Guy Blakeslee’s recorded debut was as the bassist for the blink-and-miss-it, left-field, ’90s hardcore experimentalists Behind Closed Doors in 1997, before his window-rattling yet melodic bass lines became a signature part of the Convocation Of…, a trio formed in 1998 with former Moss Icon, Born Against, and Universal Order of Armageddon guitarist Tonie Joy and drummer George France. After two albums and an EP of heavy, ’70s-psych-and-prog-inspired post-hardcore in that band, Blakeslee departed and began making music as Entrance. At first, Entrance was a largely acoustic, psych-folk endeavor that was often compared to pre-glam Marc Bolan (Tyrannosaurus Rex) and then-contemporaries like Devendra Banhart. In reality, the four albums (and handful of EPs) Blakeslee released under this moniker between 2003 and 2006 (on Fat Possum, Tiger Style, and Tee Pee) are all over the map and track a gradual move toward a more rock-and-roll direction.
Guy Blakeslee
In 2004, Blakeslee teamed up with bassist Paz Lenchantin (who has a fascinating underground-to-high-profile resume), and by 2008, the project had officially morphed into the heavier, harder, but no less eclectic power-trio the Entrance Band, which released an amazing self-titled double-LP on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! label in 2009 and a second album called Face the Sun in 2013. Under both monikers, Blakeslee toured the world with Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Will Oldham, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Dungen, among others, and was personally asked to play the Animal Collective-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2011. In 2014, Blakeslee released the more pared-back, personal, and very pretty (but appropriately all over the place) Ophelia Slowly album under his own name on Everloving Records. On the 15th of this month, Blakeslee released The Middle Sister, an all-instrumental double album evenly split between improvised John Fahey/Leo Kottke-acoustic guitar work and electric, more dynamic, and rhythmic early-’70s Krautrock/drone-rock (think Can, Neu!, Terry Riley, etc.).