Gyasi

An endlessly swaggering and purposely flashy guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, Gyasi proves glam rock is still alive, kicking, and glittery in the 21st century. Unashamedly influenced by T. Rex and Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, Gyasi's music is crunchy, guitar-based rock that displays an un-ironic love of 1970s excess, blended with an energy and attitude that speak of his passion for self-expression, and a no-frills punch. Hailing from the Deep South, Gyasi declared "No, I'm not normal/ I was born colorful" on the opening track of his 2019 debut album Androgyne, and the music's high-energy, blues-infused glam lived up to that billing. His work got tighter and more emphatic on 2022's Pronounced Jah-See, and 2024's Rock 'n' Roll Swordfight captured the sweaty abandon of Gyasi on-stage.Gyasi Heus was born and raised in Hinton, a small town in West Virginia, where his parents moved to get away from the city and pursue an agrarian lifestyle. Gyasi's family didn't have a television when he was growing up, but his father had a large collection of blues records, and listening to them sparked Gyasi's love of music. By the time he was four, Gyasi was learning to play the drums, and at six his folks gave him his first guitar. Before long, a family of Russian emigres moved in next door; they had a passion for music that was forbidden in the Soviet Union, including musicians like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and David Bowie, and their record collection resonated with Gyasi. The family's teenage daughter was also fascinated with fashion magazines, and she helped Gyasi understand how to communicate with an audience through clothing and personal style. He was also sharpening his guitar skills, studying gypsy jazz guitar in the style of Django Reinhardt, and blues, rock, and folk. After completing high school, Gyasi left West Virginia, where he often felt like a misfit, and enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While he learned a great deal about the mechanics of songwriting, production, and performance skills, and for a while fronted a two-piece rock band, he was disappointed by Berklee's emphasis on the commercial side of music making, and he didn't care for Boston's cold winters. After two years, Gyasi relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he already knew a handful of like-minded musicians. Not long after settling in Music City, and after a short stint in a band called Sara Rachele & The Skintights, Gyasi suffered a hand injury that forced him to move back to West Virginia. He used the time profitably, setting up a home recording studio at his parent's house and writing songs for his next project. With help from drummer Ammed Solomon (and playing most of the instruments himself), in 2018 he released a six-song EP, Peacock Fantasies, that he issued on his own label, Escaped Peacock Records. With Solomon on drums and Dylan Whitlow on bass, Gyasi delivered a full-length album in 2019, Androgyne, and a residency at a Nashville rock club and regional touring helped spread the word about his work.While the COVID-19 pandemic stranded him at home for a while, the noted independent label Alive Naturalsound struck a deal with him, and issued his second full-length LP, Pronounced Jah-See, in 2022. Gyasi and his band toured heavily across North America and Europe to support the release, winning especially positive press in France, and a digital EP, Baby Blue, arrived in April 2023, featuring a studio recording of the title tune and three live tracks. Another EP, 23, came out in October 2023, and it also featured one new studio track and three numbers recorded live. In May 2024, Alive Naturalsound released Rock 'n' Roll Swordfight, a concert recording drawn from shows in Nashville and West Virginia, as well as highlights from a fiery set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival.
© Mark Deming /TiVo

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