Category: Callery, Allysen
The Noise Lists ‘Seven RI Bands to Take Note Of’
Two 75orLess veterans are part of the The Noise’s Seven Rhode Island Acts To Take Note Of, Allysen Callery and Mark Cutler and the Men of Great Courage
Allysen Callery — guitar, vocals
Noise: Where is your band located?
Callery: I’m in Bristol, RI, about 25 minutes from Providence.
Noise: What’s good and bad about your local scene?
Callery: There are a couple venues that really shine, The Columbus has an upstairs theatre with seats that’s a dream for me to play, I’ve really enjoyed myself there. Aurora under Jacob Wolf’s booking is starting to emerge as a premier room, as well. They brought out tables and chairs the last time I played, and that works best for my sound.
Noise: Describe your band’s sound and how you fit into the scene?
Callery: I play finger-style guitar & sing on the British Isles spectrum of folk, but I’m New England. I’m not trad Americana, but I play with some of the gentler acts like Haunt the House (I was in his band too, for awhile) and love the gothic New England folk style of Vudu Sister, and I book with them a lot, too.
Noise: What’s your best song?
Callery: Wow, that’s a tough thing to answer- but I’ll go with “I Had A Lover I Thought Was My Own,” for the DADGAD fingerstyle playing, and the narrative. That song got me into SXSW in 2014.
Noise: What national act’s influence is most evident in your sound?
Callery: Jessica Pratt & Meg Baird do a similar style of acoustic that I do, not quite folk, but I call it that out of convenience.
Noise: What are your plans for the future?
Callery: I’m doing my first Italian tour this October, stopping to play a show in Brighton, England for some folks instrumental in getting me on my first European label. I am also thrilled to be returning to SXSW festival in March, 2017.
MEN OF GREAT COURAGE
(rock ’n’ roll/ country and soul)
Mark Cutler — guitar, vocals, Jimmy Berger — bass, Rick Couto — drums, Bob Kirkman — guitar, banjo, Richard Reed — keyboard, Cathy Clasper -Torch – fiddle
Noise: Where is your band located?
Cutler: My bands, The Men of Great Courage and The Schemers are located in Providence, RI.
Noise: What’s good and bad about your local scene?
Cutler: I love the variety of styles and the high quality of music that’s being made around here. There’s always a sense of support and community. Although nowadays, I don’t get out too much unless I’m playing. One thing that gets me down and it’s probably true for many places is that I hear musicians talking about what they do like its a pain in the ass to play music. For God’s sake, you found something that you love to do! And sometimes you make some dough doing it! It’s not like you’re working in a chain gang. You’re playing music.
Noise: Describe your band’s sound and how you fit into the scene?
Cutler: I don’t know how we fit in the scene. We kinda hover around it. My band is all over the place but we’re influenced by tons of styles and artists. We like to get hypnotic and expansive but we also like to play a cry in your beer song too. Hank to Hendrix and all that it implies.
Noise: What’s your best song?
Cutler: I don’t know and I hope I haven’t written it yet.
Noise: What national act’s influence is most evident in your sound?
Cutler: The usual baby boomer stuff, Stones, Velvet Underground, Dylan, gut bucket blues, old time country.
Noise: What are your plans for the future?
Cutler: I plan on playing, writing, mentoring, putting out records, creating, and trying to do the right thing until the day I die.
Allysen Callery at The Stomping Ground
The Stomping Ground
132 Main St Putnam, CT 06260
8pm
Jodie Treloar and Allysen Callery at The Spot Underground
with Kris Hansen, Outer Style
Spot Underground
Providence, RI
7pm
All 19 of the 2014 Releases
Allysen Callery Live at Galerie Rademann, Schwarzenberg, Germany October 16, 2014 Download
Live at Galerie Rademann, Schwarzenberg, Germany is available as a name your price download.
Toilet Ov Hell covers Allysen Callery’s Folk Radio 2014 EP
Allysen Callery – Folk Radio UK Session 2014 EP
Allysen Callery certainly does not play metal, but she sure does know how to play heavy on our hearts. This whole EP is definitely an emotional trip, but the song “The Huntsman” just stabs me right in the heart every damn time (skip to track 4). This is a beautiful release and I hope to hear more new music from Allysen very soon. If listening to this makes me a lifelover, then I can live with it!
Providence Phoenix article on Bob Kendall and Allysen Callery
You can read the article here
Homegrown East Bay imprint 75orLess Records continues to crank out noteworthy product on a regular basis, including new records from two of the finest singer-songwriters Lil Rhody has to offer in Bob Kendall and Allysen Callery. Kendall follows up 2012’s Midnight Flower with a self-titled full-length, while Callery just released (by popular demand) a four-song session for Folk Radio UK, with production help from Kendall. To celebrate, the pair will team up at the Channing Memorial Church in Newport on Tuesday (the 29th), with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.
Aquidneck resident Kendall has a long New England rock pedigree which dates back to the early ’80s. He was born in Huntsville, Alabama (aka “Rocket City”), where his father “somehow” scored a job at IBM working on NASA’s Apollo Rocket systems (Kendall: “He didn’t go to college and barely made it through high school, but clearly he was a smart bastard”). The family was transferred to Rhode Island during his teen years and Kendall moved to Boston following high school in 1981 with his brother Greg, and eventually became a staple of the city’s burgeoning indie/college rock scene with the bands Lifeboat and the Blood Oranges, opened for the likes of R.E.M., the Replacements, and Gang of Four (he also had a day job at the legendary Fort Apache studios in Cambridge). Kendall garnered acclaim with his 2002 solo debut Enough Is Enough and landed a spot the Newport Folk Fest that year, sharing the same stage as Bob Dylan.
Around that time, Kendall also became focused on his career, writing and developing curriculum for programs to prevent violence, and worked in various school districts throughout the state.
“I had been working with men and women who were arrested for domestic violence, as well as victims of domestic violence, and I began to focus on ways to get the word out to younger people so that they wouldn’t fall into the same patterns,” Kendall said when I dropped him a line earlier this week. “The work was sometimes pretty emotionally taxing and required an enormous amount of focus and energy.”
He had been jamming out material with longtime friend and Throwing Muses drummer Dave Narcizo, and brought some tracks to Kraig Jordan at his Plan of a Boy studio, which has developed into the go-to production homebase for 75orLess musicmakers. Kendall released Midnight Flower via 75orLess, an earnest display of Americana and roots-rock songwriting (listen up, fans of Wilco and Buffalo Tom). Tanya Donelly (who has been recording new stuff with Jordan at POAB) joined Kendall on the title track, and released her own rendition on her latest EP, Swan Songs III.
While gathering material for his next solo album, Kendall performed with Jordan as “Stan Sobczak,” a multi-media project that accompanied Jordan’s space-age, ambient music score Stanatron (get it at 75orlessrecords.com).
“Bob is probably best known for the Americana material, but that really is just one piece of what he does,” said Jordan. “He is truly a multi-dimensional artist and a master of textures.”
Kendall’s strong songwriting and penchant for slow-burning melodies are on full display across the new solo album. “New Day” addresses his father’s longtime bout with dementia. His vocals ride squelches of reverb on “WAISTD” and coasts into the standout, smoldering cut “Rage” (with Narcizo’s cymbals crashing through) where he croons, “If you’re bored with me, baby, just rest me up on the shelf/If you’re bored with, bored with me baby, I’m a good read for somebody else.” The band is in full swing on “Dazed” (“a true collaboration,” said Kendall), and the acoustic folk cuts “Dead End Dream” and “Pall Mall Days” are nice changes of pace. The album was produced by the revered Paul Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies, Warren Zevon), and Kendall said they will also work together on his next album.
Kendall recently worked the boards for Bristol’s favorite songbird, Allysen Callery, who remains on the international radar following a few European tours. On her latest release we are treated to another stunning session for UK Folk Radio. The four songs include a traditional British Isles cover (“Blackwaterside”), a gorgeous unreleased track titled “All In the Morning” (Callery’s vocals and finger-picking guitar skills are second to none here), and two re-recorded songs, “The Huntsman” (originally found on her Summer Place EP) and the precious “Spare Parts” from Mumblin’ Sue. Callery’s subtle delivery is pure gold on lines here like “I’m pretty good with my hands, and I need a man who’ll whir and purr, stir at my command” and “I’ll build a man with a gold heart out of those spare parts.”
Kendall and Callery met last summer and the chemistry immediately clicked. They recorded the sessions in Kendall’s “shed” during one wintry evening (with help from Don Julio tequila, reportedly). The disc has sold out, but her Folk Radio UK Session 2014 download is still available at allysencallery.bandcamp.com. Kendall also worked the boards for a Callery cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I Gave You” for a Will Oldham tribute compilation, and will produce Callery’s next album.
“Bob is able to produce exactly the sound I want, without me explaining or saying anything — I love it,” Callery gushed. “I feel like I discovered a hidden treasure over there in Middletown, but lots of people have known and loved him for a long time.”
Allysen Callery and Haunt the House Named to Paste’s Top 10 RI Bands
You can read the article here
Allysen Callery For Folk Radio UK 2014 EP
75OL-191 Allysen Callery For Folk Radio UK 2014 EP CD
[sold out]
Limited to 125 handmade brown jackets, 100 of which are only available at live performances.
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Intro
2. All in the Morning
3. Blackwaterside
4. The Huntsman
5. Spare Parts
“The session Allysen recorded for us features three of her own songs and one traditional song ‘Blackwaterside‘ which she first heard Anne Briggs performing. The session also marks a new direction for Allysen on which she intertwines her love of psychedelic and trad folk. Her friend Bob Kendall recorded her in his shed one snowy evening. I think you’ll all agree that this session is simply magical, she never disappoints and always leaves you wanting more.” – Alex Gallacher Founder Folk Radio UK
Original album artwork by William Schaff
Allysen Callery interview at All Creativelike
You can read the article here.
Allysen Callery is an earth angel. Her lyrics, melodies, and haunting voice are truly unique and special. What’s more, Allysen is a kind and thoughtful human. Man, some folks have all the luck! Read on to find out more about Allysen’s songwriting process, creative influences, and what it was like playing at the esteemed South-by-Southwest music festival this year.
How do you define creativity?
I don’t. I think that’s anti-creativity.
Where does your songwriting inspiration come from?
I get inspired every time I learn a new chord, or open tuning. I’m still learning, even after 15+ years of playing guitar. The melody comes, and the words follow. But sometimes it’s the other way around.
Can you remember the first time you had an experience with music?
I was a toddler in Taiwan. My parents were there because of the Vietnam war. My father was a medic. Music was a part of our living space, and I first noticed where it came from by seeing that Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles was coming from a reel-to-reel.
Tell me about writing your lyrics vs. developing melodies?
I was a poet before I became a songwriter. I don’t worry about hooks and choruses so much. I want to tell a story, and I want to make you feel and be transported. Melodies just come when I’m playing around on guitar. But the words and music come from someplace other than just me.
What have you been working on lately?
I’ve been lucky to have been recorded lately by the great Bob Kendall, who also laid some production over my songs “for fun.” The result was a session for Folk Radio UK that’s gotten over 4,000 plays in the last month. I am going to be recording a British Isles covers EP for a UK label, and working with Bob for that, as well. I cannot wait. (Here the session here.)
Favorite artist or influence?
Oh boy, so many. I was heavily influenced by all the wonderful artists my parents listened to: Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, The Incredible String Band. I learned how to sing by listening to Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention and Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span. Lately I have been really loving Jessica Pratt out of San Francisco. And, Anne Briggs really inspires me.
You recently played South-by-Southwest. What was that experience like?
I was very well taken care of at my first “South By.” I was lucky to have caught the ear of someone in a senior booking position, and he made sure I was given extra performance slots and all my showcases were in nice hotels. I made a few wonderful connections, and was written up and ranked highly in the Washington Post. I also made NPR Bob Boilen’s list of Intriguing Unknown Artists.
Any daily or weekly habits and practices?
I’ve been posting homemade recordings on my Soundcloud page about every week, some covers and demos that may or may not make it onto an album at some point. I am not a very regimented person, but I try to play guitar every day, and am playing one or two shows every week. I still have a day job, and will probably always have one – I like to pay my bills on time!
Any advice for aspiring musicians?
Practice. Be better than you thought you could be. Take risks, you should be frightened what people might think of your art. Don’t try to fit in. Don’t try to play it cool. Answer emails. Be kind to everyone. Don’t let anyone other than you define who you are. Get nice head shots. Get a real website. Keep a part-time job that you don’t have to get up too early for, that is not too physically demanding, so you can still play shows within a one to two-hour driving radius throughout the week. Officially release music every year. Upload new content weekly. Don’t get hung up on perfection. Pursue the press. Be true to your self, and your vision – you are unique and the world is wide, you will find your peeps, your tribe. They might be sprinkled around the globe, but that’s why the Internet is so awesome.