In Noid, a tiny hamlet situated to the south west of Bath, some of the most dangerous and ill sounding beats and riffs are being created by four wolf like personalities.
The Heavy started out ripping and chopping beats from the likes of Bo Diddley, Little Walter and The Parliaments and fusing them with their now patented brand of high grade dirt. Guitar riffs that intoxicate, bass lines that reverberate around your head like a King Jammy dream and vocals that will challenge any of the genres they decide to take on.
The Heavy continually cross genres as they as a unit are proud to be completely musically schizophrenic. From country to rhythm and blues, garage punk to rock and roll, Studio one to the slums of shaolin, you'll find that The Heavy are indeed like a pack of chemists with the way that genres get cooked up, blended, stirred and then mixed, to create their own unique style of rock and roll.
The album Great Vengeance and Furious Fire released on Counter Records in late 2007 generated a great deal of interest with songs like That kind of man, Girl, Set me free, Coleen and Dignity, firmly laying foundations for the house of dirt that they are building at present. There is no other band that sounds as raw as The Sonics while holding soul in a headlock and frequently wrestling rock to the ground with the weight of Mr 808 as tag team partner. Listen, then try and tell Louis different.
You will not experience another band like this ....So dirty. So much weight. So much energy and laced with a soul that you just don't hear anymore. The Heavy have indeed created a monster. ............ King Louie............ The Heavy biographer.
"Proving once again that downtown New York City is still the world's greatest incubator for awesome rock music, along come dynamic duo known as Naked Hearts. The twosome of Amy Cooper (guitar and vocals) and Noah Wheeler (bass, drums, and vocals) have done things the good old-fashioned way--by playing lots and lots and lots of shows in tiny clubs and bars all over the city. In less than a year after forming, the band had already managed to establish itself as a formidable live act and a songwriting force to be reckoned with. Two-piece bands might be all the rage now, but Naked Hearts put a fresh spin on things, crafting songs that are equal parts tough and sweet."
- Soundgirl
"Live and in person, Naked Hearts are explosive, charming, and something exciting. The impeccably turned-out pair ooze a fuzzy rock sincerity; every song is a stripped-down challenge to cut loose"
- PopMatters
"Then there are the enthusiastic newbies Naked Hearts, who explore the various ways in which a boy/girl duo can make you dance, fall in love, and cry all at the same time."
- Interview Magazine
"The skillfully shaded indie-rock band Naked Hearts has an impressively versatile sound, partially due to the fact that members Amy Cooper and Noah Wheeler take turns singing lead"
- Time Out NY
"...to ignore this band would be to ignore what is going on in New York these days. This band has catapulted themselves into a New York spotlight thanks to their streamlined sound and constant playing throughout the city."
We're just two dudes who really enjoy playing acoustic music together.
After a year of writing and playing shows together we've finally released our first ever cd which is available online at www.asleeplessmelody.bigcartel.com - as well as some cool threads & other sweet gear!
Currently we are writing for a new release and will be sharing plenty of demos and such with you guys along the way so keep an eye and ear out for those!
In the mean time - keep safe and thank you for your ongoing love and support! We wouldn't be able to do this without you guys!
Keith Hook - Guitar, Vocals Ronan Hook - Guitar, Vocals Colin Delaney - Drums
The Hooks were born in a Church Hall in Rosses Point, Co. Sligo, Ireland by the two Mulligan brothers (Nigel & Keith). Ronan muscled his way in later on while Nigel slipped out the side door.
The Hooks recorded a 4 song demo at JAM Studios which led to a session on Irish National radio, 2FM, for Ireland's version of John Peel, Dave Fanning.
Shane MacGowan got wind of 'The Hooks' and in his own eloquent way asked them to join him for two separate Irish tours.
In search of new experiences, The Hooks left for San Francisco, where we find them today.
Gigs with many musical luminaries include: The Pogues, X, The Stiff Little Fingers, The Bravery, Flogging Molly,The Corona's, The Filthy Thieving Bastards, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes.
Vacillating between the agit-driven punk rock they are famous for interspersed with galloping Irish trad(played fast loud,and sometimes Gaelic)with a twist. The Hooks recorded two EP's (10,000 Feet EP & Irish Punk Rock Anthems) at NOFX's Motor Studio's with Jamie McMann. The album tracks are in the can, it's just a matter of mixing and mastering.
The Hooks just recently returned from great success at SXSW playing The Mohawk in Austin and winning celebrity fans such as Tricky and Drew Barrymore (lovely lady).
To RAVIN’WOLF the blues is “mostly about having nothin’…”
Tucked away in the earthen canyons of Central Washington State, where Seattle meets the Sage, RAVIN’WOLF is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most captivating acoustic blues acts. In 2010, Ravin’wolf was nominated for the Best of the Blues 2010
“Best Blues Solo/Duo” Award by the Washington Blues Society and has been submerging themselves in feral blues & non-stop gigging all year long, sharpening their double sided six-string performance to a razor's edge, honing their live performance together and becoming increasingly familiar as “that male-female duo you’ve just gotta hear!”
This one of a kind pair slips in and out of the genre with ease to explore the psychedelic edges and defy the boundaries of their blues ’n groove rock influences, to take their audience on a sometimes raunchy, sometimes mystical journey into Psychedelic Sagebrush Blues...a shotgun wedding of blues rock fusion...and southern back-porch jelly...saddled up next to the pop edge...with an old school psychedelic delivery.
They hit the road early in 2010 on their “2010 Sun Valley Run Tour” in their personal tour bus traveling to the far reaches of Montana, Idaho, Northern California, Oregon & Washington which opened up new friendships and venues, the highlights of which included performances at the Oregon Country Fair, Seattle’s Highway 99 Blues Club, The Rock Cut Blues Festival, Pine Springs Resort Blues Bash, Missoula’s Top Hat and Moscow’s John’s Alley. Sharing the stage with Nick Vigarino, Terry Robb, Alice Stuart, Randy Oxford, Mary McPage, Kevin Selfe, Too Slim & the Taildraggers, the Fat Tones, Sugarcane Collins, Deadwood Revival and many others over the past year has only served to make richer each note upon the air between friends.
RAVIN’WOLF has featured many of the Northwest’s finest musicians on their stage and in the studio having released 2 full length studio albums and a live CD “Live at the Columbia City Theater”, showcasing slop jar slide-slingin’ and dueling guitars with their signature soulful vocal harmonies and a blues lilt with a far more dangerous groove.
Patrick Park is a Colorado native that grew up outside of Denver, surrounded by words and music. His mother is a published poet, and his father played folk and blues on the guitar around the house. “I’ve written songs since I was a kid,” he says. “There was nothing else that I really wanted to do—I was obsessed with it. I pretty much decided at the age of 13 or 14 that this was what I wanted to do.” Now with three EPs and two full lengths to his name, Patrick Park is set to release his strongest set of songs yet with the new Come What Will lp.
Patrick Park’s ernest start at becoming a songwriter came sometime around 2000 when living in Los Angeles with a batch of songs that he decided to demo. He lacked the money to go into a studio, but that didn’t deter him. “I ended up recording in the back of a store that a friend’s girlfriend owned. I sang all the vocals on my knees inside of this couch cushion hut that we built because there was a cricket in the room and it kept bleeding into the microphone. It was August and it was hot and horrible,” Park laments.
With his first album underway, Park began playing solo shows in LA, and the local press immediately reacted. His fellow artists took notice as well, as he opened shows for the likes of Richard Buckner and Gomez. Beth Orton handpicked Park as the supporting act on her U.S. tour. Hollywood Records also took notice, and signed Patrick. While recording for the major label, Badman Recording Co. released Park’s gorgeous, well received, six song EP: Under the Unminding Skies.
Park released his first lp Loneliness Knows My Name in 2003 (Hollywood Records) and immediately hit the road, touring with My Morning Jacket, David Grey, Liz Phair, The Thrills, Rachel Yamagata, Granddaddy and more. As the album drew praise from critics, Patrick won over crowds show by show with his intimate, nuanced live performance.
Problems with Hollywood Records quickly appeared and began to challenge the future of Park’s next album as they stalled giving the go ahead to record new tracks. He recalls, “I think they were either waiting for me to try to jump ship or turn in a Hillary Duff song about sexy text messages. I ended up recording a whole new record without them knowing. When it was done I left it on my A&R guys doorstep with a note that said just said "this is my second record". I think that he was amused, but it's fair to say nobody else was.”
After enduring the long process of getting off Hollywood, Patrick finally released Everyone’s in Everyone in 2007. Park worked with several producers including Dave Trumfio, (Built to Spill, Wilco), Rob Schapf (Elliott Smith, Beck) and Chris Stamey (Whiskeytown). The albumwas well received, making several year-end Best Of lists, lead off track, “ Life Is A Song” was featured as the final song on The O.C, and viewed by over eight million people and the second single “Here We Are” was one of Stereogum’s most downloaded tracks of 2007.
As on his first two records, Park returned to working with his friend, producer Dave Trumfio in creating Come What Will. “On this record, I would write a song and then immediately go into the studio and record them when they were super fresh and new. A few songs were recorded at home in one take in the middle of the night- in the same room where my girlfriend was asleep. Topically, I feel like there is a strong thread of redemption and a rebirth that runs through a lot of these songs -mixed in with a healthy dose of regret and the odd bit of "oh fuck , the world is falling apart,” Park reveals. Come What Will is set for an April 6th release date on Badman Recording Co. Patrick Park will be touring Spring-Fall 2010 in support of the album.
“Park is an inheritor of the Elliott Smith melancholy mantle, with a less edgy and more traditional bent, and one of the great heartbreaking voices working in the acoustic singer-songwriter world today.” - LA Times
There’s a scene in Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov where the main characters Ivan and Alyosha discuss the existence of God. Ivan, in particular, questions the idea of God. Alyosha, on the other hand, is a monk, a believer, some may say, a holy fool.
Talk of faith and exalted things is rare in indie rock today. Enter Seattle band Ivan & Alyosha. Throughout their second release, the five song Fathers Be Kind EP, the band chart their own course between divinity and disbelief.
“I left my family and my home/to fight the battle on my own
I stole a car and drove away/but in my hate St. Paul did say
‘Glorify the Lord above/with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord my son, with your whisky and your gun.”
Ivan & Alyosha began as the solo outlet for Tim Wilson but in spring 2007 the band formed after Tim met Ryan Carbary through a former band mate and mutual friend. Ryan and Tim began playing and recording together and a trip to Los Angeles to work with Eli Thompson (Richard Swift, Delta Spirit) spawned the name Ivan & Alyosha. According to Tim, Thompson is a huge Dostoevsky fan and the name stuck. With that, Wilson and Carbary released The Verse, The Chorus, their debut EP on Cheap Lullaby Records (Joan as Police Woman, The Silver Seas, Teitur). The stand out track “Easy To Love” earned NPR Song of the Day honors as “a propulsive, sweetly booming ode to love as a feat of endurance.”
The name Ivan & Alyosha is apt for a band cutting its teeth. As Ivan in Brothers Karamazov moves through the novel with doubts, Ivan & Alyosha navigate the indie rock world contemplating their path as a band. Tim says he writes songs about what’s current in his life. He recently married and had a son. Songs like “Living for Someone” and “Fathers Be Kind,” reflect Ivan & Alyosha grappling with the idea of being in a band and trying to fashion a career. Not only to follow their dreams but to earn a livelihood and support their families; a feeling he expresses in the former song, “Expecting our first child / Amid the great recession”. Despite the uncertainty, Ivan & Alyosha’s soulful folk tunes suggest a band inspired, hopeful and longing; a band unafraid to probe their collective faith and doubts.
Plus, things are different this time around. Tim and Ryan are joined by two others – Tim Kim and Pete Wilson, Tim’s brother. The band built a studio in a barn at Ryan’s parent’s house in Snohomish, 45 minutes outside of Seattle. Snohomish provides an idyllic setting with a charming main street lined by bars and little distraction. Self-recording their upcoming EP allows the guys more time together to create and perfect the new songs.
In the Brothers Karamazov, when Ivan asks Alyosha to renounce his beliefs, Alyosha refuses. Rather, he kisses Ivan on the lips. Seattle’s Ivan & Alyosha are not nihilist indie rockers but a new brand of tender dreamers. And non-believers be damned! God, or no God - these guys are no holy fools. They have their music to prove it.
Parisian Lead singer Nina Courson met British guitarist Phil Honey-Jones in 2009 in the venue Punk in Soho, both of them were in separate bands at the time. They wrote their first song as a birthday present for a mutual friend and it felt good, in fact it felt right. The song is entitled Glam Sister and is on the album and one of the most popular songs in the live set. From then on more songs came thick and fast, the shared influences of the likes of Iggy Pop, Nirvana, Blondie, Killing Joke and Sonic Youth have played a big part in the direction of the group, inspiration has come from far and wide and lyrically the lines between autobiographical and fiction are blurred and merged. I suppose if there was a specific aim it would be to capture and bottle the essence of certain music from the past and release it kicking and screaming into the now. Phil and Nina were soon joined by Steve Nightmare on drums and Tjay Tarantino(Blood Island Raiders/Dusteroid) on Bass guitar. They played their first gig together at an all day punk festival in Brighton in September 2010. Since then the band have played many gigs, all over the U.K. including a support slot to the legendary Walter Lure of the Heartbreakers in November. Earlier in the summer of 2011 the band went on a short tour to France and are heading back there in April 2012. So it’s onward and upwards with the live shows getting better and better. On stage lead singer Nina Courson interacts with the other band members and entices her audience in the theatre that has become the trademark of their live shows.
Band Members:
Nina Courson-Vocals,
Phil Honey-Jones-Guitar/vocals, Tjay Tarantino-Bass, Steve Nightmare-Drums
Oh, my love, this is the beginning… It certainly is the beginning of a new chapter for Josh and Nicole Johnson as they combine their passion and raw talent to form Elenowen (pronounced “ellen-owen”) after their national debut on NBC’s “The Voice.” Hailing from Nashville, TN, Josh and Nicole pursued individual careers before forming the indie/pop duo that sings through the journeys of everyday life and the many battles it brings. Their music emphasizes heavy harmonies, raw acoustics, and ambient elements that combine to create a unique mood and sound that comes as an honest breath of fresh air in an overly manufactured music world.
After about a year of living paycheck-to-paycheck working at the same local coffee shop, Josh and Nicole started pursuing their dream by creating their debut album, Pulling Back the Veil (released January 2010). Pulling Back the Veil is a collection of eight original songs, written both individually and collaboratively to paint a picture of the road they have been on for the past year – a road filled with internal struggles to know truth, joyous triumphs through desire, and the awakening adjustments to married life.
In forming Elenowen, Josh and Nicole felt called to not necessarily give answers or guide the listener, but to be honest and as real and vulnerable as possible. One quick listen to their music reveals Elenowen’s uncanny ability to move past the surface and into the heart. The combination of Josh and Nicole’s powerful melodies, smooth harmonies, and insightful lyrics distinguish this husband and wife duo from the magnitude of other aspiring artists. In an industry hungry for something new, raw, and beautiful, Elenowen distinguishes itself as an up and coming act that completely and refreshingly satisfies its listener.
Growing up in the rich literary and religious environment of Mississippi, and then moving straight into the country-soaked musical world of Nashville, Trent Dabbs has many stories to tell. Like Flannery O’Connor with her short story collection, A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Dabbs pieces his own spiritual and relational questions into well crafted folk-pop albums. The ghosts of Johnny Cash, old gospel-choirs, Neil Young, and Nick Drake are heard roaming the halls of Trent’s songs.
This is especially true with Southerner, Dabbs' sixth full-length record to date. This album is both a return and a departure. The album is a return to Trent's heritage, and recalls how the South has shaped his art, but the tone is also a slight departure from his previous pop and rock-driven songwriting. The track titled, “Leave To See”, the first song written for the album, fittingly describes the paradox of more clearly seeing your home from a different place, a different perspective. Trent says that on Southerner he, “wanted to peel back the layers . . . and portray ten separate stories that have been woven into my southern life”.
An artist with a unique business sense, Trent Dabbs has forged his way through an ever-changing music industry by uniting some of Nashville’s best up-and-coming musicians in a touring and recording collective called, Ten Out of Tenn. Many of these artists such as Erin McCarley, Andrew Belle, Katie Herzig and Joy Williams (The Civil Wars), among others, have gone on to have critically and commercially successful careers as performers and songwriters. Trent’s own songs have been featured on television shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Hawaii Five-0, One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries and many others as well as in feature films. Despite these successes, Trent remains a humble and avid supporter of his fellow musicians, and anyone who is looking to create authentic art. As noted in Athens Blur, “as beautiful as the talent Trent Dabbs helps introduce to the masses, it’s his own music that merits the most attention.”
The Band was created in the autumn of 2007 when a drummer Željko Stanisavljević responded to an add by a guitarist Sava Jović, concerning the foundation of a serious band. The band was intended to be in the realm of progressive rock/metal genre, mostly influenced by bands such as "Pain of Salvation" and "Dream Theater". The search for musicians started as well as rehearsals. During the period of one year, the band was working hard and as a result, a mini EP “Leaving Behind” was recorded in the winter of 2008/09. The EP contains four songs. Even though there were serious problems with stability of the line-up (a guitarist, a bassist and four keyboardists were replaced), the band is now in a stable setting and a promotional tour across Serbia has recently started out. Also, the band is still searching for an adequate keyboardist and vocals, so that they can present themselves in the best possible way
CD and Digital Album Features 12 Original Songs and 1 Cover
Boston, Massachusetts – February 4, 2011 – Dymaxion Vehicle is excited to announce the January release of its forthcoming album Design recorded at Little Blackwing Studio.
Design is the debut album from multi-instrumentalist/producer/songwriter and pop strategist Bill Hemp AKA “Gothboy.” Dymaxion Vehicle [pronounced: dy-mak-see-uhn] blends synths, guitars, polyrhythmic beats, and programming with contributions from a variety of vocalists creating a unique sonic blend of ethereal textures by way of a pop approach.
“Music that sounds both organic and electronic … It’s technical foundation that drives Design but make no mistake, there is a natural process going on and you can hear it on the disc. Where pop meets Goth, meets dance meets electronics, is where you will find Bill Hemp, Dymaxion Vehicle and Design. Get it soon and be moved.” – David Carr, Associated Content & CWG Magazine
The Boston-based, electronic pop project Dymaxion Vehicle was born in 2008. Bill Hemp, the artist at the helm of the project comments:
“The original intent for Design was inspired by some of the synth pop pioneers I came to adore such as; Kraftwork, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and Recoil. Those groups changed the concept of traditional bands. You were no longer beholden to being in a room with three or four other musicians at the same time in order to make music. You could essentially create a lush, dynamic sound from your home studio.
Having been in traditional bands for so many years, I felt the need for a fresh approach; creating electronic music using only a vocalist and myself. Alan Wilder did this with Recoil after he left Depeche Mode and it struck me as an excellent idea. I also always loved what Alan Parsons did with the Alan Parsons Project using different singers on different albums. As I began writing songs for Design, I incorporated these influences.”
Hemp, originally from Long Island, New York, played in local bands prior to attending Emerson College in Boston. Once entrenched in the Boston music scene he co-founded The Einstein Experience as vocalist and co-guitarist. After the Einstein Experience disbanded in 1991, Hemp continued playing with a series of popular Boston alternative bands including Medicinal James and Sweetie. “Those more traditional experiences provided the framework and building blocks for the type of music I now create. From a musical perspective, all that I learned while in those bands is now a part of my toolkit, and those “tools” both inform and inspire.”
Hemp shifted gears in 1997 embracing midi and computer technology, delving into the world of electronic production. Dymaxion Vehicle was born out of that intention primarily as a studio project that would actively seek out and feature a diverse array of vocalists, although Hemp also remixes, produces and programs for other artists; his pop/disco remix of "I Feel High” (Higher Gothboy Mix) was featured on the 2008 Divasonic release “Girationz Luv & High.”
About the meaning behind the name Hemp explains, “I’m an avid reader of the New Yorker and happened upon a story about the brilliant architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller. When I saw the name ‘Dymaxion’ I thought it sounded futuristic, which I liked, and ‘Vehicle’ which, to me, represents the carrying out of ideas. It’s as if the name is saying, “Get on the vehicle and let’s see what we come up with,” which is a lot like the process of how I make music.”
For the release of Design, Hemp partnered with vocalists in his Boston environs and beyond, giving each collaborator a wide range of creative wiggle room, and thus the opportunity to put their own stamp on Dymaxion Vehicle’s songs.
“On Eulogy, for example, after I tracked guide vocals, I sent them—either as stereo files or the Pro Tools session—to Greg Giradrin, he tracked his vocals and then I asked him to do a melisma in a certain part of the song, as well as some haunting, sustained stuff. But all the lead and background vocals he did himself, and he completed them in just three days. It was just great working with Greg.
Honestly, the most difficult part of the process was picking the right singer to match a particular song. But all the vocalists were terrific and they all brought a distinctive lyrical quality to the songs.”
The multi-vocalist lineup for Design features Boston-based Jamie Leigh Green, Sarah Moorehead, Greg Girardin, Kerry Kelley, Z-mark, Emily Unverferth, Layne Paige, Tigerlily frontwoman T. Lily Low, as well as Tracey Inkson (from Scotland/UK) and Lynda Arnold (of the Oakland, California based Divasonic).
The CD has been described as, “Ethereal and unpredictable pop, poised between gothic rock and dance.” There’s a shared searing pathos behind each of the female vocalists’ performances; and Hemp elicits and enhances this finely nuanced lyrical dynamic delivering a vast range of expression within each track.
Hemp adds, “Design’s material evokes feelings of love and loss, lust and alienation, mortality and magic spells. Themes covered include social commentary on Watergate and emerging environmental threats. The album also features an ambient instrumental “Quantum In Spectral” and a cover of the Pet Shop Boys classic "West End Girls.””
Design, with its hypnotically synthesized alt-rock flavor, scintillating rhythms and pulsating enigmatic and dark sensual vibe, captures the essence of mystery and leaves the listener begging for more.
Genre: Post Punk Alternative Darkwave with a misty spasm of Danceable Pop.
Dymaxion Vehicle: Design [CD, Digital]
1. Something Wicked Mystical electronic rock verging on dance Jamie Leigh Green
2. Dreams In Argyle Ethereal electronic rock with metal guitars Sarah Moorehead-Carpenter
3. Firefly Haunting synth pop atmospheres with mesmerizing vocals Lynda Arnold
4. Deep Red Mahogany Sexy, soulful, playful, hard‐hitting electronic rock T Lilly Low
5. Agent Provocateur Multi‐style electronica fused with Watergate break‐in samples R. M. Nixon
6. In October Emotively mystical with world music flourishes Tracey Inkson
7. Quantum In Fractal Quirky electronica with rap influenced duet Emily Unverferth and Z. Mark
8. Brave New World Alternative dance/synth pop Tracey Inkson
9. Eulogy “Shoegazey” synth pop Greg Girardin
10. Quantum In Spectral Trance/ambient instrumental Instrumental
11. West End Girls The Pet Shop Boys classic with a feminine touch Layne Paige
12. Without A Trace Synths and guitars power this environmental statement Kerry Kelley
To request a review copy, an interview with Bill Hemp or additional information on the individual vocalists, contact:
What you notice first about Eric Colville is his voice, which is reminiscent of Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens, or Evan Dando of The Lemonheads. Neither comparison, however, captures the versatility and power of Colville’s vocals. Whether he’s being defiant, introspective, or campy – depending on the song – his voice grabs you and keeps you listening.
Despite having vocals this good, the real genius of Colville’s work lies in his lyrics. Every composition contains rhymes that sound perfectly natural – and then persist in your head for days. What are the songs about? They’re always about something. Clearly, Colville is in his element when mining the pleasures and frustrations of relationships. Back to Bed is a sultry invitation for a Sunday morning. Picture Us Together and DMMLY both rock, but while one revels in the thrill of feeling sure about someone, the second conveys the ambivalence of post-breakup sexual encounters. Then there’s the frenetic alt-country 12-Step Program, a wildly singable and danceable tune.
Colville’s nuanced songcraft is even more evident when he’s treating non-relationship themes. Two iridescently beautiful numbers are Wind on a Wire and 35 & Thinking. One describes a momentary glimpse of a young woman ice-skating on a pond; the other contemplates the ugly possibility that it may be time to give up on a long-cherished dream. In contrast, Man I Am, an over-the-top rant against conventions about what we’re “supposed to” do, is impossible not to move your body to. On whatever topic he chooses, Colville manages to deliver a fresh take along with a winning melody.
OK, so what can you expect from an Eric Colville song? Count on his great voice and smart lyrics, a good groove, and some first-rate musicianship and production. The rest is less predictable. Colville’s songs range from playful pop to torchy blues to dark ballads to in-your-face rock. What mood will the next track put you in? Which situation will he take aim at now? How exactly should you categorize his music? Have fun with the questions. And rest assured that the constants in Eric Colville’s music are so strong that once you’ve heard a few of his songs, you’ll know exactly what “his sound” is.
Among his favorite influences, Colville lists Simon & Garfunkel, Mark Knopfler, Wilson Pickett, Brian Setzer, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan, and the “Kings” (BB, Albert, and Freddie). The most important figures in his pantheon, however, will always be John, Paul, Ringo, and George. Perhaps as a result of growing up in the Florida Keys without TV and in range of Havana radio stations, Colville’s perspective on the world is somewhat unusual.
Eric is presently based in Ipswich, located on Boston’s north shore.
PRESS:
X-Ray Glasses
Produced and recorded by Matt Ricthey at Possum Hall Studios in Hampton Falls, NH Mastered by Lenny Delorey
X-Ray Glases is a wonderfully crafted eight song EP with a great mix of tracks that are all very well balanced. The thing about Eric Colville is that he is a splendidly smart songwriter, and it shows through numerous occasions.
“DMMLY” is a great example of his lyrical prowess, and he never appears to miss a beat. An up-tempo soft rock-sounding track, complete with harmonica and claps, “DMMLY” carries you right along with its cheerful guitar strumming and its strategically placed supporting organ notes.
While his lyrics aren’t exactly groundbreaking for the most part, he does find creative ways to address his themes a la Bob Dylan. An apparent example of his exceptional skill is a “1000 Miles.” Along with the catchy drums and guitar, the lyrics about moving on after a tough relationship stand out. The guitar solo fits the mood perfectly and finds a place without being too distracting, offering a little extra bit of spice. Taking a different tone is “Remember to Forget,” with a noticeably simpler theme, though the rhythm and rhyme stay true to Colville’s formula. But this EP’s true winner is “X-Ray Glasses,” a catchy, country jazz-sounding track that could be a fantasy B.B. King/Bruce Springsteen collaboration. His true talent shines through the easy to follow lyrics accompanied by the even easier jazz background. Eric Colville Band’s X-Ray Glasses goes far beyond going through the motions; it goes through the ranges and delivers. (self-released) - Josh Innocent