Firesides and Guitars
is the sole output of mysterious folk group
Logos
, a trio of three siblings from Kansas that produced this instantly vanishing private pressing of their gentle, home-recorded folk tunes in 1974.
were one of thousands of aspiring artists pressing small editions of their songs in the early '70s. Most of these acts faded into the ether, but some benefited from being just strange enough, tuneful enough, or somehow ahead of their time to be rediscovered by future generations.
presents 12 tunes of soft, semi-hip folk sung effusively by 16-year-old songwriter
Steve Epley
with help from
Chris
and
Cindy Williams
. Hippie sentiments come through on the anti-war ruminations of "If I Wanted To," and post-
Beatles
melodies show up on strong, optimistic tunes like "Slow Down" and the breezy,
CSNY
-like "What We Say (Everyday)." The album, absent of drums and probably recorded in a family den on a dusty reel-to-reel machine, glows with warmth and sincerity. The sound is decidedly private press, but
ranks among other obscure acid folk gems of its era like
Deep Night
by the
Sixth Station
or
Linda Perhacs
' classic psych folk wonder
Parallelograms
. ~ Fred Thomas