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Bob Kendall in the Providence Journal
You can read the article here.
Bob Kendall moved from Middletown to Boston at age 19 and became the founding member of the bands Lifeboat, The Blood Oranges and The Brothers Kendall. He and brother Greg (“Skeg”) collaborated on music in the films “Bandwagon,” “The Unbelievable Truth” and “Drive Me Crazy.”
In 2002, he returned to Rhode Island, played the Newport Folk Festival (it was the year Bob Dylan returned) and released his first solo record, “Enough is Enough.”
Kendall’s new recording, “Midnight Flower,” is a collection of songs written over the past decade. Echoes of Ian Hunter, Tom Petty and even the British Invasion can be heard. His band is also featured on the upcoming release of “The Spindle City Gram Parsons Tribute.”
Bob Kendall performs acoustic rock and blues on Friday at 8 p.m. at the Courthouse Center for the Arts, 3481 Kingstown Rd., West Kingston. Tickets are $15 and there is limited seating. For information or tickets call (401) 782-1018 or go to the courthouse website.
The Noise reviews Mark Cutler, Allysen Callery, Haunt the House, and Dan Baker.
You can read the article here.
MARK CUTLER – Dreamland
Singer/songwriter Mark Cutler is in Rhode Island’s Men of Great Courage and in this side project, he is more coffeehouse then nightclub. This side of Cutler is more folk and more introspective, but the passion still prevails in every song. “Circle to a Square,” a slow Americana ballad, “I’ll Play for You,” “Soul Flame,” and the title tune, “Dreamland” with a nice harp, are all very personal confessions of a very talented artist to his audience; and his gentle voice is well suited for this intimacy. There is even some banjo on this Americana flavored CD. Mark Cutler delivers some nice acoustic ballads. This is a good listen. (A.J. Wachtel)
DAN BAKER – Pistol In My Pocket
Got misery? Dan Baker does, in spades. His latest CD speaks of lost love, mournfulness, and general-type unhappiness. I mean, when an album contains tracks titled “She’s Not Gonna Call” and “Threw Me Down a Well” you’re kind of clued in early this is not going to be a compilation of cheerful, danceable ditties, and this isn’t.
Recorded live in the vast, echoing space of an empty Masonic temple, Baker and band have at it, down, dirty… and good. The arrangements are lean and spare, with sometimes-skeletal acoustic guitar carrying the load alone. For others, his band adds the right shades of angst. Dan’s voice yowls and growls in a manner that echoes early Neil Young, but like Neil’s, it’s a voice that delivers pain perfectly. (Tim O’Brien)
ALLYSEN CALLERY – Mumblin’ Sue
While the hypnotic intertwining of Callery’s fancy finger-picking lulls you into a meditative state, it’s her petal-soft lilt that really does a number on your heart-strings, plucking them with the same fervor as she does her guitar. The music is stoic yet still yearningly bitter-sweet. The lyrics, poetic and steeped in country wisdom, relate stories of heartache seen through sadder-but-wiser eyes. The power isn’t only in the words themselves, but in they way they’re sung—in a melancholy, reverberating sean-nós style. Something tells me she could be singing in Swahili or Cantonese and anyone with ears would still have some idea of what she was singing about. (Will Barry)
HAUNT THE HOUSE – Rural Introspection Study Group
Will Houlihan’s solo foray is a modest collection of guitar ballads and blues. There’s no gainsaying his personal approach to the material, of which the best of show is the bluesy “Vampyre,” along with the heartfelt “Eden.” (Francis DiMenno)
Red Line Roots profiles Haunt the House
You can read the article here.
There are those who try and fake vigor and enthusiasm. The world is full of “douche face” guitar solos, crappy rhyming schemes in songs, and jackasses dressed in late 19th century garb singing about the farmland when they live in a 3 story brownstone in Allston. This is not of those people. Will Houlihan absolutely exudes passion for his music and songs.
Rural Instrospection Study Group
There is a beautiful simplicity to this release. Its so emotionally full, but the sound has this hollow “man alone in an empty room with a guitar” vibe to it. The music is really quite incredible. There’s some hints of Jeff Buckley there. The second track ‘Vamprye’ leads off with a shrill, shocking, but incredibly beautiful vocal falsetto.I just really really want to listen to this over and over again. It’s a short 6 tracks, but still feels like a complete and well presented thought. Something that is loose, but still consciously purposeful. Spooky, powerful, and affecting. With the way Houlihan sings and arranges his work its no surprise he goes by the moniker “Haunt the House”.
While Haunt the House is Will and his performing act, he also has a myriad of folks join him on stage to perform as this act. Always a treat, always more emotion driven and more beautiful than the last time you see them. They are constantly evolving the craft and perfecting how to really get that evocative and stirring sound. Recently I had the pleasure of seeing Will perform at a Brown Bird Tribute show. Quoting my recap ” so f*cking beautiful, I have nothing else I could possibly say to better describe it”. That’s really it. I hate to use this again, but the music is haunting, the name fits. This is music who’s purpose is to make you feel feelings. It simply evokes something inside of you that makes you feel moved.
Eric Baylies Lists His Top 30 Bands for 2013
You can read the article here.
Motif Magazine covers the new Junior Varsity Arson and Mark Cutler albums
You can read the reviews here
Mark Cutler – Dreamland (75orLess Records)
After recently quitting his day job to be a full time musician, Mark Cutler hunkered down to record Dreamland, a decidedly more quiet and intimate album compared to his recent releases Sweet Pain and Red (both on 75orLess Records). Cutler tells me he recorded the album in his house and mostly by himself with cameos from his always formidable Men of Great Courage band. One doesn’t have to wait long to see the new direction: the first tune, “Doing Things That We Like To Do” has a lazy, peaceful strumming guitar around a campfire kind of feel. “Tankful of Gas” has a decidedly acoustic blues meets folk feel, with buzzing slide guitars. “Circle To a Square” reminds me of the 60’s folk of early Donovan, before he started singing about important stuff… you know, like the hurdy-gurdy man and witching season. The title track is my favorite on the record with a great melody that I can hum all day. “Too Much Fun” is a more upbeat rocker, while retaining the stripped down feel of the rest of the rest of Dreamland. “We Don’t Do That Stuff No More” has the feel of Tom Petty blues ballad. The theme of nostalgia runs through much of Dreamland, but probably never more than on the closing, “I’ll Play For You,” where Cutler weaves his tale of days past over a simple beat. It works. Dreamland may not be your typical get ready to rage on a Saturday night record, but it sure sounds great on a Sunday afternoon!
Junior Varsity Arson – Self Titled EP (75orLess Records)
Every now and again I get a new biscuit and look at it and say what the hell is this? Case in point, when something called Junior Varsity Arson came in. So I checked out their one sheet that describes the band as “Lonely Guy Rock.” They go on to describe themselves as a soundtrack for men who are banned from certain establishments, with endless theories and endless amounts of time to explain those theories. Okay, maybe I’ll actually like this.
Truth is, Junior Varsity Arson is a local super group of sorts, composed of Guy Benoit (Thee Hydrogen Terrors), Don Sanders (Medicine Ball, The Masons), Dave Narcizo (Throwing Muses), and Kraig Jordan (The Masons). Junior Varsity Arson is a little twisted in a fun indie rock way. The EP kicks off with “Her Parents Love Me,” chock full of lyrical gems like, “Her parents love me, I’m such a big improvement over the white supremacist.” Indie rock is a genre chock full of people that take themselves too seriously. That’s why it’s refreshing to come across something like Junior Varsity Arson, that’s lighthearted and still rocks. “Brown Jacket and Purple Keds” reminds me a little of the Dead Milkman as it chronicles the lonely man that Junior Varsity Arson proclaims to be the soundtrack for. “Hippy Dippy Milk Man” has an anthem, ‘60s spy feel with the keyboards. “Skull Collection” has an ‘80s alternative rock feel, while the song chronicles getting broken into and having one’s skull collection stolen. “I’m Hooked” is Junior Varsity Arson’s alternative dance number, that has a little bit of a psychedelic feel. What I like about Junior Varsity Arson most is they have personality both lyrically and musically, that makes each song memorable. – See more at: http://motifri.com/mark-cutler-dreams-junior-varsity-arson-burns-it-up/#sthash.dshz02O3.dpuf