|
|
|
Showing posts with label Atomic Cowboy St Louis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atomic Cowboy St Louis. Show all posts
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
NOTE THIS' ONE HOT SHOW THIS WEEK
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
Friday, May 18 @ Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy
BROWN COUNTY, Ind. — Southern Indiana-bred singer-guitarist Reverend Peyton is the bigger-than-life frontman of Reverend Peyton’s
Big Damn Band. He has earned a reputation as both a singularly
compelling performer and a persuasive evangelist for the rootsy country
blues styles that captured his imagination early in life and inspired
him and his band to make pilgrimages to Clarksdale, Mississippi to study
under such blues masters as T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour and David “Honeyboy” Edwards. 
That passionate inspiration has made Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band America’s foremost country blues outfit and fuels the Rev’s new release, The Front Porch Sessions.
Peyton’sdazzling guitar mastery is equaled here by his knack for vivid, emotionally impactful songwriting, and his originals are matched in their authenticity by the deeply felt vintage blues tunes that he covers. The album showcases the Rev’s irrepressible personality while echoing the enduring spirit of such acoustic blues icons as Charlie Patton, Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White and Furry Lewis, whose “When My Baby Left Me” receives a memorable reading.
The Front Porch Sessions will be released March 10, 2017 on Family Owned Records/Thirty Tigers.
“It started as a literal whim on my part, but it turned into something really special,” Reverend Peyton says of this new collection. “I wanted it to feel like you’re on my front porch. You can almost hear the wood creaking.”
The Front Porch Sessions maintains a potent level of intensity throughout, from the upbeat optimism of the album-opener “We Deserve aHappy Ending” to the blunt slice-of-life rural reality of “One More Thing” to the rollicking, playful swagger of “Shakey Shirley,” “One Bad Shoe” and “Cornbread and Butterbeans.”Meanwhile, the instrumentals “It’s All Night Long” and “Flying Squirrels” demonstrate the Rev’s nimble, imaginative guitar work.
“I didn’t have much planned when I went into the studio,” the Reverend notes. “I went into the studio with some new songs and some old songs that I’ve always wanted to try. At first, I thought ‘Well, maybe we’ll make it a download or release a single.’ But it took on a life of its own, and when it was all said and done, I was as proud of it as anything I’ve ever done. To me, it was a lesson in not overthinking things; I just went in and let my gut guide me.
“We recorded this album at a studio called Farm Fresh, which is right down the street from my house,” he continues. “It’s in the shade of the oldest poplar tree in Indiana, and there’s a graveyard next to it and train tracks run across there. In fact, I think you can hear the train on one track on this record. The studio’s in an old church, and the main sanctuary is the tracking room, so the haunting reverb that you hear is that room.
“We used a lot of vintage gear in the recording. I love that organic sound, and I’m always chasing that in everything I do. I just like things that feel timeless. Feeling timeless to me is way more important than feeling old. When you try to make something sound old, you’re trying too hard.’
That lifelong pursuit of musical authenticity was instilled in his musical consciousness while Peyton was growing up in rural Indiana, where his early love for blues, ragtime, folk, country and other traditional styles gave him a sense of direction that would soon manifest itself in his own music. He and the Big Damn Band won a large and loyal fan base, thanks to their tireless touring efforts and high-energy showmanship, along with such acclaimed albums as Big Damn Nation, The Gospel Album, The Whole Fam Damnily, The Wages, Between the Ditches, So Delicious and the Charlie Patton tribute disc Peyton on Patton.
Despite his prior achievements, the Rev views The Front Porch Sessions as a personal creative milestone.
“This record’s very personal for me, because so much of it is just me,” he says. “The Big Damn Band is on there, but it’s mostly me. Breezy (Breezy Peyton, washboard) plays washboard on a couple of songs, and Max (Maxwell Senteney, drums) plays a suitcase drum set that we put together in the studio. It’s a snapshot of the week we spent in the studio, but it also represents a lifetime of me building up to it.”
The Front Porch Sessions has also spawned a series of audio-vérité companion videos, many of them shot on the Rev’s actual front porch, that embody the album’s intimacy and immediacy. “A lot of these songs started on the porch, and that’s what the videos are,” he says. “I’d be pickin’ and go, ‘I like the way this sounds, let me get my camera.’”
Reverend Peyton has already begun to integrate The Front Porch Sessions’ spare approach into the Big Damn Band’s expansive live shows, which are renowned for their intensity and abandon.
“In a lot of our shows in the past few years, we’ll take a break and I’ll come out and do a song or two by myself,” he explains. “That brings things down and allows me to do some songs like this. We’re definitely gonna be doing more of that, so there’s definitely gonna be moments in the shows where you’re gonna hear a lot of these songs. We may also do some Front Porch Sessions shows, and maybe present some of our other songs in a more stripped-down way. We did one earlier this year as kind of a test, and that worked really well.
“Over the years, our shows have gotten more dynamic,” he continues. “The ups are more up and the downs are more down. That’s something that’s important to me. If I go and see a show and someone’s just standing there and staring at their feet and singing their songs, I feel insulted. That’s not a performance. I want to know that you’re living that song, not just regurgitating it. I don’t think artists should seem like they’re too cool for their audience.”
The Rev’s dedication to delivering the goods on stage is reflected in his flamboyant performance persona. “The Rev is me,” he states. “Sometimes that freaks people out, because the person who’s on stage is exactly the way I am offstage. I don’t know how to separate myself from my music, because it’s so personal to me. My mom calls me Rev; it’s been my nickname since I was a teenager. It was a name that was given to me by some friends, and it sort of stuck.
“I’m one of those people who feels everything really hard, for better or worse,” he continues. “If I’m angry, I’m really angry. If I’m sad, I’m really sad. If I’m happy, I’m really happy. So onstage, I tap into that. There are certain songs that I can’t play on some nights, because they’re just too sad. That may be the rantings of a crazy person, but it’s the God’s honest truth.”
With The Front Porch Sessions showcasing his expanded musical palette, Reverend Peyton is excited about bringing his new music to his fans.
“I really think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done,” he asserts. “I’m interested in making hand-made American music, and the goal is to be timeless.”
# # #
PRAISE FOR REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND
“The latest from Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band…. is, in short, a revelation. An amazingly well crafted, controlled explosion of talent, the range and depth of the music performed by the trio is remarkable.” – American Blues Scene
“… the reincarnated Mississippi moan of guys like Son House… a burly soul punishing the senses with a Deltapunk attack and a heavy helping of rural realism. You can’t ignore his Big Damn Band’s gospel.” — Elmore
“The tent revival, almost punk energy of the Big Damn Band is a refreshing splash of coldwater to the face. Between The Ditches doesn’t keep it in the road – it takes up both lanes as it barrels along.” — Living Blues
“The country blues is a gift of 20th century American music, and it’s awesome to see a band tap into its legacy with so much gusto and original vision.” – Music City Roots
“With his wife, Breezy, serving as a one-woman amen corner, and Max laying down the floppy-boot-stomp drums behind Peyton’s spiky, waspish National steel slide guitar on tracks like “Something for Nothing”, the result is a peculiarly infectious blues crusade, touching on themes of money, morality and social responsibility.” – The Independent (UK)
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is a twenty-year-old bourbon in a room of vodka Red Bulls and PBRs; vintage yet timeless, exciting and still welcoming…” –MXDWN.COM
“The focal point and ring leader Reverend J. Peyton is the star of the show here flashing a guitar style that elates the ear, at times flying all over the fret board and equally delicately picking with ease.” – Glide Magazine
FOR SHOW AND TICKET INFORMATION, VISIT THE VENUE WEBSITE
www.atomiccowboystl.com
Friday, April 6, 2018
THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS’
CALL IT HOME: VOL. 1 & 2 OUT NOW
CALL IT HOME: VOL. 1 & 2 OUT NOW
NEW DOUBLE ALBUM DEBUTS AT BILLBOARD
TOUR DATES INCLUDE LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, NEW ORLEANS AND MORE
Photo credit: Keith Berson
|
“It’s rare to find a band as much in love with music and each other as The California Honeydrops. Their deep understanding and mastery of classic R&B, New Orleans Jazz and more
has allowed them to create music that is as fresh as it is funky, and
uniquely their own. Lech has one of the most soulful, elastic voices
I’ve ever heard...and he shreds on trumpet and guitar as well. They are
truly one of my favorite bands!”—Bonnie Raitt
[Of “Call It Home”] “…evoking the greasy rumble of Booker T and the MGs in the opening bars before channeling the spiritual ecstasy of Sly and the Family Stone in the soaring choruses.”
“[‘Call It Home’ is] a smooth, sensuous song, with a guitar part evoking a hot summer day, an organ that sends you to the front pew and a brass section that feels like something straight out of The Blues Brothers.”
[Of
“Live Learn”] “A playful tune that’s impossible not to dance along
to…opens with a plunking bass before lead singer Lech Wierzynski joins
in on a call-and-response banter with the bass, even as a bright guitar
riff adds some tasty seasoning to the bubbling stew.”
In
celebration of the release The Honeydrops will tour extensively, with
stops in L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, D.C., New York, Australia and
many more. See below for current dates, with more to be announced.
Recorded
over the past year and a half, the new album takes its inspiration from
the many facets and ever-changing nature of the idea of home—a subject
frontman and co-founder Lech Wierzynski thinks a lot
about. “Home’s been on my mind since I was a kid,” he says. “I was born
in Warsaw, Poland. My parents brought me here as a kid and we moved
around a lot. They were always talking about missing where they were
from and I was always wondering who I was in that way, whether I was
Polish or Amercan or both. I didn’t set out to make an album about that,
but these songs just started coming out that way…” Drummer and
co-founder Ben Malament mentions that
it also grapples with the many changes their longtime home of Oakland,
California has undergone in the past decade. “We’ve always been a Bay
Area band and the Bay Area has been such a hotbed of change the last 10
years. It’s been interesting for us to see and live in, and it’s
affected the way the band works.”
With
a “tub full of songs” written by Wierzynski, the band—made up of
Wierzynski (lead vocal, trumpet, guitar), Malament (drums, washboard,
percussion), Johnny Bones (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Lorenzo Loera (keys, melodica) and Beau Bradbury
(bass, percussion)—took to the studio on breaks from touring,
collaborating on a multitude of tracks blending a diverse array of
styles, in true Honeydrops fashion. On the decision to compile and
release them all as a double album, Wierzynski says, “This was a
breakthrough year for the band. I wanted something that captured the
totality, instead of doing something small. That’s why you’ve got the
whole cosmos on the album cover. This is my life. This band has never
been for sale. This band has been everything for us. It’s something that
we do for the love. I’m proud of that.”
The
California Honeydrops got their start busking on the streets of the San
Francisco Bay Area, where they quickly developed a passionate local
following that has continued to grow over the course of nonstop
American, European and Australian touring. In addition to Raitt’s Dig In
Deep tour, the band has also supported such icons as B.B. King, Allen
Toussaint, Buddy Guy and Dr. John. They have sold out headline shows at
venues across the country and performed at major festivals including
Outside Lands, Bluesfest Byron Bay, Monterey Jazz, High Sierra and many
more. Their previous record, A River’s Invitation, was released
in 2015 with KQED hailing it as “a winning new album,” and The
Bluegrass Situation furthering, “The groove is Muscle Shoals deep,
singer Lech Wierzynski’s voice is Sam Cooke wide, and saxophonist Johnny
Bones bangs heavy on the door of Ben Webster.”
CALL IT HOME: VOL. 1 & 2 TRACKLIST
Vol. 1
1. Call It Home
2. Coming Around
3. Cry For Me
4. Standin’ Still Blues
5. Hold It Down
6. Your Sweet Love
7. Those Days
8. Live Learn
2. Coming Around
3. Cry For Me
4. Standin’ Still Blues
5. Hold It Down
6. Your Sweet Love
7. Those Days
8. Live Learn
Vol. 2
9. Only Home I’ve Ever Known
10. Silicon World
11. Tell Me (I Wanna Know)
12. Drop By Drop
13. Good Good Lovin’
14. Things We Used To Do
15. In My Baby’s Arms
16. Starr Child
10. Silicon World
11. Tell Me (I Wanna Know)
12. Drop By Drop
13. Good Good Lovin’
14. Things We Used To Do
15. In My Baby’s Arms
16. Starr Child
TOUR DATES
April 6–8—Squaw Valley, CA—Winter Wondergrass
April 11—San Diego, CA—Belly Up
April 12—Los Angeles, CA—Teragram Ballroom
April 13 & 14—Las Vegas, NV—Bender Jamboree
April 19—Dallas, TX—Gas Monkey
April 20—Waco, TX—Brazos Nights
April 22—Houston, TX—The Studio at Warehouse Live
April 24—Nashville, TN—High Watt
April 25—Memphis, TN—Growlers
April 27—New Orleans, LA—House of Blues
April 28—Birmingham, AL—Zydeco
April 29—Asheville, NC—Salvage Station
April 30—Raleigh, NC—Lincoln Theatre
May 2—Richmond, VA—Capitol Ale House Music Hall
May 3—New York, NY—Bowery Ballroom
May 4—Brooklyn, NY—Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 5—Washington, DC—The Hamilton
May 8—Ann Arbor, MI—The Ark
May 9—Madison, WI—High Noon Saloon
May 10—St. Louis, MO—Atomic Cowboy
May 11—Chicago, IL—Concord Music Hall
May 12—Minneapolis, MN—Cedar Cultural Center
May 17—Sacramento, CA—Harlow’s
May 19—San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore
May 20—Dana Point, CA—Doheney Blues Festival
May 24 & 25—Cumberland, MD—DelFest
May 27—Bradley, CA—Lightning In A Bottle
June 9—Guerneville, CA—Johnson’s Beach Feel-Good Beach Party
June 28—San Luis Obispo, CA —Mission Plaza
July 6 & 7—Quincy, CA—High Sierra Music Festival
July 20–22—Winthrop, WA—Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival
September 14-16—Telluride, CO—Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
September 19—Aspen, CO—Bell Up Aspen
September 22—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre*
October 28–November 4—San Diego, CA—Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise
April 11—San Diego, CA—Belly Up
April 12—Los Angeles, CA—Teragram Ballroom
April 13 & 14—Las Vegas, NV—Bender Jamboree
April 19—Dallas, TX—Gas Monkey
April 20—Waco, TX—Brazos Nights
April 22—Houston, TX—The Studio at Warehouse Live
April 24—Nashville, TN—High Watt
April 25—Memphis, TN—Growlers
April 27—New Orleans, LA—House of Blues
April 28—Birmingham, AL—Zydeco
April 29—Asheville, NC—Salvage Station
April 30—Raleigh, NC—Lincoln Theatre
May 2—Richmond, VA—Capitol Ale House Music Hall
May 3—New York, NY—Bowery Ballroom
May 4—Brooklyn, NY—Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 5—Washington, DC—The Hamilton
May 8—Ann Arbor, MI—The Ark
May 9—Madison, WI—High Noon Saloon
May 10—St. Louis, MO—Atomic Cowboy
May 11—Chicago, IL—Concord Music Hall
May 12—Minneapolis, MN—Cedar Cultural Center
May 17—Sacramento, CA—Harlow’s
May 19—San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore
May 20—Dana Point, CA—Doheney Blues Festival
May 24 & 25—Cumberland, MD—DelFest
May 27—Bradley, CA—Lightning In A Bottle
June 9—Guerneville, CA—Johnson’s Beach Feel-Good Beach Party
June 28—San Luis Obispo, CA —Mission Plaza
July 6 & 7—Quincy, CA—High Sierra Music Festival
July 20–22—Winthrop, WA—Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival
September 14-16—Telluride, CO—Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
September 19—Aspen, CO—Bell Up Aspen
September 22—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre*
October 28–November 4—San Diego, CA—Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise
* supporting Greensky Bluegrass
Additional summer and fall tour dates coming soon.
http://www.cahoneydrops.com/
twitter.com/cahoneydrops
facebook.com/cahoneydrops/
@cahoneydrops
twitter.com/cahoneydrops
facebook.com/cahoneydrops/
@cahoneydrops
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)