Photo: Kevin Ihle

Listen to any track from Colorado-based singer/songwriter Reed Foehl‘s 2009 album Once an Ocean and it becomes readily apparent he knows how to crank up the grandeur inherent in his quietly devastating folk to epic proportions. This live version of Once an Ocean centerpiece “Wolves” becomes an altogether different animal in concert, as Foehl strips away most of the busy elements of the recorded version to allow his voice to fill the cavernous space of the concert hall. “Performing live is a great way to let go and not smother the music with sense,” Foehl told Hive. “With a song like ‘Wolves,’ you can stretch it out, and be more dramatic with it.”

Boiling down “Wolves” (which was written by Foehl’s bandmate Jefferson Hamer) to its most essential features some how makes the song larger, and it’s interesting to listen as he lets a little more air into the composition by punctuating lyrics with pregnant pauses and extending the intro into a climactic buildup. It’s a simply gorgeous song from a talent that’s impossible to ignore. Luckily, Foehl has the same team that was behind Once an Ocean (studio engineer/drummer John Raham, and guitarist Jefferson Hamer) with him again as he records his latest album, due out this fall.