| === INTRODUCING OUR NEW ALBUM! === |
| Well here it is folks, our fourth album, and we've kept up our tradition of doing things a little differently for each record. This time we brought together a few of our favorite hometown musicians, people who've worked with some illustrious artists including The Band, Keith Richards, and Livingston, Kate and James Taylor, and we've made an album of folk'n'roll that we hope will be one of your favorite records for a very long time.
|  Playin' in the Minors |
| Click Here to hear a sample ("Playin' in the Minors") Click Here to hear a sample ("Still in the Game") Click Here to hear a sample ("Memo to Morty")
 THE SONGS * Playin' in the Minors * An upbeat reflection on the fact that things haven't quite lived up to your initial expectations, featuring a Byrds-like electric 12-string guitar and a kickin' instrumental ending; * Still in the Game * At some point you look around and notice that most of the folks you started out with have fallen by the wayside; and though you haven't exactly won, just playing the game can be its own reward. Nice mandolin, accordion, and harmonica— a waltz; * Blue Highways * Roads tie the country together, and we always seem to be on one; here are a few snapshots from along the way; * Hello Rose * A meditation on a graffiti note. Nice piano, harmonica, and slide guitar; * The Waitress * Dissatisfaction and restless feet on the early shift. Great guitar and fiddle duet at end; * What Was It I Was Looking For? * A jazz-tinged ballad, beautiful saxophone solo and ending; * For a Song * If we're lucky, we find the thing we're meant to do in this life; but then, for better or worse, we have to do it; * Dangerous Game * We don't always learn from repetition, do we? A nice little rocker (listen for the castanets); * So Much for Love * Maybe all we need really is love, but maybe whatever we have isn't it; * Once, We Were the Wallendas * A tough family business to marry into, and a consideration of the passages of fame. Acoustic, nice mandolin, accordion, and fiddle;* Sweaty Fingers * Zydeco rocker about some of the avenues of prostitution. Some nice accordion (obviously) and some very high vocal notes just at the end; * You Sure Do Take a Long Time Saying No * A plea for simple honesty; great horn section; * Memo to Morty (the Big Black Car)* We all take at least one last ride, don't we? Our drummer says the beat in this is a Haitian funeral march, and we say that sounds about right. Nice swampy bass, reptilian wah-wah guitar, mournful fiddle and graveyard organ. Dance if you feel like it; * Goodbye, Ruby * Sooner or later. | |||||
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Our friend Aaron "Louie" Hurwitz, who engineered, co-produced, and performed on our first two albums, makes some great contributions this time on piano, organ, accordion and other keyboards; Scott Petito, who has worked on an amazing number of records as engineer, producer, and instrumentalist, showed his wide range as a bassist, and also engineered the recording; and Randy Ciarlante, an innovative percussionist and strong, tasteful rock drummer rounded out the basic team. Harvey Kaiser, one of the Hudson Valley's hidden diamonds, graced "What Was It I Was Looking For?" with some beautiful solo soprano saxophone work, and became (with the help of multi-track recording) a one-man horn section on "You Sure Do Take a Long Time Saying No", playing baritone and two tenor saxes; Larry Packer, whose fiddle added so much to our Stations album, gave his unique melodic touch to "Once, We Were the Wallendas", lent a mournful, blue note to "Memo to Morty (the Big Black Car)", and set fire to the rideout of "The Waitress"; and last, our son, friend, and long-time traveling buddy, Seth Haynie(see also the FAQ section of our "Notebook" page), added his ukulele strums to "Once, We Were the Wallendas". You'd be hard-pressed to find better musicians anywhere, and we've purposely stuck with the great players we know, avoiding the distractions of "cameo" appearances by perhaps better-known performers. With such a good band, and with Don's armada of guitars, this record pays serious homage to some of the best vintage sounds of folk and rock; but we hope you'll agree that it never sounds like anyone else but us— partly thanks to Sheryl's intriguing percussion touches, and partly thanks to our inimitable vocals, which for better or worse are right out in front. The songs explore themes of hope, disappointment, winning, losing, restlessness, movement, and love, against the background of the small towns, backroads and truckstops, always moving on. If you've been to our concerts you may have heard some of these songs, but we've got some surprises here for even our most loyal fans. |
| NEWS BOX Here's a little of what's been going on with the album: "The songs are bright with detail...(listening to this CD is) like asking 'Where have all the flowers gone?' and getting a doctoral answer... weirdly-wired alt-folk, but with an entirely catchy twist." Ben Ohmart, MUSICDISH.COM "From the opening title track they succeed in delivering music that blends rock, bits of country, blues, and folk, focusing in on a story...intelligent, musically mesmerizing, and an example of modern real American lyric. All in all this is a strong album that exudes originality...great stories." A. Canales, THE CRITICAL REVIEW "...incredibly tight harmonies, and Samuel's surprisingly understated percussion complements Haynie's driving rhythm guitar. Samuel's voice is especially distinct and clear...detailed stories of everyday people meeting the challenges of life and loneliness..." DIRTY LINEN |
