High on the Hog: Mogipbob's Prairie Songs, Written by Hand, Sung by Machine

Jason Graves is a songwriter in Hythe, Alberta, a place with solid wind-driven concrete underneath a thick layer of cold air above it. His songwriting project is named Mogipbob, which seems to fit the bill for a bar tab next to a half-finished beer, along with the lyrics scribbled on a napkin in front of him.

His most recent release, High on the Hog, contains twelve tracks that vary from prairie-style country, to back-porch folk and have an air of ’70s-style funk-pop. The groove will rock you; the bass lines will help keep you in time; each chorus will settle into your mind easily. There is plenty of humor—finding humour in the everyday experiences of being from a small town, or what it’s like to work hard all week—but also some darker contemplation. Some longer songs could explore heartbreak and switch abruptly to focus on being hopeful about finding love again.

All of Graves's music, from the lyrics to the melody, comes from him. He utilizes AI to create the vocal and instrumental sounds, but not as a shortcut to complete songs. Rather, AI is a production partner helping him to focus on telling stories, measuring the cadence of lyrics, and choosing how to phrase them. These are combinations of both modern recording technologies and older forms of songwriting craftsmanship.

During the daytime, Graves works for the City of Grande Prairie; at night, he writes songs that have the same feel as having a conversation over a beer, but recorded through static and set against the real world. That's the tension running between the two - the tension between the everyday and the reverie is the framework of his music.

Graves's goal is not to polish a recording; instead, he makes an effort to create records that connect with the listener. On High on the Hog, he succeeds.