Category: Kendall, Bob
Bob Kendall in Mercury Magazine
You can read the article here
Bob Kendall felt as if he was interrogating himself throughout the process of writing and recording his third, self-titled record — a sentiment that’s also reflected in the album’s cover art. Bound to a chair under a single light bulb, Kendall and his guitar take the stage on his 2014 release.
“I ended up pulling out five of the songs. I was forcing lyrics and started feeling like I was making false confessions, which is where the drawing came from,” says Kendall, whose Providence illustrator brother Brad Kendall drew the cover.
A marked change in both sound and approach separate “Bob Kendall” from his two previous efforts, “Midnight Flower” and “Enough is Enough.” The songs have space to breathe through more sparse instrumentation, and Kendall’s voice sits high in the mix, a decision he probably would not have made had he mixed the record himself.
For the first time in his solo career, Kendall handed over the production reins to his friend Paul Kolderie, a well-known engineer and mixer who has worked with artists like Radiohead and the Pixies.
The songs on “Bob Kendall” are consistently mid-tempo with tasteful instrumentation. They immediately call to mind current artists like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Richard Hawley as well as jangly groups like The Byrds and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“The simplicity is the trickery of it — those are usually the best songs,” Kendall says. “They are to the point and they say exactly what you want them to say. Most of my songs are pretty depressing, but they all have some description of hope,” he says.
The record’s opener, “Stay,” is a testament to the Middletown resident’s affinity for the pop form — both musically and lyrically.
“That song was written six or seven years ago and I thought of it as a challenge song. I was listening to ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’ and the more I thought about it, I realized that sometimes staying is harder to do,” says Kendall.
“Stay” sets the tone for the sound of the record: a mixture or ’60s pop and country-inspired ballads which result in 10 hook-centric songs, plus bonus track “The Wind.” Although it’s clear that Kendall unabashedly wears his influences on his sleeve, he’s able to keep the songs from being derivative.
“Some of those songs were kind of soul songs, ‘New Day’ and ‘Holiday,’ and ‘Dead End Dream,’ were heavily influenced by a Roy Orbison period of my life,” says Kendall, “and they never really fit in with anything else I was doing.”
Recording at Stable Sound studio in Portsmouth was a process very unlike what Kendall was used to. “Midnight Flower,” Kendall’s 2012 release, was done in his backyard shed. According to Kendall there was less pressure this time around as an engineer was present during the sessions. “And the cool thing about Stable Sound is that while you’re recording you can open the windows and horses will stick their heads in,” says Kendall of the rural studio.
While Kendall is credited with writing nearly all the songs, the band collaboratively worked on “Dazed,” a dreamy, pop ballad with the type harmonies and guitar lines that don’t seem to be written anymore.
Even with five additional band members (drummer Dave Narcizo from the Throwing Muses, keyboardist Dan Wright, bassist Kevin Zahm and both Chuck Ciany and Rafael Attias on electric guitars), the record does not sound too big. “There was more dissecting than adding,” says Kendall of the mixing sessions, helping mold “Bob Kendall” into a collection of perfectly compacted, well-crafted pop songs.
A record release show with Providence-based rock ’n’ roll group Smith&Weeden, who have also just released an album, will be held at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Mass., on Friday, June 20. “Bob Kendall” is available at www.75orlessrecords.com and at www.bobkendall.com, as well as locally at the Music Box on Thames Street in Newport.
“This is the best sounding record so far, Kendall says. “The quality of it is so much better. I appreciate it much more now than I did before, as I’ve recently been able to remove myself from it and see it more objectively.”
Bob Kendall ‘Midnight Flower’ video
Motif Magazine covers Bob Kendall’s self titled album and the upcoming live performance of Stanatron
You can read the article here.
Bob Kendall – Self Titled
75OL-187 Bob Kendall – Self Titled
$9.99 S&H Included
Track Listing
1. Stay
2. Long Road
3. New Day
4. Waistd
5. Rage
6. Dazed
7. Dead End Dream
8. Holiday
9. Pall Mall Days
10. Can’t Have Everything
Vote in the 2014 Motif Music Awards
You can go here to vote for the 2014 nominees for the Motif Music Awards. 75orLess artists with nominations include Bob Kendall, Mark Cutler, The McGunks, Sick Pills, The diePods, Haunt the House, Jacob Haller, and Six Star General.
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.
Mark Cutler and Bob Kendall at Roger Williams Park
also with Heather Rose and Jesse Liam
Roger Williams Park
Cranston, RI
Mark Cutler and the Men of Great Courage at The Parlour
with the Bob Kendall Band
The Parlour
North Main St
Providence
Bob Kendall plays Hotel Songwriter Sessions at Greenwich Hotel
with Lisa Markovich
Greenwich Hotel
162 Main Street
East Greenwich, RI
Motif Magazine Announces 2013 Music Nominations
Motif Magazine has announced their nominations for the 2013 Music Awards. 75orLess related acts with nominations include:
Americana Singer Songwriter – Mark Cutler
Male Americana Vocalist – Bob Kendall
Americana Album – Bob Kendall ‘Midnight Flower’
Live Rock Act – Vertical Twin
Male Rock Vocalist – Mark Cutler
Rock Album (4 of 7) –
Vertical Twin ‘ElectroSonicMotherPhonic”
Six Star General ‘Splinter’
Mark Cutler ‘Sweet Pain’
The Masons ‘Warm Days, Long Shadows’