Friday, September 23, 2016

Release Day! Listen France Moon Self-Titled EP - Release Day Show 9/23 at The Other Side #Brooklyn


(Brooklyn, NY) One of the best kept secrets in New Jersey, Garage-rocker and singer-songwriter Francie Moon is exactly what you might think of when you hear “free spirit.” Always traveling in her well-worn van, Moon has gigged in every nook and cranny, bar and coffee shop in the continental U.S. 

With a prolific amount of releases to her credit since adopting the moniker in 2013, Francie Moon (real name Melissa Lucciola) is now gearing up to drop her most fully realized songs to date. The three-track Francie Moon EP is out September 23rd, 2016 via self-release with Release Show at The Other Side
338 Moffat St, Brooklyn, New York 11237 $5 Bands at 9pm BYOB Friday Night September 23rd on the bill are Sun Voyager, The Big DropsElephant Fire (Special acoustic set) Also a special guest is slated for the show.

Each of the three tracks on the EP were recorded live on a tape machine before Moon moved for a spell down to Georgia, which lends the overall sound a feel you might hear on a Third Man Records release. Before she returned to the NJ area in early 2016, engineers Richie Semartin and Jon Irizarry worked up the tracks with Moon deciding to record more guitar and solos, backing vocals and little extra bits and pieces. The EP, which teases a larger collection of songs to be released next year, features Semartin (drums) and Adam Pumilia (bass).

Moon’s gritty, garage-blues sound is a direct reflection of her life. In her own words, “I set up my life around music to make it work, no matter what. I handpainted 500 covers of my vinyl EP and made and cut every cover. I made hundreds of shirts and sold them on tour and I sold at least a couple thousand CD’s by hand to each person who bought one and gave away hundreds more. 

I sold my handmade earrings on my merch table. I sold a DVD player one time on my merch table. I bought a van a week before a tour so we’d have something to drive. I’ve come home with $500 and I’ve come home with $50. 

I’ve walked 2 miles to a show with all my equipment from a train station in San Diego and another time in Boston, ride shared a 15-hour overnight drive from Hollywood to Denver, CO and crossed the desert 5 times in a month just to make it to some shows.”

As always, Moon will be picking up plenty of shows as she continues her travels probably to a town near you. 
Social Media:
Bandcamp - Facebook - Soundcloud - Web - Instagram - Twitter


Monday, September 19, 2016

Dex Romweber is Sinisterly Tarantino-esque on Carraboro


 Don't get the idea Dex's hat tip is a farewell, on the contrary it's a cocky tip of the hat that the bawdry bar room troubadour is back with a vengeance, with some lighter tunes like on the opener 'I hade a Dream' is a lullaby with tragically sadness to it. The second track 'Lonesome Train' is a gritty pining for a lost love, or perhaps many  with haunting slide and eerie riffs leading to an outright pursuit of the lady lost. 'Nightide' is where he gets sinister and haunting with amazing guitar work and siren back up singers and an utter obliteration of surf riffs that is pure Dex.
Tomorrows Taking My Baby Away is pure desert roadhouse crooner, piano comes across as the house player in an old time saloon. But it's a double shout pounder of sorry. Trouble in the World finds him in a revival meeting preacher mode, yet the sinister pours forth like the wine at a monastery. 
'My Funny Valentine' seems an after thought but the drum solo and other worldly organ feel in keeping with the overall feel of the record. 'I Don't Know' seems to be a Woody Guthrie tribute.
"Where Do You Roam' is not a question but a demand from a roadside avenging angel. More sinister guitar and vocals, this one's another treat to my apotheosis of the album. 'Smile' is a beautiful standard melody  to let down your guard and deceptive in it's placement." Knock Knock' killer rocker, with a great sing along and twang a wang doodle and signature guitar sound. "Midnight at Vics' rips the floor boards off with it's guaranteed shoe sliding floor board shaking rock out. 'Out Of The Way'
is an harmonically heavenly quieting of the storm, in it's beauty and melodic riffs, like the sinister character calming himself form demons. 'Tell Me Why I Do" pines for love found but perhaps to late and not what was wanted all along. As I said in a tweet taking as a whole the album could be the sound track for a Quentin Tarantino remake of Robert Mitchum's 1953 Night Of The Hunter. I stand by that after many listens, and this is an album I'll be playing for a long long time. I really recommend this album for it's dark sinister feel.
Highly recommend as a companion 2014's Dex Romweber Duo and if you missed the Dex Romweber sampler on 
Noisetrade shame of you.


Thursday, September 15, 2016

There's a Francie Moon on the Rise





Gone on six years now the garage hounds and I have been howlin' the praises of Francie Moon, way aback then we knew her as Melissa Lucciola, a prolific powerhouse of DIY output that featured her edgy distinct voice and slam it to the bedroom wall guitar playing set to heartfelt emotional lyrics that could soar with the best of classic and contemporary poets. She was our Jackie Kerouac, our 21st Patty Smith packed in a petite frame and shyly distant from us ordinary folk, but with a smile to light the haziest dark corners of a venue. Like an aspiring troubadour wittingly or unwittingly must do. Melissa assumed the moniker Francie Moon and took to the road, the country roads, the forgotten roads, the Red Cloud Road and back again to record the dust, dirt and the quilt of America she was weaving and coming to understand herself. It's in her songs, the journey, the growth, the hard lessons learned and shared with us through her undaunted spirit. A moon spirit of many phases. Six years the hounds and I have rocked by the fireside checking our google alerts, where she's playing, the adventures she's having, a song she's posted and now our great hope is showing signs of shining as publications of record and taste makers are taking notice. There's a Moon on the rise and the hounds wagging their tails and howlin' at the moon..
Self-titled EP, releases on September 23rd.


Elmore Magazine on August 29th ran this headline:

EXCLUSIVE: Francie Moon Mixes up a Brew of Garage Rock and Surf Pop For “Walked Away”

"The phrase DIY gets thrown with eye roll inducing frequency these days, ringing less of a counter-cultural, damn-the-man aesthetic and more of a com-modified punch line. But for New Jersey based singer/songwriter Melissa Lucciola, who performs under the moniker Francie Moon, DIY is alive and well– not only a way of life, but as the only way- for now- that she can devote her life to doing what she loves. “I set up my life around music,” the young artist confesses. In order to spread her work to cafes, coffee shops, bars and back porches across the country, she’s shared rides with strangers, hopped trains, hiked and hawked items to save up for a van of her own. She’s made albums and t-shirts by hand and moved her own merch, making friends and music all along the way. As Moon continues to work on a full length debut and build her catalog of songs, she’s getting set to release an EP, Francie Moon, on September 23rd."



On September 7th American Songwriter followed with:

Song Premiere: Francie Moon, “West Virginia”

"We’re excited to hear prolific, bluesy garage rocker Francie Moon’s latest EP, which she’s set to self-release September 23, but even more excited to premiere one of its tracks, “West Virginia”. It’s a slinky, groovy tune that drips with fuzziness."



On September 14th Baeble posted

BAEBLE BLOG

BAEBLE FIRST PLAY: 'Red Cloud Road' by Francie Moon

"garage-rocker and singer-songwriter, Francie Moon. Recorded at Crud Studios and the Land Bridge Records/Rigbi home base in NJ, Francie Moon, AKA Melissa Lucciola, produced the song herself along with Richie Samartin, Jon Irizarry, and Richie Samartin. She encompasses everything that makes her an inspirational woman: attitude, depth, dirt, grit, coolness, and grace. The track is calm with a retro vibe, reverb-packed vocals, jangling guitars, clashing drums, and even a thumb piano at the very end. Francie Moon's ability to make you feel like you're floating in the air is hypnotic."



Friday, May 6, 2016

Sam Moss a Man of Fables, Release's NEW Album


At a moments notice, I can wander, without going anywhere but my head, or on an aimless stroll in lonely wild places, or in a crowd of strangers. Tranquility and clarity of thought are my preferred state of being. I can go anywhere, be anything my imagination leads me. Boston-based singer/songwriter and string player Sam Moss' new album Fable is a companion for such excursions, like a close trusted friend, his voice is soothing but mysterious with a tale at the tip of his tongue, and intricate melodies flowing from his skillful fingers like a mythical woodland sprite you'll eagerly follow. Haunting and mesmerizing Fable is a fine album to get lost in and keep you company in your travels.

Recorded with (Michael Roberts, Jeff Murphy, and Jesse Fox), and the folks at Guilford Sound (Dave Snyder and Matt Hall).
Released May 6th, you can order Fable now on CD, Vinyl, or MP3, or stream it on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, etc.

Fable Album Release Tour
5.10   NEW YORK NY Rockwood Music Hall- Stage 1
5.11   PHILADELPHIA PA Random Tea Room (w/Marian McLaughlin)
5.12   WASHINGTON DC Upshur Street Books (w/Marian McLaughlin, Alex Tebeleff)
5.13   CHARLOTTESVILLE VA Twisted Branch (w/Diane Cluck, The Hill and Wood)
5.15   CHAPEL HILL NC Honeysuckle Tea House (w/Dan Blakeslee)
5.17   ASHEVILLE NC Downtown Books & News (w/Dan Blakeslee, Wes Tirey)
5.19   LOUISVILLE KY Dreamland (w/Marisa Anderson)
5.20   LEXINGTON KY Institute 193 (w/Marisa Anderson)
5.21   COLUMBUS OH Rambling House
5.22   INDIANAPOLIS IN Sofar
5.23   URBANA IL Urbana Hootenanny at the Rose Bowl Tavern
5.24   MILWAUKEE WI Riverwest Public House
5.25   MADISON WI Arts + Literature Lab
5.27   MINNEAPOLIS MN The Warming House (w/Luke Redfield)
5.28   IOWA CITY IA Danforth Chapel (w/Liv Carrow)
5.29   DES MOINES IA Des Moines Social Club (w/Liv Carrow, Extravision)
5.30   DAVENPORT IA Daytrotter Venue
5.31   CHICAGO IL The Hideout
6.1     CINCINNATI OH MOTR
6.3     PITTSBURGH PA Acoustic Music Works
6.4     CLEVELAND OH Cleveland Public Library
6.5     BUFFALO NY Silos (w/Obody)
6.6     ROCHESTER NY Mission Hall (w/Obody)
6.7     ITHACA NY TBA (w/Obody)
6.8     NORTHAMPTON MA Parlor Room (w/Joan Shelley)
6.9     HUDSON NY Club Helsinki (w/Joan Shelley)
6.10   BURLINGTON VT Skinny Pancake (w/Joan Shelley)
6.11   HANOVER NH Skinny Pancake (w/Joan Shelley)
6.12   PORTLAND ME One Longfellow Square (w/Joan Shelley)
6.14   PORTSMOUTH NH 3S Artspace (w/Joan Shelley)
6.15   BOSTON MA Red Room (w/Joan Shelley)
6.30   BANGOR ME Central Gallery (w/Rob Noyes)
7.1     NORTH HAVEN ME TBA (w/Rob Noyes)
7.2     BAR HARBOR ME Lompoc (w/Rob Noyes)
7.13   BURLINGTON VT City Hall Park
7.13   BURLINGTON VT Radio Bean
7.15   WOODSTOCK VT Bentleys
10.11 DORSET VT Marble House Project

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Strange Majik's NEW Album Raised on Rock 'n' Roll

Photo by Cristina Arrigoni 


Pre-Order Raised on Rock 'N' Roll Releases April 18th                                   Photo By Rick Wenner


NYC based music producer and songwriter, David Pattillo aka Strange Majik’s latest album, at its root draws from the bare bone devilish descent into the blues of 2012's punk blues duo The Dead Exs, and last year's excursion to the hedonistic urban funkadelic and thriving sounds and undercurrents of the city's underbelly and shadows on his collaborative "Lights On" under the pseudonym Strange Majik. Without the boundary exploitation and explosion of those creative whirlwinds, his latest album would be yet another collection of songs labeled as rock and roll for a undiscerning consumer to devour like a sugar coated treat, melted and forgotten.
Fortunately out of that caldron of exploration "Raised on Rock 'N" Roll" is a redefining rock record, bold with flourishes of experimentation. A fusion of past, present, and future on this collective musical carousel ride we're taking together. It speaks to us each as individuals, yet binds our varied inner beats to a more common experience.
Raised on Rock and Roll will encompass many things to many people, mostly though it's the free spirit, and attitude of resistance against the status quo. A weekend in the woods in the right conditions can have the effect of being raised by wolves with howling as a means of primal communication, a trip to a carnival as a kid can have a lasting effect of heightened individuality and rebellion. Mostly though it's a love sonnet to the music and the special musicians that when talked about sound to others like insider information, a secret society that only those with a special cosmic insight know their names and music. Those raised on rock and roll are the insightful, who whisper names that in time end up on everyone's lips. You can recognize them, they're devouring the liner notes, they know the studio musicians and every session they've played. Hushed conversations while the vinyl spins, names are dropped, Doug Sahm, Graham Parsons, Flo and Eddie, Leon Russell, Steve Cropper, The Swampers. Literary influences intertwine with the sounds, Kerouac, Burroughs, Kesey and Wolf. Those raised on rock and roll bring to us what exists on the edges of society and dissect it, shape it and keep it is perpetual forward motion.
It is this mythological, legendary, storied and surreal past that Strange Majik unleashes his creativity and innovation to pay unbridled loving homage to on "Raised on Rock 'N' Roll"
With the power of his experience, blues chops, funky twists, soulful snarls, and bone bustin' riffs that could come straight outta Muscle Shoals or Stax this album will put to rest that question, is Rock and Roll dead? The answer is a resounding HELL NO!
Celebrating a year-long residency at the retro chic Tribeca haunt Belle Reve where on any given Tuesday you'll never know who'll show up to jam.
"I'm so happy to have my weekly Tribeca residency at Belle Reve. It's enabled me to play my music for new folks every week, get some immediate feedback, and inspire a lot of people to believe in rock 'n' roll again. I see all ages come out and it's heartening to see how much fun everyone is having. There are so many bands in town, but not many that do what we do. I'm just glad people trust in the boys and me to deliver the goods. There's so much emotion wrapped up in the lyrics and they will cut pretty deep, but there is such a release that happens live for the audience and for me. I feel like Leon Russell on his live record when he says 'Now if you all don't feel like you've had a religious experience tonight when you leave, you just go get your money back. I don't need it!' That may not be the hippest thing to say in indie rock today or the smartest, but with my crowd it just feels right."
For this record Pattillo gathered an exceptional list of musicians and friends to contribute, Dillon Treacy's provides fat back beats. Jake Pinto from the eclectric Brooklyn band Emefe channels Ray Charles and Booker T. with his vintage Wurly. Chris Gaskell aka Baby GSauce's plays super funky, moving from upright bass to electric with ease. Showcase moments go to Geoff Burke on sax who Pattillo borrowed from Harry Connick Jr. and Sean Spada tickles the keys on Piano. Mollie King from Tennessee and Briana Layon add some background vocals. Anthony "Flynn" Mullin of the NYC band The Blackfires cameos on rippin' guitar. Floridian Greg "The Fiddler" Holt, plus a beautiful cameo from the NYC band Walking Shapes frontman, Nathaniel Hoho.

"Going to Miami" opens the record with a fat back chitlin' groove and a gritty guitar riff straight outta Jimmy James and The Blue Flames. One drop of the needle and its BANG! "Listening To Leon" sounds like it could have been a lost Derek And The Dominoes gem. Self deprecating, age wary, slides soaring and riff heavy it's an infectious rocker worthy of Leon's praise. 
"Don't Mess With The Girl From Texas" and "Raised on Rock 'N' Roll" are two southern tinged anthems full of feathers and flair. Background vocalists Mollie King from Tennessee and Briana Layon from Tulsa bring the swampy southern authenticity here. These two are like an ice cream sandwich with Claudia Lennear hiding in the middle.  Classic indeed! Anthony "Flynn" Mullin of the NYC band The Blackfires cameos on rippin' guitar runs as well. The result is a classic rock standard and an undeniable Texas honky tonk rager.  

But then the masterful "Electrified" slows us down to a sexier groove that recalls a vibey JJ Cale moment.  A haunting atmosphere eases you into to a plush 16 bar blues with a message. "I had just seen the movie 'Amy.' recalls Pattillo and the song just wrote itself. I related to her brutally addictive relationship with her boyfriend that fueled her iconic storylines, which on one hand gave her beautiful songs but eventually destroyed her life." 
"Workingman 99" is a more raw and immediate revisit from the "Lights On" record with Geoff Burke holding down a "Brass Monkey" Beastie's vibe. No doubt this is one of the most visceral tracks on the record with the entire band working overtime. And its lyrical lefty sensibilities are right on time for this revolutionary election year! "Nolita Strut," which could be an Allan Toussaint instrumental, along with "If You Got The Time I Got The Love" and "Girl From Texas" originally appeared on The Dead Exs records punkier and loose. But here they have evolved into tighter, punchier, maximum party pleasers.  "Cocaine Kisses" keeps the fun going and the humor high with Floridian Greg Holt's fiddlers nod to Americana coaxing Pattillo's wit.
"Gone" starts with the dead thump of Pattillo's foot on the bootbox. GSauce's upright bass moans like a crawling king snake in the mud. Spada's piano delivery is dreamy and masterful.  Pattillo's vocal rattles your bones. It's a long slow ride that delivers. But perhaps the most epic tune on the record is "Pull The Trigger." From its solitary beginning with Pattillo and his slide guitar on a single mic, this one genuinely reflects our violent often divisive times with a beautiful cameo from the NYC band Walking Shapes frontman, Nathaniel Hoho.
Pattillo shines as an ace songwriter on this record, and not only did he pen all the songs, but engineered, produced and mixed the record too as he did on his last record the phenomenal "Lights On"
"I thought this one was going to be fairly easy but it became a huge labor of love and it kept growing. We started tracking the record with just the three of us in the room but then the upbeat songs were missing something. It was a challenge to get the right players and vibe so the band kept growing."
This is an album you'll not easily tire of listening to, there are so many layers on here each new spin is a discovery of something new and besides that it will just get you jimmy jumping wildly. I've been trying to figure out my favorite song, but the whole dang thing blows me away, definitely an LP to be listened to fully.
Pre-Order and get first three singles now. Releases on April 18th

Track List:
1. Going To Miami
2. Listening To Leon
3. Don't Mess With The Girl From Texas
4. Raised On Rock 'N' Roll
5. Electrified
6. Workingman 99
7. Nolita Strut
8. Cocaine Kisses
9. Gone
10. If You Got The Time I Got The Love
11. Pull The Trigger




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