Ampient is a conversation. Several musicians from Knoxville Tennessee, sitting around with a beer or cup of tea. The subject is, of course, music. The making of it, the recording of it. Successes. Failures. Experiments.

Ah, that’s the stuff. Experiments.

The artists that make up Ampient have all made their share of experimental sounds. Alongside the more traditional songcraft that most of these artists have spent years developing, many of their more ambitious experiments seem to have fallen through the cracks. Not because they were failures, but because of their unorthodoxy or lack of commerciality or maybe they just didn’t fit anywhere else. They never had a home. Until now.

Despite their apparent cast-off nature, these experimental sounds are oftentimes more indicative of the artists than the carefully crafted work one might hear on their other published works. Less manipulated. More direct. Less calculated. More spontaneous. Less contained. More expansive.

In having this conversation, we have discovered that there is a hidden wellspring of inspiration and creativity in this little southern college town. Not only is there an incredibly diverse core of musical talent here, but several of its leading lights are active in their search for uncharted sonic territory. Ampient will be a home and breeding ground for experimental sounds. Ampient will serve to sponsor more converstation about experimental music and its manufacture.

This sampler represents some of the works created by several multiply talented musicians from Knoxville Tennessee. Some of these works you will find surprising if you were already familiar with the artists involved. There will be more. These and other Knoxville artists are committed to this pursuit.

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More projects are planned from Ampient Music in 2010. E-mail us to receive information on upcoming releases.