Kendall, Bob | 75ORLESS RECORDS

Bob Kendall at the Newport Yachting Center

opening up for Barenaked Ladies

Newport Yachting Center
Newport, RI

Bob Kendall in Newport This Week

Bob Kendall knows a great tune when he writes one. “Most of the songs I write are about an idea, and my job is to get that idea into words.” His resumé of original music is a testament to his powers of songwriting and its incredibly visceral human connection. Since the 80s, he has been very active in the New England music scene. From the underground Boston band Lifeboat to his solo work today, Kendall, 52, has never put music on the back burner. This year is bringing him some well-deserved satisfaction. With a brand new album and a spectacular release show to support it, he is enjoying a new phase in his musical career.

Kendall isn’t afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve. He worships The Velvet Underground, but also looks to catalogs of artists such as Gram Parsons and Steve Earle for inspiration. His new record is a steadfast tribute to the styles that shape his musical identity, a reflection of the iconic rock ‘n roll/Americana crossover. The albumn’s opener “Stay,” is a bouncy and infectiously catchy power-pop track with adamant and resolute lyrics. Other songs like “Long Road” and “Dazed” highlight an extensive love of Brit pop heroes The Kinks and The Beatles. The lead guitar in each emulates a crisp and honorable interpretation of some of George Harrison’s best moments.

The record’s masterpiece comes five songs in – “Rage” is a cry of emotion. It was partially inspired by past social work Kendall has done with men and women arrested for domestic violence. “I have always been fascinated by rage, by both the ability and inability of people to control it.” The interlocking of multiple guitar parts combined with blasts of trumpet, keyboards, and drums captures this idea and explores the boundaries of this complex human emotion.

Kendall recalls some of the struggles in making this soundtrack versus his previous one, “Midnight Flower.” Instead of recording in his backyard like before, he brought in longtime friend Paul Kolderie to produce it, and the band went to Steve Rizzo’s Stable Sound Studios in Portsmouth to record.

At Fall River’s Narrows Center for the Arts, Kendall and his band presented the new songs last month at a record release show, which was a perfect live execution of the new material. The band consisted of Newporters Kevin Zahm on bass, Chuck Ciany on guitar, and Dave Narcizzo from Throwing Muses on drums, as well as Dan Wright from Jamestown on keyboards and Rafael Attias from North Kingstown on guitar.

Kendall is opening for The Barenaked Ladies at the Newport Yachting Center on Friday, July 18 then later that night he will be playing at Jimmy’s Salon. He will also be performing during BridgeFest on July 29 at Channing Church as part of the songwriters’ round table.

Bob Kendall at Perro Salado

with Mike Warner on drums, Dean Cassell on bass and Milt Reder on guitar

Perro Salado
19 Charles St
Newport, Rhode Island 02840
9pm

Boston’s The Noise reviews the new album from Bob Kendall

You can read the article here

Bob Kendall – self titled album
11 tracks

It’s a Saturday afternoon; I’m trying to get a head start for once with my Noise reviews, so I slide Bob Kendall’s CD into my computer and I am so unexpectedly taken in by his songs that I have to keep remembering that I’m supposed to be taking notes and writing about it, but instead, I’m just plain happily sinking into each track and thoroughly enjoying the music that’s flowing from my speakers. I want to endlessly rave about this in a more original way than I usually do and while doing complete justice to such a great body of work, but all I can say is this should be on the airwaves (if it isn’t already) so that more people can derive the enjoyment. So what does Bob play exactly, you ask? Okay… he’s a singer/songwriter, who in these 11 tracks beautifully manifests lyrics… meaningful lyrics… into songs that perfectly bring to life his words. Need a genre? Americana, roots, blues, modern/alt rock/pop…. I love how his songs make me feel—they bring out emotions—both the dark and the encouraging songs. Just listen, feel, enjoy. By the way, this recording was produced by the wonderfully talented Paul Kolderie and kudos to the also-talented backing musicians. My picks (though I love them all): “Stay,” “New Day,” “Rage,” “Dazed.” (Debbie Catalano)

Bob Kendall Band at the Narrows Center for the Arts

with Smith & Weeden

Narrows Center for the Arts
16 Anawan St #1
Fall River, Mass
8pm

Allysen Callery & Bob Kendall on The Boudin Barndance on WRIU-FM

06/19
75orLess
· Callery, Allysen · Kendall, Bob · live dates

Listen in on WRIU

8pm

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.”