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Information on Chris Mills |
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Chris Mills' first CD release, 1997's straight-to-four track Nobody's Favorite, proudly proclaimed itself "seven songs guaranteed to bring you right down" as its stark, unflinching lyrical precision cut straight to the bone. 1998's Every Night Fight For Your Life explored the potential of pure pop and larger-than-life drama. Kiss It Goodbye is a synthesis of those twin inclinations. This leads us to Chris Mills' latest album, The Silver Line. It may also describe the zigzagging path that led Mills from his last release, 2000's Kiss It Goodbye, to his latest folk-pop opus. In between, he and his band played over 200 shows in the States and abroad, on his own and in support of bands like Califone, Eleventh Dream Day, Wilco, Nick Lowe, Willie Nelson, The Handsome Family and Portland punk rock godfathers Dead Moon. Somehow, Mills also found time to squeeze in tours of duty playing guitar for the Mekons' Sally Timms and Perishable Records' Fruit Bats, contribute to numerous compilations, start his own record label, deliver pizzas in his hometown of Collinsville, IL and record an album.
To find out more about Chris Mills, visit www.chris-mills.com.
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Information on Urban Twang |
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The songwriting team of vocalist Trish Clausen and guitarist Max Getzel have been working together since 1982. Beginning in the early '80s their first project was a pop ska band called The Eccentrics. Their next venture was Price of Passion and in 1987 they managed to muster enough enthusiasm to relocate to Boston. However, they promptly returned to their hometown of Chicago. In the early '90s they redefined themselves with an Americana influence to their music and became Urban Twang. Urban Twang has been performing in Chicago since 1991. They have released two CDs. The first, on A. E. M. M. P. Records, entitled Nothing You Can Do was released in 1994. The most recent, Go Call Delia, ranges from traditional country inspired tunes such as "If Liquor Were a Women" to the smoky jazz sound of "Weatherman's Blues." Lead singer Trish Clausen's versatile vocal style easily switches from haunting melancholy to lighthearted playfulness without losing her signature sultriness.
For more information on Urban Twang check out www.urbantwang.com
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Information on Nicholas Tremulis |
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Nicholas Tremulis was born in Chicago, the son of a jazz pianist and a blues singer and started his career at the age of thirteen playing the rough and tumble Chicago club scene. At seventeen, he began writing and recording his own songs for a small Chicago label. A few years later an independently released single caught the attention of industry legend Chris Blackwell who immediately signed him to a contract with Island Records. Nicholas' first two recordings for Island Records, Nicholas Tremulis and More Than The Truth, were an original mixture of rock and classic soul that featured Ivan Neville, Bonnie Raitt, Maceo Parker, Shawn Christopher and Sugar Blue. After leaving Island Records, Nick decided to abandon the large R & B format and concentrate on writing and performing a mixture of poetry and music acoustically. A chance meeting with renown beat poet Gregory Corso in New York led to a collaboration that culminated with the recording of Nick's latest release Bloody Show.
Visit www.blackvinyl.com
for more information on Nicholas Tremulis. |
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Information on Alice Peacock |
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Chicago singer/songwriter Alice Peacock was immersed in performing at an early age. Her grandfather Fritz Gnass was an actor in Germany, appearing in many films including Frintz Lang's M; her grandmother was a cabaret composer; her father acted in repertory theater in the 1960s; and her mother acted in film and television. Growing up in a big family, Alice was exposed to diverse musical styles. She listened to one sister's '70s hard rock and another sister's country-rock, as well as her mother's Burl Ives and Johnny Cash records. While attending college at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, she joined the university jazz band and also performed with a cover band and did some jingle work. It was during this period that Alice discovered a passion for classic jazz, blues, and standards. She also found herself interested in folk and bluegrass. After college, she moved to San Francisco and sang backup vocals with an R&B band called E.C. Scott and Smoke, however, she felt musically stifled and moved to Chicago. After several failed attempts to put a band together, Peacock started playing by herself and composing her own highly personal material, drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell and Carole King. It's difficult to label Peacock a folk, rock, or country performer, since she is really a bit of everything. She released her debut CD Real Day on her own label Peacock Music in early 1999; strong word-of-mouth and favorable press led to the album being picked up for wider distribution in 2000.
For more information on Alice Peacock, visit www.alicepeacock.com
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Information on Poi Dog Pondering |
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Poi Dog Pondering is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Frank Orrall, who started the band in his native Hawaii in 1986. The group's first incarnation spent a year traveling through North America as street musicians, sleeping on grass and carpeted floors and playing on street corners for spare change. Poi Dog Pondering settled in Austin, Texas in 1987 where they signed to Texas Hotel Records and recorded their first two EP's. They signed to Columbia Records in 1988 and relocated to Chicago in 1992 where they expanded to an 11 member line-up. In 1995, they formed their own label, Plate-tec-tonic, which allowed the group complete creative and professional control of their music.
Visit www.poidogpondering.com
for more information. |
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Information on Bandoleros |
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The international, eclectic seven-piece band, Bandoleros, combines
Middle Eastern, Flamenco and Latin/Caribbean rhythms. With an intercontinental
mix of individuals, the Bandoleros include members hailing from
Venezuela, Ecuador, the Ukraine and Cuba and Assyrians. This band
sings in Spanish, Arabic, English, Italian, Greek and Turkish. Due
to the band's overwhelming popularity, they were immediately snatched
by a number of popular venues in the Chicagoland area where they
performed to standing-room only audiences and more than 1,500 people
three nights a week. Founded by members Johnny Shabandar and Wesam
Isho, the Bandoleros have been performing their unique music to
packed venues since 1997. Since its creation, the band has independently
released three CD's, Habibi in 2000, Bandolero in 2002, and most
recently Maximo.
Check
out www.bandoleros.com
for more information. |
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Information on Gayle Ritt |
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Gayle Ritt is a public relations specialist by day and a musician
by night. A native of Flagstaff, Arizona, Ritt has been singing and
performing most of her life. From the days as a singing waitress at
Black Bart's Steakhouse to playing for sold out audiences at the House
of Blues, her constant performing have made her a household name in
Chicago. Ritt's new release, Becoming is a live recording that captures
passion, regret and anger so well... the wrestle with the past and
lyrics that are filled with emotional vibes.
For more information check out www.gayleritt.com
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Information on Jon Langford |
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Jon Langford, along with colleague Tom Greenhaigh have piloted rock chameleons, The Mekons, through 17 rocky years of tours, labels and the occasional album. A modern renaissance man, Langford is not only a musician, but a painter and comic artist as well. Langford got his start in the same Leeds University scene of the mid 70's that produced the Gang of Four. After a brief bout with synth-pop, the band switched gears to punk/country and released Fear and Whiskey in 1985. Whiskey singlehandedly revitalized the Mekons' career. For the remainder of the decade, the band engaged in an arduous touring schedule, picking up fans and band members at virtually every stop along the way. Langford set up camp in Chicago in the early '90s. While The Mekons still continue to exist as a band, Langford is presently focusing on his two side projects, The Waco Brothers and Jon Langford's Skull Orchard Band. Skull Orchard is an offshoot of the Waco Brothers, including Steve Goulding, Mark Durante, and Alan Doughty behind Langford. Each project is stamped with Langford's unique brand of wise-ass country, and is a delightful live experience. Langford also runs a group called the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, a country music cover band.
To find out more about Jon Langford, visit www.bloodshotrecords.com.
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