With a backing band that includes drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Leland Sklar, and David Steele on electric guitar, the Minnesota-bred, L.A.-based veteran singer/songwriter Peter Himmelman was able to walk into a studio and with little rehearsal nail down the 13 songs for 2014’s The Boat That Carries Us. Producer and longtime friend and collaborator Sheldon Gomberg brought in keyboardist Will Gramling after the main sessions and had him augment the tunes beautifully. It’s a warm, often subdued sound that gives Himmelman the opportunity to deliver his well-crafted lyrics without hindrance. As a songwriter who sees himself more as a journalist, Himmelman explains how travel agrees with his wanderlust on “33K Feet,” while it puts others through a grind that wears down their souls in “Afraid to Lose.” The title track offers a bare-boned look at Himmelman as an optimist at heart, while the swamp-rock shuffle of “In the Hour of Ebbing Light” sees the hope and despair of modern-day Los Angeles.