believe in the sun
Who in all its splendor is dying
I desire the solidness of earth

This ground is still shaking apart
What will be, will be

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Steve Von Till's song Warning of a Storm reflect on the constant anxieties and worries we face in life. The opening verse portrays a person looking out the window, contemplating their life and realizing that they need to count their blessings. The following lines question when everything will fall into place and how it will come about. As the patterns unfold, there is an impending sense of doom, hence the metaphor of "warnings of a storm". The individual acknowledges that they are trying to be whole despite these doubts and uncertainties that linger in their mind.

In the second verse, the lyrics evoke a sense of desire for freedom and independence from these overwhelming thoughts. The singer yearns to "live free with a quiet mind" and to trust in someone else. Additionally, the lyrics suggest that the singer wants to see the positivity in life, but in reality, everything eventually falls apart. The imagery of the dying sun and the shaking ground further emphasize the idea of inevitable destruction. The closing line, "What will be, will be," seems to accept the uncertainty of life and convey the importance of living in the present moment despite everything.

Line by Line Meaning

Staring out the window pane
Gazing aimlessly out the window

Seeing through yourself
Critically evaluating oneself

Counting your blessings again
Acknowledging one's privileges and blessings

Wondering when it will be
Pondering about the future

And how it can be then
Contemplating how the future would be different

See the warnings of a storm
Reading the signs of an impending danger

As patterns unfold themselves
As events or situations slowly unfold

To try and be whole
Hoping to become complete

Is this too much to ask
Is this expectation unrealistic?

To live free with a quiet mind
To live without worries disturbing one's peace of mind

And trust in someone else
To have faith in another person