Meet 32-year-old Cameron Sharp: an original musician, a husband, a teacher, and a photographer. He is most recognized in the community for his band: “sovroncourt.” His music has been described by some as “Broken bedroom country from a half completed house across the yard during The Hour of the Wolf in Ohio.”; “floor stompin’ basement folk”, and “lo-fi.”
The term Lo-fi is short for low fidelity and reflects a cultural phenomena that seems to be trending in the independent music realm today. Sharp put it plainly when he said, “Lo-fi leaves the listener thinking ‘I could do that’ because of its inherent accessibility. More people are experimenting with making music. If you decide to make an album- you can do that. It will be online- it’ll be out for the world to hear and it will take up the same amount of space that artists like Mumford & Sons and the Tallest Man on Earth do. The opportunity to hear sovroncourt’s music is so much greater and because of that, I think there’s a greater chance to hear lower quality music that’s out there. You could write an album on your iPhone, and that’s that.”
His primary influences have been bands, “The Music Tapes,” “Neutral Milk Hotel,” “Smog,” “Bill Callahan,” “Baptist Generals,” and “Will Oldham.”
This underground genre reflects an aversion to highly polished radio-ready songs. Once, Sharp had the opportunity to record higher quality sound with a friend who has professional sound equipment, which he jumped on. However, when he listened to the finished songs, he reflected, “Something about the quality of the sound compromised the mood.”
Sharp received his BFA in photography from Ohio State University, but he has always been drawn to music. He picked up his father’s acoustic guitar in his cul-de-sac home on Sovron Court in Dublin, Ohio when he was 13-years-old. He said he started writing simple songs as soon as he learned basic chords. Sovroncourt remains the name of his band because it was there that he fell in love with music for the first time.
But his passion for music depends on the day. He shared that some days he flips between photography, music, and teaching art to children with disabilities. His day job allows him to switch between the three as often as he pleases. He is a general education teacher for children with autism, and teaches some artistic classes at the Mansfield Art Center.
His experiences with teaching autistic children influences his music writing. “My priorities of what’s important have shifted since working with the kids. They are incredibly expressive and free,” he shared. His outlook on his students comes out in his lyrics and instrumentation, but he admits feeling the all-too-familiar struggle for artists in not wanting to be too vulnerable.
“I don’t have hooks or choruses because I try not to repeat things. I almost expose myself, but then pull away.” He said prior to his most recent album, waves and wheels, he viewed the phrase “I love you” in music as “super cheesy.” He hopes this album shows this phrase without actually saying it outright.
The practice expresses itself in lyrics like “i know i don’t always speak like i miss you/ but as sure as this song exists i prom-ise i do.”
It has only been three years since he decided to focus on molding a specific structure in a song. When asked what he would like others to feel when they listen to his music, he paused before answering, “Authenticity. I don’t want to be a shtick. It’s coming from a real place… It’s definitely of me.”
Sovroncourt is predominantly Cameron Sharp but periodically he is joined by a small cast of friends. He has traveled as far as Chicago and Pittsburg and Kalamazoo. However, his favorite city to play is Mansfield. “There is something intimate about Mansfield that I love,” he said.
Sovroncourt’s next show will be in Columbus on December 21, but he hinted at having an album release party at Relax, It’s Just Coffee in February. For information on upcoming shows and to listen to original tunes, visit his Facebook page.
