– Nachholtermin vom 13.04.2020 bzw. 19.08.2020 bzw. 05.03.2021 –

During the summer of 1997, Mark Nelson, guitar player and singer of the legendary Labradford, wanted to explore the possibilities of sampling and computer technology as well as his interests in dub and techno. Mark started recording a full length album for Kranky at home and at Sound of Music Studios in Richmond, Virginia. The self-titled, debut Pan American album came out on Kranky in early 1998.
 
Nelson continued to work on Pan American material as he worked with Labradford, learning to play pedal steel guitar, releasing singles on European labels. More singles and compilation tracks followed, along with the odd live performance. Nelson’s placement behind a synthesizer and mixing desk belied the improvisational nature of the live mix.

Nelson cites everything from June Tabor, The Carter Family, Suicide, and Jimmy Reed as oblique inspirations, though his truest muse was creative self-inquiry: “What does music do, Where does music start? How simple can it be? How honest can it be?”

After decades of mining post-rock pathways and latticework electronics in Labradford and early Pan American, „A Son“ strips away ornament and distraction in favor of a direct gaze into the heart of what is.