There’s no moss on local musician Taylor Ackerman.

 He is first out of the gate to release new music in the new year as “ Stand Tall,” the first single from Taylor Ackerman’s Global Acid Reset’s upcoming new Ep “Encephalon,” will be released Jan. 8
 The rest of the five song EP will be released online on Feb. 5.

 Like last year’s CD, “Perfect Vision,” “Encephalon” will only be available online.

Thew five song EP includes three originals and covers of the Sadies’ “Talking Down” and Lee Hazelwood’s “Cold Hard Times.”
“‘Stand Tall’ is a song I wrote about 10 years ago and played with Toques and Beards, ” said Ackerman, who chipped away at the project in his downtown studio space throughout Covid last year and played live in between lockdowns.  It is about longstanding musical venue the Slice.

“This is a more rock and roll version. The original version was more of an acoustic singer / songwriter version because I was really into (Winnipeg musician) Scott Nolan, who is a really excellent storyteller,” Ackerman continued, adding he borrowed his talented friends when they were available to record on the new songs.

“I also changed the key because my voice is lower than it was then,” Ackerman added.

The new EP features Dustin Gegel playing drums on most tracks. Tyler Bird plays bass on most of the tracks including  “Stand Tall” on which he also plays drums.

 Don Cassell sings on “Stand Tall,”  sings harmonies on others and plays harp throughout the CD,  which reflects Ackerman’s long affinity with the blues.

“If there’s harp on the EP , it’s Don,” Ackerman said. There is a lot of slide guitar on the CD including “Be Easy,” and  the Sadies cover “Talkin’ Down.” Most of songs are played in open G tuning which is the featured tuning of a lot of blues music.
“That’s the tuning the Black Crowes and Rolling Stones use, so it gives the songs a more bluesy sound, he said.

Ackerman put his own stamp on  the Sadies ’ “Talkin’ Down” and Lee Hazelwood’s ‘Cold Hard Times.’

‘‘‘Talkin’ Down’’ is from the Sadies 1999 album  ‘Pure Diamond Gold.’  It’s a fun song to play live. It came out good,” he said, adding it also features Ryan Skinny Dyck playing bass.

 “Lee Hazelwood was best known for writing songs for other singers. So when he recorded, he had a stable of singers to call on. I liked the phrase ’cold hard times.’ His original is more acoustic 70s pop. My version is more of a Southern rock and Big Sugar style version because I am influenced by that style of music.  And ‘Cold Hard Times‘ seemed apt for 2020,” he said.
He enjoyed having a musical project to work on during Covid, noting releasing new music keeps his name out there.
“You can’t expect people to remember you if you haven’t played for two years,” he observed.

 The EP will be available on all streaming sites, Feb. 5.