Asher Kramer & the Gone Astray BaNd

          The songs of Asher Kramer are rooted in a lifetime of experience and a profound, abiding love of American music—be it country, rock, folk, blues, bluegrass, or any of the other myriad styles that go under the label “Americana.” From these antecedents, he has forged a richly poetic style of songcraft that has reached a new plateau of expressiveness on his most recent album - his fourth to date - Love is the Kingdom Everlasting.

          “I believe these songs can heal broken hearts and provide comfort and optimism,” he says. “With this music, I want to wake up all those sleeping through life, quite honestly like I was.”

          Kramer wrote his first song at age 13. “I grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey,” he explains. “And after my dad died in 1964, I was exposed to the growing folk/pop scene of that time. I spent every moment I could in Greenwich Village at open mics and visiting the coffee houses on MacDougal and Bleeker Streets. I began writing songs and found it to be a great solace for me creatively and emotionally.”

          The burgeoning young tunesmith eagerly absorbed the music of Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Love, the Mamas and Papas, Phil Ochs, Eric Anderson, Judy Collins, the Beatles and Rolling Stones. He studied guitar with master fingerpicker Eric Schoenberg. In time, Kramer’s musical influences grew to include greats like Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, Warren Zevon, Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Webb, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and other American musical icons.

          Songwriting remained central to Kramer’s life as he forged a successful career as a healthcare executive and raised a family with his wife of 43 years, Pat. Their son, Henry, is an acclaimed classical pianist and professor of piano studies at the University of Montreal. Henry’s brother, David, lives in Amsterdam and works for Eurostar.

          But, amidst his busy professional life and family responsibilities, Kramer always found time for his music. “I’ve been writing hundreds of songs and appearing nightly in my living room for 50 years,” he jokes.

          The 14 songs that comprise Love is the Kingdom Everlasting grew out of a creative and personal breakthrough that began in 2021. The album was influenced, says Kramer, “by an extended period working on the outskirts of Houston, Texas, and falling in love with the people and places there—especially a Texas girl who could have joined me to ride into the sunset with her forever.  We both said no. I am deeply in love with my wife and committed forever to her. But I became determined based upon this experience, for once in my life, to bring my music and this story fully to life.”

          In January of 2022, on a visit to his sister in Phoenix, Kramer met the man who would help him realize that dream—record producer Liv Singh Khalsa, Founder and President of Invincible Recording. They cut some basic tracks in Singh’s studio and the project grew from there. Singh assembled a coterie of top session players like guitarist Kenny Skaggs (Glen Campbell), drummer Ken Mary (Alice Cooper), guitarist GuruGanesha, classical musicians Henry Kramer and Chee Yun Kim, drummer Nick Falk (Hiss Golden Messenger), Appalachian fiddle/mandolin ace Scott Freeman and his daughter, singer/songwriter Dori Freeman. As sessions alternated between Phoenix and Falk’s studio in Galax, Virginia, Singh worked closely with Kramer on shaping the material.

          “Liv pushed me to write and rewrite every lyric, polishing every line, asking myself what I wanted to say. Many of the tracks on the album have over 25 takes. I have never been as tired as after a session with Liv and his team. He heard arrangements in my songs and pushed them to a level I could never have imagined.”

          The solace that songwriting afforded Kramer when he was a bereaved child in 1964 is a gift that he’d like to share with the world. “I want to be known as a singer and songwriter who deeply cares about his art and helps people find hope, love, and comfort.