Tag: Mark Cutler
Mark Cutler and The Men of Great Courage at The Met
Mark Cutler and The Men of Great Courage
Fundraiser for the Documentary, BEST JUDGMENT:Ladd School Lessons By Barbara Williams McCrae
with Jimmy Isom and MC Rudy Cheeks
5pm-7pm
Jacob Haller and Mark Cutler at AS220
with Ryan Fitzsimmons, John Fuzek, Jow Auger and many others
AS220
115 Empire Street
Providence, RI
8:30pm
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)
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
Mark Cutler and the Men of Great Courage at the 133 Club
The 133 Club
East Providence, RI
Please bring canned goods for the food drive.
9pm
Mark Cutler with the Tiny String Band at the Greenwich Hotel
Greenwich Hotel
Main Street
East Greenwich, RI
8pm
Allysen Callery, Mark Cutler, and Bob Kendall at Channing Memorial Church
with Becky Chace and Ken Shane
Fundraiser for the RI Community Food Bank, food donations will
$15
Channing Memorial Church
135 Pelham St
Newport, RI 02840-3174
Mark Cutler ‘Soul Flame’ video
Mark Cutler and Men of Great Courage CD release show at Nick-a-nees
CD Release for Dreamland
Nick-A-Nee’s
75 South Street
Providence, RI
Providence Phoenix Interviews Mark Cutler about new album ‘Dreamland’
You can read the interview here.
Revered veteran musician Mark Cutler has officially escaped the cube farm, and he’s feeling like a billion bucks. He’s been a working musician for nearly 40 years and is an iconic fixture on the Lil Rhody music scene, from his days with the Schemers and the Raindogs to his current outfits, Men of Great Courage and the Tiny String Band. The singer/songwriter/six-string slinger just released another fantastic album, Dreamland (75orLess Records), the follow-up to 2012’s Sweet Pain. Mark will return to his favorite Jewelry District dive, Nick-a-Nee’s, for the official Dreamland release show on Friday.
Cutler’s brand of earnest roots-rock is scaled back this time around. He noted that he wrote “small songs about small things” and recorded in a home studio “the size of a postage stamp.” His exit from the rat race is prevalent on “Doing Things That We Like to Do” and “Too Much Fun.” He revs it up a bit and even plays drums on “Gonna Need My Help,” which he calls a “Yardbirds-type of raveup.” Dusty gems “Tankful of Gas” and “We Don’t Do That Stuff No More” dial up Dylan and Tom Petty, and the title track is a personal fave. Mark revealed a soft spot for the introspective “I’ll Play For You”:
“That one has a special place in my heart because every word is taken from real life — the first verse talks about the legendary Living Room. The second is taken directly from a memory of my second-grade schoolmate Geneva and how my eight-year-old heart yearned back then. The last verse is about one of my best friends, Mark Egan, who passed away a few years ago. We had a short-lived ritual where in the evenings we would walk down Park Avenue in Cranston, play our guitars and sing songs.”
Dreamland is Cutler’s third album for the Warren-based imprint 75orLess Records. Label founder Mark MacDougall says that Cutler helped pave the way for their increasingly eclectic roster.
“Mark Cutler deserves credit for expanding the types of music genres that the label is involved with. The first few years were strictly punk and hard rock albums, but after we released Red I was much more open to working with performers like Haunt the House, Allysen Callery, and others. Even if I stopped the label tomorrow, Mark is one of the best people I have crossed paths with, regardless of our music connection.”
Read our Q&A with Cutler below, and pick up Dreamland right now at the 75orLess Records website.
What was your former day job, and how is it not working for The Man anymore? I was a quality assurance engineer — I tested software. It was a good job for awhile, but leaving was the best thing I’ve done in a long time. I initially took the job in order to be able to provide my son with health insurance and help pay for his education, and now that he is graduating it seemed like a good time to reboot my life. Not working for The Man gives me a wonderful feeling. I’m still working harder than ever, but it’s really nice to not dread Mondays. I’m making less dough but I feel like a billionaire.
Considering the album title, was there a conscious decision going in that this album would have a mellower sound than Sweet Pain? Yes. I wanted to make a small record at home and I wanted to make it sound as spontaneous as possible. I wanted to write small songs about small things. Sometimes small things can be as big as the universe. I was taking cues from Lou Reed and Ray Davies — artists that can make the mundane sound beautiful.
Dreamland is your most stripped-down release. Did you do most of it solo? I did most of the record myself but of course I needed the help of my band, the Men of Great Courage (Jim Berger, bass, Rick Couto, drums, Bob Kirkman, banjo, Richard Reed, keys). Chris Lilley was very generous with her engineering knowledge. And my good friend (and veteran producer) Emerson Torrey did the mastering.
How has your relationship with Mark MacDougall and 75orLess been thus far? My partnership with 75orLess is wonderful. We have a low-key and low-pressure relationship. Mark is easygoing and does a great job getting the word out for me. He’s a music lover and he feels like family.
Tell us about working on the soundtrack for Jim Wolpaw’s Ladd School documentary (facebook.com/laddfilm)? Jim told me about this project, the strange and disturbing story of the Ladd School, and I jumped at the chance. I believe that this is an important story on many levels. People have a ton of misconceptions about folks who are labeled as being developmentally disabled and I hope that this film helps to dispel some of those notions. I’m working with clients from Advocates in Action to create an original soundtrack, including Jimmy Isom, who plays beats on the table and sings. Jimmy was also a client at Ladd School years ago, and has shared some chilling stories with me. I’ve made some friends for life through this project. I feel like getting to work on this soundtrack is a gift from God.
What’s on deck for MC in 2014? Will you continue to play with The Schemers? We’ll probably stick to doing one or two Schemers shows a year. I want to keep that special for the people who remember the band. Hopefully, the Tiny String Band and MOGC will be recording in 2014, and maybe I’ll put out a weird electronica album. I’ve been threatening to do that for a long time. I’m going to be holding food drives throughout the year and teaching guitar. I’ve been working on some short stories and screenplays as well.
Did you ever imagine that almost 40 years later you would still be kicking out the jams? I never thought that I’d be doing anything else. Any day job that I had was solely to support my family and my habit. My decision to leave my job was made easier when I said out loud that I wouldn’t ever be able to afford to retire. So, if I’m going to have to work until the day I die, I may as well be doing something that I love. Wish me luck.