Edie Carey
“Accidental Poet,” one of Edie Carey's earliest songs, describes a particularly eloquent friend, but could just as easily refer to Carey herself and the circuitous and serendipitous route that led her to become one of the country's most notable young songwriters. Somehow, all of the seemingly unrelated turns – from her intention to become a doctor, to a tiny music room in the basement of a Morningside Heights' chapel, to a year in Italy – managed to steer her towards music.
Born in Burlington, Vermont and raised in the Boston suburbs by her English teacher father, therapist mother, and poet stepmother, Edie Carey couldn't help but learn to love words. But her ear for music only became apparent after she “took the stage” in the back seat of her babysitter's green Cadillac, belting out her own rendition of “Up Where We Belong.” From age nine, after beginning voice lessons, she became involved in singing groups and musicals, which she continued all the way through high school.
A typical child of the 80's, she dressed in lace and sequins and dreamed of appearing on Ed McMahon's “Star Search.” However, as much as she loved performing, Carey was unaware that there was any middle ground between singing at weddings and being Madonna, and never considered music a real career possibility. So, she made plans to major in English/Creative Writing with Pre-Med classes at Barnard College in New York City. However, during her freshman year, two pivotal discoveries knocked those plans right off course - the Postcrypt Coffeehouse and the Italian language.
In the Postcrypt, an intimate music venue in the basement of St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University, the seeds of possibility were sewn as Carey watched artists like Jeff Buckley, Ani Difranco, and Lisa Loeb perform unplugged to candlelit audiences. She saw how words could sometimes have even greater power when used in a song, and simultaneously came to appreciate the sonorous quality of words regardless of their meaning or the melody in which they were framed. This appreciation for their musicality grew deeper with the study of Italian, which eventually led her to spend a year abroad in Bologna, where she taught herself to play the guitar.
In Italy, Carey set herself up in a corner of the main piazza and played every Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLachlan, and Rickie Lee Jones song she knew, throwing in a few of her own tunes, which would later land on her debut album, The Falling Places. Her experience abroad gave her a newfound confidence and encouraged her to begin performing on campus, where she started to build a student following. She made her first album in 1997, while working days at Worth Magazine and recording until the wee hours. Though the process was a daunting one, by the time she was finished, Carey wondered if she might have “accidentally” ended up exactly where she was supposed to be.
After the release of The Falling Places in 1998, she began venturing outside of New York City to play neighboring east coast cities, and gradually expanded throughout the United States, then Canada and the UK. While the debut was a very sparsely produced acoustic contemporary folk album, Call Me Home, Carey's follow-up in 2000, was by comparison an all-out pop record, a tribute to her early musical inspirations and the playfulness of her childhood. Shortly after its release, the “accidents” continued, and Carey unexpectedly found herself achieving her childhood dream of appearing on television with Ed McMahon.
Since 2000, she has been working as a full-time performing songwriter, touring rigorously to promote all of her independently self-released records, which now include her 2002 live CD, Come Close , When I Was Made (2004), and the latest addition to her growing catalog, Another Kind of Fire. Looking back, she has to wonder if maybe this wasn't an accident after all.
Eddie Cole
From a young age, Eddie Cole had a love for music. He left school heavily infected with the music bug. He talked his way into his best friend’s band. They had lofty ambitions, played some gigs but soon imploded.
Eddie drifted: Across continents hitch hiking and busking and then odd jobs around Australia. Eventually a good quality demo found its way to England. Two major record companies wanted to hear more but nothing happened.
Soon after, in the wilderness south of Perth in Western Australia Eddie witnessed the night sky on fire from the Southern aurora and not long after attended an old fashioned revival meeting and had the direction of his life turned around.
Back home with a new wife and baby, he lived in a shack with no toilet and abandoned his musical ambitions. He worked in a hospital collecting the rubbish and dirty linen. Time passed and he put together a couple of raw Gospel albums. He sold a few hundred copies of each title. People loved this music.
An accomplished player, Eddie began to teach, and in 2003 he recorded ‘I Know What’s Going On’ and aimed his music further a field, playing around Melbourne and getting support slots for artists such as Diesel, James Reyne and Brian Cadd. A couple of trips to Sydney and Australia’s country music capital Tamworth further honed his skills.
2005 saw the recording of the ‘Mellow EP’ and now, after a slow organic process he has completed ‘It’s The Apocalypse Baby’ - his most accomplished work to date.
‘It’s The Apocalypse Baby’ is a collection of roots rockers, soaring ballads, jazz and world music influenced grooves delivered with his distinctive voice and excellent guitar work.
Currently residing in the Dandenongs, Victoria, Australia, Eddie Cole’s aim is to “connect and energize people” with his music and ‘It’s The Apocalypse Baby’ does this on multiple levels.
www.eddiecole.com
www.myspace.com/eddiecolemusic
Eleven Hundred Springs
New album - "Country Jam"
Matt Hillyer
Electric Guitar, Vocals
Steven F. Berg
Electric & Upright Bass
Danny Crelin
Pedal Steel Guitar
Jordan W. Hendrix
Fiddle
Mark Reznicek
Drums & Percussion
Produced by Lloyd Maines
Additional Musicians :
Lloyd Maines - Acoustic Guitar & Banjo
Tim Alexander - Piano, Organ & Accordian
Nick Curran - Electric Guitar & Vocal on V-8 Ford Boogie
Heather Myles - Vocal on I’ll Be Here For You
Robert Lockart - Saxophone on Rocket 88
www.1100springs.com
www.palodurorecords.com
Elope
Elope is a righteous power trio in the tradition of Cream, and the first album ‘The No Name Record’ (2003) is a collection of glassy-eyed classic rock escapism. Possibly the mellowest stoner rock album ever, infused with the spirit of the aforementioned Cream, plus broad hints of Badfinger, The Pretty Things, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, uncannily Beatlesque at times; and akin to more modern marvels like Parasol faves Delta and The Green Pajamas! And maybe it's like Supergrass and The Super Furries after a few liters of Quaalude Quoolaid.
Thrill to the compelling sweetness of vocalist and guitarist Sebastian Aronsson's wandering voice and breathtaking guitar gymnastics, bassist Tomas Eriksson's frilly runs and dreamy harmonies, while drummer Anders Persson gets all Ginger Baker and Ringo Starr with it, way back in the pocket. Swedes adore their Neil Young so naturally there's a cover of Young's "Bad Fog of Loneliness", starkly drawn, as are all the band's originals. Understated to the point of paranoia.
If the name is at all familiar maybe it's because Elope previously had a split with California's Backbiter on Man's Ruin at the turn of the century, released just as the label was disappearing into the haze.
Next two albums, recorded together but with the songs slip between rockin' and mellow.
"3WD" is the rockin' record of the pair and falls in line with the Cream, Badfinger, Beatles comparisons heaped upon their briliant debut album "The No Name Record". Elope offer up another helping of late-60s, early-70s classic rock escapism, the kind that Scandinavians seem to be born into. From the serpentine Cream-meets-Faces romp of title track “3WD” to the beauteous flower-power-poetic-serene-pop-McCartney-Lennon-maximalism of “Misbehaving In The Summernight” to the ecstatic Neil Young & Crazy Horse-esque “Not Even Close”. I mean, what’s not to love about a song called “Misbehaving In the Summernight”?
The sequel, ‘9 Distilled Dreams’ is perhaps Elope's finest album to date...and that's saying something considering how brilliant their debut 'The No Name Record' and last year's '3WD' are! It is also their very mellowest, perchance therein lies the magic? '9 Distilled Dreams' is the mainly acoustic companion piece to the rocking '3WD', both albums recorded during the same marathon sessions, with the song split between the two "moods". 9DD explores Elope dreamy side, their hazy prog-mellowosity referencing a big time Big Star vibe, with nods to Pink Floyd, Neil Young, and even CSNY...
SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN: "Mashing together such titanic influences as Neil Young, Badfinger, and (gulp) the Beatles is hardly novel, even from a Swedish stoner rock band. Still, I keep dialing up this mellow, mesmerizing album on the iPod and digging it hard every single time."
Elliott Murphy
More than thirty years have passed since the release of Elliott Murphy's first album 'Aquashow' in 1973 and since that time Elliott Murphy, singer-songwriter, rock troubadour, indefatigable road warrior (over 100 shows a year!) and prolific author of fiction has once again proven his dedication to his music and his commitment to his growing legion of fans with the release of his new CD 'Notes From The Underground' featuring thirteen new songs (2 bonus songs only available on the Scandinavian edition!).
'Notes From The Underground' features French guitarist extraordinaire Olivier Durand (Little Bob, Luz Casal) along with keyboardist Kenny Margolis (Willie Deville, Cracker) and Murphy's touring band of drummer Alan Fatras and bassist/celloist Laurent Pardo, along with a guest appearance by Elliott's son Gaspard on guitar.
Born to a show business family in New York, Elliott began his career by winning the New York State Battle of the Bands followed by a troubadour like odyssey in Europe where he played on the streets in Amsterdam, Paris and Rome including a bit part in Federico Fellini's film 'Roma'. Returning to the US he quickly secured a recording contract and following the critical success of 'Aquashow', came in quick succession, 'Lost Generation' (Produced by Doors producer Paul Rothschild), 'Night Lights' (featuring Billy Joel), 'Just A Story From America' (featuring Phil Collins and Mick Taylor) and many others albums.
In 2006 the prestigiuous UK magazine Uncut featured a full page article on 'Aquashow' as an 'album classic.' Highlights from recent albums include a live album with guitarist Chris Spedding ('Live Hot Point') a duo album with Iain Matthews ('La Terre Commune') and an extraordinary duet with Bruce Springsteen ('Selling The Gold'), who often invites Elliott on stage with him during his European tours.
Emm Gryner
Emm Gryner makes records that matter.
Impressed more by the freedom to express herself than by straightjacket promises of major labels and slavery to modern radio, Emm has made records in her native Canada for the past eight years. With sales in the tens of thousands on her own Dead Daisy Records label, Emm has been able to guide her own career and follow her own inspiration. Emm sees no limitations — writing, playing most of the instruments, producing and releasing her own albums has given her a unique perspective.
Inspired by the work of a diverse range of artists who fuelled her passion (Peter Gabriel, The Pretenders, The Cure, Bright Eyes, PJ Harvey, Madonna, Beck, Prince, Guns ’N’ Roses, Tori Amos, The Eurythmics) Emm has crafted her own distinctive sound and path.
“My influences are all over the map. I was raised on classical music, ’80s pop and ’90s grunge and metal. Later I discovered indie rock, britpop and singer-songwriters. When I find a great song I don’t care where it has come from or what anyone else thinks of it.”
As much as Emm enjoys the talents of other artists, happily the reverse is also true. Her unique voice, plaintive and expressive, capable of communicating heartbreak and soaring joy, has brought her to the attention of a number of artists she admires. Emm has been invited to sing on recordings with Lou Barlow, Rob Zombie, David Bowie and Curtis Mayfield, as well as to tour with Ron Sexsmith, Rufus Wainwright, Bernard Butler and The Cardigans. In addition, Nelly Furtado listed Emm’s self-produced album, Science Fair, as one of her all-time favourite albums.
Intimately lo-fi yet never lacking in ambition, Emm’s albums have topped college radio charts and brought her major commercial airplay. Engaging, exciting and emotional live performances have made Emm an artist who has to be seen to be believed. Sometimes solo, often with a band, Emm has toured constantly across Canada and widely in the US and has recently begun to win fans in Europe. Bit by bit, through good old fashioned word-of-mouth, Emm has built up a dedicated following of creative and inspired music lovers. Nominated for three Juno (Canadian Grammy) Awards, Emm makes being a workaholic look like fun and having fun look like the most intoxicating way to live.
Ever looking to broaden her horizons, Emm will sometimes take a song by another artist and pick it apart, lay it bare and then build it up again, this time infused with a little Emm magic.
In 2001, she released a critically-acclaimed album containing the most unlikely combination of songs. On Girl Versions, Fugazi rubbed shoulders with Def Leppard, and Nick Cave was found lurking next to Blur. Add an Ozzy song and a Clash tune and the result is an album only Emm could have made, simple and spectacular all at once.
Asianblue (2002) brought two Emm Gryner assaults on the Canadian charts and with her singles lodged on the airwaves, Emm decided to release a DVD. This followed a launch of a book of lyrics and other writing Emm penned in 2000 called The Secret Letters. Following the success of Asianblue Emm took to the road with her band for 2 sold-out tours across Canada.
“Touring with my band really inspired me to return to making sparse, intimate yet powerful recordings. I like to hear the rough edges and the spontaneity of a song, not just a computer-crafted track similar to what you hear all over mainstream radio these days.”
When a three-week window opened up on the calendar, Emm decided to make a record.
Setting up in her living room in Montréal, Emm got to work with her usual intensity. An album of songs by Irish artists was placed on the drawing board — artists as diverse as Thin Lizzy, The Thrills, The Corrs and Gilbert O’Sullivan, amongst others. As the songs began to be assembled, the twin themes of love and death emerged. Folk legend Kate McGarrigle added some skilled banjo to a Virgin Prunes’ song. Emm stripped The Corrs’ shiny, happy “Breathless” down to piano and cello and rendered it an orchestral suicide note. Therapy’s “Nowhere” was transformed into a downhome kitchen toe-tapper.
Emory Joseph
Singer-songwriter/producer Emory Joseph emerged in 2003 with his self-released debut, 'Labor & Spirits' (Capsaicin Music). The critically acclaimed, self-produced release, with its wide range of American roots styles, crisp production and quality musicianship, found its way to Bonnie Raitt; who not only became a friend and a fan, but ended up covering one of Joseph’s songs on her album, 'Souls Alike'.
“When I’m asked what kind of music I play, I usually just say ‘American,’” says Joseph. “What I mean is that I’m just as likely to write and play ‘Jazz’ and ‘Blues’ music, as I am ‘Country’ or ‘Folk’ music - and that I’m just as likely to record a beat I’ve learned that came from Ninth Ward of New Orleans as I am the South Side of Chicago or the hills of Appalachia.” Joseph’s new release, 'Fennario – Songs by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter' (release date August 19 on Iris Records) could be considered the second installment in the “Emory Joseph’s American Music” series.
Recorded at NYC’s Legacy Recording Studios, Joseph assembled musicians Larry Campbell (before Campbell joined the Dead’s Phil Lesh), Jon Carroll, Duke Levine, Dennis McDermott, T-Bone Wolk, Soozie Tyrell and L.A.-based engineer Chris Brooke to produce 'Fennario'. Special guests would later include bassist Lincoln Schleiffer and long-time Garcia associate, mandolinist David Grisman. At a blistering pace, considering what they walked away with, the seven principal musicians recorded twelve songs in five days on every instrument under the western sky. They played in every beautiful and funky roots-and-roll style, going into great and subtle detail, while never obscuring the goal of illuminating the songs of Garcia and Hunter.
“I wanted to do something special, “ says Joseph, “I think these two were as good a songwriting team as America has ever known, and have always wanted to share them with the non-Grateful Dead fans, who don’t know what they’re missing. The songs they wrote have beautiful melodies and words that fit in your life when you are 15, and yet still and again when you are 60. I don't know of another catalogue that is remotely as deep or as diverse as theirs. I'm sure that there isn't one."
'Fennario' stands as a classy tribute to the timelessness of Garcia and Hunter’s work together, as well as damn-fine, good-ol’ album of American music.
Ernesto De Pascale
One of the key figures in the Italian indepentent music scene for the last 25 years, Ernesto De Pascale, journalist, producer, the voice behind the microphones of R.A.I. (Italian National Broadcasting Corporation), as well as of many other radio stations, finally releases his first solo album, the long awaited “Morning Manic Music”.
“Morning Manic Music” is not properly a debut album: his first album was released in 1982 with Lightshine, the band he gloriously ran to the final evening of the most legendary italian rock contest “Il Rock Italiano Mette i Denti”. Upon leaving Lightshine in 1983, Ernesto De Pascale led his following band, Hypnodance, trough 4 influential albums between 1984 and 1989, playing everywhere in Italy.
Ernesto De Pascale’s name appears on many of the most important Italian albums of the last 25 years: from the seminal “Siberia” and “Tre Volte Lacrime” by Diaframma, the 49 years old musician and producer signed the studio recordings of artists such as Assalti Frontali, Aeroplani Italiani, Steve Piccolo from Lounge Lizard, Massimo Altomare, Articolo 31, and of excellent minor artists like Strange Fruit, Ridillo, Dennis & the Jets, Graziano Romani and many others.
Ernesto De Pascale’s international profile is top notch: he worked with Dr John, The Memphis Horns, Solomon Burke, Michael Toles from the Isaac Hayes Band, Louisiana Red, Zeena Parkins (Bjork), Elliott Sharp, Jono Manson and with the English James Taylor, Brian Auger, Ashley Hutchings (Fairport Convention), Ken Nicol (Steeleye Span), Clive Bunker (Jethro Tull), Peter Zorn (Richard Thompson Band) to name but a few.
“Morning Manic Music” was born thanks to Ernesto de Pascale’s international profile.
The artist, determined to fix in music the most important events in his private and public life in the last two years – his marriage, a long journey to the West, his more and more frequent journeys to Great Britain, many changes in the word of communications that directly involve him as a journalist – has focused the concept behind “ Morning Maniac Music”, nine original songs written early in the morning sitting in front of his grand-coda piano, at the bottom of Fiesole Hills, north-east of Florence.
For “Morning Manic Music”, Ernesto De Pascale chose to have on his side Ken Nicol, excellent rhythm and lead guitar player (now a member of Steeleye Span and Albion Band), and the excellent Kevin Trainor of the Jono Manson Band, from Colorado.
After arranging the the contributions of these international talented artists, Ernesto De Pascale went back to his roots for building up the structure for “Morning Manic Music”, to the rehearsal rooms in one of the oldest basements of the beloved “florentine rock” (“il rock fiorentino”), inviting the rhythm section of one of the most convincing indie bands from Florence to join him in the project. The name of the band is Underfloor, a rock trio which caught the critical national attention thanks to “Rock Contest”, the long-lived competition for indie bands organized by the independent radio station Controradio and of whom Ernesto De Pascale is president of the jury.
www.ilpopolodelblues.com/bio.html
www.myspace.com/ilpopolodelblues
www.cdbaby.com/cd/ernestodepascale
Essra Mohawk
Her 1st record release was a single “The Boy With the Way” /b-side “Memory of Your Voice” on Liberty records in 1964. “Newcomer Pick” in Cashbox, it was produced by Hutch Davie (He produced Shirley Ellis “Name Game”). A year later in New York both Koppelman & Rubin and United Artists offered her a position as a staff writer. She took neither offer but Shadow Morton who produced both the Shangri-Las and Vanilla Fudge, discovered her and her music and in 1966 the Shangri-La’s recorded Essra’s song “I’ll Never Learn” . Soon after that, her song, “The Spell That Comes After” was recorded by Vanilla Fudge on their “Renaissance” album. In 1967, Essra was discovered once again. This time by Frank Zappa who, after hearing her play was so blown away, he immediately invited her to join his band, The Mothers of Invention, thus making her their first female member. Within a year he signed her and released her first solo album on Verve. While performing with the Mothers, Essra also opened for Cream (their first time in New York), Procol Harum(Keith Reid’s lyrics to “Quite Rightly So” are about Essra), Albert King, Electric Flag, Grateful Dead (their first performance in N.Y.), and Jimi Hendrix.
By 1969 Essra was recording her second album in L.A. and S.F. for Reprise after Mo Ostin (then Vice President) discovered her singing at a club in N.Y. and asked her on the spot to come to the label. The result was “Primordial Lovers”, an LP that received a 5 star review in Downbeat, raves in Mix, and was stated as being “one of the best 25 albums ever made” in Rolling Stone magazine. Unfortunately, these reviews came over a year after the release of the album and new fans found it hard to secure the LP due to poor distribution and the sale of the Reprise label following the release. Nevertheless, this critically acclaimed musical work continues to generate a cult following for Essra. In fall of 2000 it was released on CD by Rhino Handmade. She wrote most of the songs while living in Mendocino, California. While recording the album, Essra married her producer, Frazier Mohawk, and from that time on was known as Essra Mohawk. She also sang in a background vocal trio with Carole King.
Essra’s third album, released in 1974 on Elektra/Asylum, once again without proper promotion or distribution, led England’s music magazine, Melody Maker, to declare it, “the richest and most unheralded event in American music” that year.
After moving back to Philadelphia in the 70’s, Ms. Mohawk continued to sing as a session vocalist. She is especially known for singing on Schoolhouse Rock, the popular educational and musical cartoon series that continues to air on TV. Essra’s vocals are on “Interjections”, “Sufferin’ Till Suffrage”, and “Mother Necessity”. After ABC Video released the cartoons on video in the 90’s, they received an upsurge of popularity and the troupe, led by music director, Bob Dorough, began performing live in the mid-90’s. A new album on which Essra sang wrote and produced a track entitled “Do You Wanna Party” about political parties in the U.S. was released on Rhino in Sept. ‘98 on an album called “Schoolhouse Rocks the Vote”.
Ms. Mohawk’s fourth album was released on Private Stock records in 1976. After the same lack of support that has kept Essra’s remarkable music in the shadows, she left the label and moved back to California in 1977. Paul Kantner wanted her to be the lead singer in Jefferson Starship after Grace Slick dropped out for a while but he couldn’t convince the rest of the band to use another female vocalist so they chose a male, Micky Thomas, instead. In 1980-82 Essra performed as a background vocalist with the Jerry Garcia Band. During the same period she co-wrote “Haze” with Bobby Weir and his band “Bobby and the Midnights” for their Atlantic release. Also, Essra has collaborated with Al Jarreau, Bonnie Bramlett, Mark McEntee of the DiVinyls, Eric Bazilian, Al Stewart and Narada Michael Walden. She sang and recorded with John Mellencamp. (He’d seek her out wherever she lived for her advice and encouragement.)
Essra’s music and ideas inspired Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” (Essra was scheduled to play at the original Woodstock, but her manager missed a turn and they arrived too late. She finally played at the 25th Anniversary at Bethel.) David Crosby’s “Deja Vu” was inspired by Essra’s song “I Have Been Here Before”. David would ask her to play it for him whenever he saw her and then wrote “Deja Vu” as a result.
In 1982, Essra moved back to Philadelphia from L.A. and was brought into the McFadden & Whitehead pre-production sessions. She conjured up “Not With Me” overnight for the duo and they released it on their Capitol album that year.
Essra recorded two more solo albums in the 80’s. Both were released independently and both were produced by her, then, husband Daoud Shaw (Van Morrison’s drummer for many years and original drummer for Saturday Night Live). They first met during those early days on Bleeker St. in New York’s Greenwich Village, where she jammed vocally with jazz greats: Mike Manieri, the Brecker Bros., Eddie Gomez and Jeremy Steig. As a result her vocal style developed more along the lines of a wind instrument than that of a typical pop singer. Being in the Mothers then also helped to propel the youth to such a creative and original stance as a vocalist.
Essra’s eclectic influences begin with her parents, Anne and Henry Hurvitz, who sang and wrote 40’s style standards, and include: Judy Garland, Nina Simone, The Coasters, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Thelonius Monk, Erik Satie, Billy Holiday, Otis Redding, The Beatles, Ravi Shankar, The Rolling Stones and Ravel. Essra’s career as a songwriter took off when Cyndi Lauper recorded “Change of Heart” in 1986. It went to #3 on Billboard’s top 200 in 1987, winning an award from BMI for airplay. The album it was on (“True Colors”) went platinum. Since then many artists have recorded Essra’s songs and continue to do so. (see list below) The singer-songwriter’s over 600 songs, have recently been archived for future releases.
Three of her early LPs were reissued on CDs in Japan in spring 2003, followed by her recent tours to California, the East Coast and Japan . Essra’s first album on CD “Raindance” which was released on Schoolkids Records in ‘95 was reissued on Evidence Feb., 2005. Her 1999 CD, “Essie Mae Hawk Meets the Killer Groove Band”, was remastered and reissued on Essra’s own label, MummyPump, in 2003. Essra’s been living in Nashville, TN since 1993 where she continues to write and record, playing her music on piano, mandolin and guitar. Keb’ Mo’, Steve Cropper and Bonnie Bramlett are among the stellar performers who joined Essra on her 2003 Evidence CD “You’re Not Alone”. Her songs were used on the CBS series Joan of Arcadia in 2004 and 2005. The new book, “Hotel California” is one of many books about music that mention Essra.
Eugene Ruffolo
Eugene Ruffolo was born in New York City and grew up in surrounding Westchester County. The son of a clothing designer with a love of the classical guitar, Eugene would spend hours as a child listening to the fluid strains of Bach preludes and fingerstyle exercises, as his father practiced tirelessly.
It wasn't until his teenage years that Eugene, after flirting briefly with the saxophone and clarinet, one day picked up one of his father's guitars and found the perfect accompaniment for his natural and budding tenor voice. Inspired by the singing and playing of the seventies singer/songwriters, such as James and Livingston Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the young performer immersed himself in the music, and within a year found himself performing professionally in neighboring bars and restaurants.
When it came time to attend college, music was ironically the furthest thing from his mind. "Strangely enough, probably due to the heavily corporate demographic of Westchester County while I was growing up, I wasn't even aware that one could actually choose music as a profession!" explains the artist. So Eugene ended up studying English Literature and Romantic poetry at Ithaca College, all the while remaining heavily involved in music, performing in the college music circuit.
After graduation, he moved to New York City's Greenwhich Village. Once in N.Y.C., it wasn't long before word of Ruffolo's vocal abilities spread rapidly throughout the highly coveted N.Y. session world. Soon enough, Eugene was getting called to sing on everything from national advertising
campaigns, to live TV shows , movie soundtracks, and other artist's recordings. Making his living for years as a hired singer, Ruffolo began to perform live and on recordings with artists as diverse as Garth Brooks, Tony Bennet, Livingston Taylor, Run DMC, David Wilcox, Artie Traum and Spyro Gyra. His singing has been heard on the David Letterman show and Saturday Night Live, and through his contributions to numerous Hollywood Soundtracks, he has worked with composers and directors George Lucas, Brian dePalma and Ennio Morricone.
So far Eugene has released four highly acclaimed albums: “Fool For Every Season”, “When We Were Kings”, “The Hardest Easy”, and the latest one
(just released on Stockfisch Records in Germany), “In A Different Light”.
The Fabulous Horndogs
The Fabulous Horndogs are Michigan's premier dance and party band. We deliver a full menu of hot rhythm and blues with a New Orleans flavor. Particularly suited for festivals, weddings, and corporate events, we occasionally play select nightclubs. Listen to our CD and let us know if we can spice up your next musical event!
Tim Wire was born in 1949. He started piano lessons at age five with a teacher who was a student of Franz Liszt. Tim got hooked on boogie woogie music at 12 years of age and has played with many blues greats including Sam Lay and Pinetop Perkins. Tim toured Europe for two summers with Son Seals, and then played on Seals’ "Lettin' Go" CD, which won the WC Handy award for best traditional blues album of 2001. Tim lives with his wife, Carol, and their dog, Abby, in Northport, Michigan.
Mike Marois started playing music in high school for dances and parties. In the late 1970’s he joined Newt and the Salamanders which toured the Midwest in the 70’s and 80’s. He moved to California and worked for Guitar Center for a couple of years and then moved back to Traverse City to form the band Sneaker and spent several years raising a family. Mike is a founding member of the Fabulous Horndogs and plays a major role in keeping the band going today.
Jack Conners began playing bass guitar at age 16. He played with several bands in the Detroit area in the 1970’s, studying rhythm and blues, funk, jazz, and rock styles. Jack worked through the 80’s and 90’s as a recording engineer and session musician in Baltimore and Nashville. He moved to Traverse City in 1999 and began working on his goal to join the Fabulous Horndogs, being accepted by the group in 2007.
Jim (Murph) Murphy was born in Gary, Indiana and transplanted north by age 15. In high school he found himself under the direction of band leader Bugs Bedow, the original trombone player from Newt and the Salamanders. After high school Murph toured the Midwest in many different bands, opening for Buddy Guy, G.E. Smith, and the Average White Band. Murph is one of the original members of the Fabulous Horndogs.
Hank Lawler, a native of Leelanau County, is celebrating his 51st year playing the trombone. After his college years in the Michigan State Bands, he blew his way through the USA, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico, playing in the horn sections of such notables as Donny Hathaway, Albert Collins, Jerry Lee Lewis, NRBQ, and a host of others. He came off the road and returned to Leelanau in the early nineties to raise his two children and team up with the Fabulous Horndogs.
Al Anderson started making music around the age of five. His grandfather heard him playing a tune on a toy plastic harmonica, bought him a Marine Band harp and spent hours playing duets with him. Woodwinds eventually replaced the harp and since the late sixties he has played with numerous working bands covering such diverse styles as blues, pop, jazz and rock, as well as occasional recording studio contributions. He brings his eclectic approach to the tenor and baritone saxophone to the Fabulous Horndogs.
Faris Nourallah
Born out of Michigan in the winter of 1969, Faris Nourallah moved as a child with his family to Texas, the Lone Star State. He grew up listening the likes of Clash, Beatles and Elvis Costello, and soon he's involved in playing music along with his brother Salim. They formed the ' Nourallah Brothers ' , and their first and only album saw the light on the indie USA label Western Vinyl. Then, he started touring through the US supporting that collection of songs. But something went wrong and the group disbaned.
Then, Faris stopped to go places. In the inner of his house, he began to write solo songs and to go places through them. That places are drawn in three albums , three 'chapters' of Faris' lifebook. Here starts the story.
Critic was immediatly hitted by his ability to put down songs of diasrming beauty as the ones included in ' I love Faris ', the debut solo album. The stone was thrown in the open water and the waves started to spread. Then was the time of 'Problematico' , that signs the begin of the artistic relationship with visual artist Paco Felici , who nails his first artwork on an Nourallah's album. The same was for 'King of Sweden'. With this record, Faris' name landed strongly in Europe too, where his music became a sort of 'must' for the indie lovers. Critic points at Faris as one of the smartest songwriter around, comparing him to the likes of Ray Davis, John Lennon and Plush and his records' feeling to literary milestones like ' Catcher in the Rye '. The myth creeps more and more...But mainly, people loves Faris. People declared the man and his music to be precious jewels to take care of.
So, how can be possible to reach such a status without playing in public ever? How can be possible to have an EU label like GreenUFOs tributing him a "best of"? How can be possible not to love Faris' songs?
Now, the fourth chapter of Faris' saga is ready to be glanched. Played, recorded and mixed all by himself in the inner of his house, " Il suo cuore di transistor " found a winning shot in the final mastering carried out at GoldenMastering Studios (Ventura,CA) by "JJ" Golden, the man behind other great records of great artists such us Calexico, Rachel's, Mark Kozelek, Swearing at Motorists and others.
On graphic side, the front/back cover has been handpainted by the talented and multilingual (!) Paco Felici basing on the concept of the record and realized through the Paco's loved theme of the 'robot'. An impressive and unique touch to enrich the new stunning collection of songs. Furthermore, for the first time ever, you'd read the 'transistor heart' words on a booklet.
In this scenario , the great mock 'disco' tunes of tracks like ' Black Car ' and ' But Not Tomorrow ' , the masterly brush-strokes of piano of ' Don't kiss ' or ' Tell me Secrets ', the suspended surroundings of tracks like ' Break Your Vows ' or the Lennonesque jewels like ' Move On ' and ' Raining ', are embellished by Faris' strongest vocals ever.
All of Faris’ albums available here :
www.dotshop.se
Fayssoux
Debut of a stunning singer-songwriter (and former Emmylou Harris harmony vocalist), with original works, traditional folk songs, gospel, country rock and love ballads. Lovely.
Fayssoux's debut album "Early" is a stunning work of grace and beauty, featuring a combination of originals, works of old friends (like Rodney Crowell and Paul Craft), traditional folk, old-time gospel, country rock and love ballads. Fayssoux's voice was an integral element of some of country music's finest recordings. As Fayssoux Starling, she sang duet and harmony vocals on Emmylou Harris' "Green Rolling Hills", "Spanish is a Loving Tongue," "Bluebird Wine", "Too Far Gone" and more. After years out of the recording business, Fayssoux (now McLean) was rediscovered by music journalist, author and singer-songwriter Peter Cooper, who convinced her to return to performing and who produced this record. In a fun turn of events on this CD, Emmylou Harris now sings harmonies for Fayssoux. Other guests include Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, David Ball and the legendary Lloyd Green on pedal steel and dobro.
"Early" available here.
www.fayssouxmusic.com
www.redbeetrecords.com
Filip
Born in 1980 and living in western Sweden.
Singer of songs, strummer of strings, teller of tales, feeler of feelings...
"Crane Grief" is actually the second full-length recording from twenty-six year old Swedish excentric pop poet Filip. A while back he distributed his homemade CDR's of Charles Bukowski-poems put to music, followed by the exciting instrumental single "Tobacco/Sad Autumn Roses".
These two releases got a lot of attention in the media, both in Sweden and in the UK. Among others, Everett True in Plan B happily exclaimed: "Filip is redolent of Daniel Johnston, Will Oldham and Tom Waits, without sounding like any of them. It's brilliant!" Later in the year, Filip, together with Einar Heckscher, made a short tour around Sweden in celebration of the late, great Charles Bukowski. "Crane-grief" is something completely different - It's the self-released debut album proper from Filip.
Recorded in the spring of 2006, during two charged days in a Stockholm located basement. Using old analogue equipment, engineers/producers Henrik af Ugglas and Tom Hakava has created a raw and intimate sound. With just guitar, piano, pump organ and autoharp, Filip performs his simple and beautiful songs all by himself, true to his heart. Hearing is believing...
"Crane Grief" is available here :
www.dotshop.se
Firefall
As dusk enveloped the spectacular vistas of Yose-mite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California, a huge pile of wood lay stacked at the edge of a high cliff. Nature lovers from far corners of the world gathered on the valley floor, waiting till dark when the woodpile was torched and slowly pushed off the cliff, the burning logs forming a blazing cascade down the mountain's stony face.
The image of the primitive light show, staged at Yose-mite for tourists, stuck in Florida-born Rick Roberts' mind for a long time. Then in l973, as he and his new Colorado based band were about to play their first gig but still needed a name, the image flashed back: Firefall. That seems an especially dead-on handle for the country flavored rock'n'roll band that carried the torch of musical forebears such as The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield, and The Flying Burrito Brothers into the mid-'70s and beyond.
For the better part of the next decade, Firefall burned brightly it at both ends, musically and personally, and then appeared to flame out, at least on record. By 1982, they'd cut eight albums (scoring gold for the first three, with the third going on to platinum-plus), and put 11 singles on the charts.
Freebo
Freebo's success in rock'n’roll has been well documented over the years. From bass player/band member with Bonnie Raitt for a decade to countless studio sessions and tours with artists ranging from John Mayall, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Maria Muldaur and Ringo Starr, to T.V. appearances on "Saturday Night Live," "Midnight Special," and "Muppets Tonight," as well as tuba performances with Dr. John and the legendary Spinal Tap, Freebo has achieved status and respect in a creative and highly competitive field.
Not satisfied with simply resting on his laurels as a top sideman, Freebo has continued to push his creative envelope, and now has evolved into an acclaimed singer/songwriter, with three well received solo CDs to his credit, 1999's "The End Of The Beginning," 2002's "Dog People" (songs about the human/canine connection), and his new CD, "Before The Separation."
Released in October 2005, Freebo's latest shows his complete arrival and comfort as a singer/songwriter, with thoughtful and insightful lyrics sung with soul and passion, framed by his acoustic guitar and signature fretless bass, and supported by tasty drums, electric guitar, and harmonica, played by some of rock music's finest musicians.
Freebo's songs span styles from folk, blues, and country to R&B, reggae, and rock 'n' roll, and incorporate themes of love, struggle, triumph, peace, and the journey of life. His live performances, mainly on acoustic guitar, take you on a musical and lyrical ride. Freebo creates an intimate unity with his audience and will likely leave you with a tear in your eye, but with a smile on your face.
Fred Eaglesmith
Fred Eaglesmith has done it again – An 18-track tour de force that makes the compelling case - as well as most enjoyable and fulfilling listening - that its a landmark album, not just for the artist himself but within the contemporary music at large.
Yes, his new album, “Tinderbox” is that good, an album that is sure to appear on year-end critics Top 10 lists.
On it, one detects the complimentary comparisons made about Eaglesmith by critics in the past - Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, John Prine, T Bone Burnett and Steve Earle - yet it’s an album that could only been made by Fred Eaglesmith.
With production by Eaglesmith and Scott Merritt that blends deep roots and vivid musicality with atmospheric arrangements and experimentalist touches that remind of Waits’ more progressive work, it captivates listeners and leads them on a musical and lyrical journey that evokes powerful emotions and visions.
Self described as "Dirt Road Gospel" (in a non-religious way).
Fur Dixon & Steve Werner
There’s a twin dust devil blowing in out of the west and it’s name is Fur Dixon & Steve Werner. They just seemed to come off the road, out of nowhere with their big cowboy hats and guitars, yodeling and harmonizing their highway songs into the hearts of the American West. Their songs are filled with stories of the western road, told unadorned in plain language.
Yep, the “Traveling American Folksingers” from Van Nuys, California are on the move. Their two CDs,“The Pearl & The Swine” and “Travelers” are a one-two knockout punch of real-deal Americana. They effortlessly blur the boundaries of bluegrass, western and American folk music.
They have wowed ‘em all over the west, headlining at such places as the Getty Center, Tucson Folk Festival, Peter Strauss Ranch Summer Concert Series, Friends Of Bodie Days, Bluegrass At The Braemar, Ojai Concert Series, Underwood Farms Bluegrass Folk & Old Time Festival and the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival. They are beloved by young and old alike, by fidgety kids, Hollywood hipsters, old folkies and silver-haired septuagenarians.
Edie Carey
Eddie Cole
Eleven 100 Springs
Elope
Elliott Murphy
Emm Gryner
Emory Joseph
Ernesto De Pascale
Essra Mohawk
Eugene Ruffolo
Fabulous Horndogs
Faris Nourallah
Fayssoux
Filip
Firefall
Freebo
Fred Eaglesmith
Fur & Steve
