Octave Records captures a powerful performance of Clay Rose with stark impact, in a remarkably realistic high-definition recording
May 14, 2025 – Few albums convey the raw emotional intensity of an artist like Octave Records’ latest release, Clay Rose Live at Dharma Barn. It’s a stark, unvarnished presentation of a man and his guitar and nothing more. No sweetening, no overdubs, no studio trickery – just the unrestrained power of Clay Rose and his darkly-stained poetic songs.
Clay Rose has been writing music and recording since 1997, as a solo artist and with his award-winning band Gasoline Lollipops. He is the son of an outlaw father and a Nashville number-one winning country songwriter mother, and spent much of his life traveling between the Colorado mountains and the backwoods of Tennessee. His many miles of traveling, touring and living are reflected in his weathered voice and no-nonsense acoustic guitar playing. Clay Rose Live at Dharma Barn features 14 original songs and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Lover, Lover, Lover.”
The recording quality is remarkable. Unlike typical recordings, no compression or limiting whatsoever were used, in order to preserve the tremendous dynamic range of Rose’s intense singing and playing. The Dharma Barn is an intimate venue with exceptional acoustics, making it ideal for capturing Rose’s live performance with Octave Records’ Pure DSD 256 high-resolution DSD recording system.
His voice was captured using a vintage Coles ribbon mic, and the guitar was recorded using AKG condenser mics. A stereo pair of AKG condensers were placed about halfway into the room for ambience and for recording the audience. In addition, Rose used a cheap no-name mic to get the strange faraway vocal sound on songs like “Kill the Architect” and the wry “Milk and Honey” (where he calls his woman his sustenance, declaring, “do you know what that word was, that washed away my pain/It was your name”).
Clay Rose does not look at life with blinders on. Yet a deep humanity and awareness runs through his songs. In the song “Blind,” he sings, “And the night comes easy to those who fear the light.” “Full Steam Ahead” is a romantic vision of his father’s life as a hobo turned cross-country truck driver before Rose was born: “It might be hell for a Christian but it’s heaven for a tramp.” In the wry “Honey, I Confess,” he confides, “Some folks stick together like a warm coat in cold weather.”
The sense of Rose being right there performing in front of you is startling. His voice goes from a whisper to almost frighteningly intense during his loudest declarations. Every nuance of his guitar playing can be heard as if you were in the audience, from the low-end power of the guitar’s body to the astounding clarity of the strings and the way the upper harmonics of the guitar ring out into the room.
Rose’s playing goes from all-out strumming to delicate quiet passages where the space between the notes becomes as important to the music as the notes themselves. The bare-bones arrangement of Leonard Cohen’s “Lover, Lover, Lover” is harrowing in its directness. Rose ends the album on a wry note by “Working for the Devil,” where he notes, “So I traded wings for freedom/where I’d be down here singing/in the dregs and demons choir,” and, “When the angels cry for me/it’s just pure jealousy.”
Clay Rose Live at Dharma Barn was recorded and mixed by Paul McGowan, with Jessica Carson as producer and recording and mixing assistant, and Terri McGowan assisting. The album was mixed at Octave Records’ studios and mastered by Gus Skinas.
The disc is made using Octave’s premium gold disc formulation, and is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. It also has a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible by using any SACD player or a PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download, including DSD 512, DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64, and DSDDirect Mastered 352.8 kHz/24-bit, 176.2 kHz/24-bit, 88.2 kHz/24-bit, and 44.1 kHz/24-bit PCM. (SRP: $29.)
If you’re a member of the media and would like Clay Rose Live at Dharma Barn for review, please contact Frank Doris at [email protected] or 631-645-5668.
About PS Audio
Celebrating 50 years of bringing music to life, PS Audio has earned a worldwide reputation for excellence in manufacturing innovative, high-value, leading-edge audio products. Located in Boulder, Colorado at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, PS Audio’s staff of talented designers, engineers, production and support people build each product to deliver extraordinary performance and musical satisfaction. The company’s wide range of award-winning products include the all-in-one Sprout100 integrated amplifier, audio components, power regenerators and power conditioners.
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