Category: Haunt the House
Allysen Callery and Haunt the House Named to Paste’s Top 10 RI Bands
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Providence Phoenix feature on Haunt the House
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The House that Houlihan built
Haunt the House’s ‘Jack Rabbit Jones’
By CHRIS CONTI | May 28, 2014
Singer-songwriter Will Houlihan returns under his Haunt the House moniker with Jack Rabbit Jones (75orLess Records), the full-length follow-up to the 2013 EP Rural Introspection Study Group. Expect a packed house in the upstairs lounge at the Columbus Theatre (where the album was recorded) this Friday when Houlihan and his Housemates return to headline their album release party (columbustheatre.com). Fans of Brown Bird, the Low Anthem, Iron & Wine, and Bon Iver should grab a copy of Jack Rabbit Jones ASAP.
The album gleams with a stirring, spiritually-inflected sound that well represents the band name on the marquee, as Houlihan explained when we caught up following a particularly stunning performance a few weeks ago at Theatre 82 in Cranston’s Rolfe Square.
“I started off playing solo at open mics and people would often tell me how haunting my songs were, but it also has a spiritual origin whereby the Holy Spirit is often referred to as ‘living within you’ after Christian conversion,” he said. “Our bodies are also called the temple of the Lord, so it just made sense to me that the Holy Spirit haunts your house.”
And while Houlihan remains the lyrical architect, this time around he has assembled an impressive backing House band which includes Stephen Law (mandolin), Vudu Sister’s Amato Zinno (upright bass), Bessie Bessin (accordion/vox), and backup vocals and harmonies from the best in the biz, Allysen Callery.
“I am really happy for Will — he is one of the sweetest, funniest, and most wise people I know,” Callery said after the show. “When he asked me to sing on his new album I was delighted.”
Houlihan also enlisted the Columbus Theatre and in-house mixologists (and Low Anthem co-founders) Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky.
“I feel very blessed and fortunate to have worked with Ben and Jeff and the Columbus folks,” Houlihan said. “We couldn’t have asked for a more friendly, patient, and professional set of engineers.”
Prystowsky had nothing but praise for the House that Houlihan built. “Will’s voice sneaks up on you, it’s subtle and intense, and before you know it, he’s jumped into falsetto and a powerful wave of musical joy washes over you,” said Prytsowsky via email. “I remember him telling me his journey that led him to music and it was so compelling it inspired me for weeks. His music is charged, not just with an aptitude for words and melodies, but with a deep feeling of soul.”
Westerly/Charlestown native Houlihan decided to once again release his music via Warren-based imprint 75orLess. Label boss Mark MacDougall met Houlihan through artist William Schaff at his Fort Foreclosure, where MacDougall screenprints CD jackets and hosts his “That’s Not Incredible” podcast. 75orLess labelmate Callery had also been in MacDougall’s ear exulting Houlihan’s music. He caught a Haunt the House set and was convinced.
“Will happily embraced reverb on his vocals, reminding me of Jim James and Roy Orbison, while the music was stark, bare, and emotional,” MacDougall told me. “When I finally got to speak with him after the show, I found out how ‘organizationally challenged’ he was, and we agreed to start working together.”
Houlihan’s vivid and stark storytelling is carried by weary yet warm vocals as his schizophrenic character ruminates over a lost lover. Each of the 13 songs on Jack Rabbit Jones portrays a conversation between the two personalities,Jack Rabbit Jones and his evil alter ego King Amish. The album is meant to be “projected into your mind’s eye, and viewed as a theatrical experience,” the Jack Rabbit press release notes.
“I initially had a grand scheme to release a small comic with it and do an elaborate stage production early on, but as I got deeper into the writing process it became clear that the songs would be cohesive enough to allow the listener enough room to imagine their own interpretation,” said Houlihan. “The songs evolved into a dialogue between two people, one of which has a split personality like a Jekyll/Hyde character, and this creates a messed-up love triangle.”
The album opens with Houlihan’s acoustic gallop on “Mosquito Coast,” where he wraps a well-worn couplet in the chorus: “Tell my body not to leave my soul, I’ll grow up but I’ll never grow old/I’m so tired doin’ what I’m told, breakin’ my back for another man’s gold.” Houlihan certainly channels Orbison on standout cuts “Black Butte” and “Burial Waltz.” In “Jealous Vow,” Houlihan’s conflicted character vows, “I will have my vengeance on your soul” and is “tortured by rushing winds” on “Pity Creek Ravine,” though on “Emerson” he confidently declares that “love can heal our scars.” And it’s no coincidence that some of the most beautiful moments occur when Houlihan and Callery are entwined around the mic, particularly on “Little Bird” and “You’ve Disappeared” (she will join HTH for the entire performance on Friday). Their rendition of “Ease Your Troubled Mind” at the Theatre 82 show held the room in total silence. This song is absolutely gorgeous.
“Will is a gifted songwriter and an amazing soul,” commended Callery. “I can’t wait for everyone to hear his music.”
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.
The Noise reviews Mark Cutler, Allysen Callery, Haunt the House, and Dan Baker.
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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
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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.
Haunt the House – Rural Introspection Study Group
75OL-171 Haunt the House – Rural Introspection Study Group CD
$7.50 S&H Included
Digital download of the album is available here
Track listing
1. Byrd Island
2. Vampyre
3. When I Once Lived
4. Eden
5. Moses
6. Bright Star
Haunt the House is Will Houlihan. This album is a collection of songs that have been referred to as deep woods gospel and painfully delivered spirituals.
You can listen to Will’s appearance on the That’s Not incredible! podcast by going here.