Gene Watson and Rhonda Vincent

Michael Ford Jr and The Apache Relay

1988

Produced by Doug Williams

Michael Ford Jr. and the Apache Relay take more long car rides than most bands. But only a portion of their car time is dedicated to their touring schedule -- the rest is something like driving in the middle of the night from Nashville to Alabama and back, just to listen to a new record 12 consecutive times. Despite their wagon’s sketchy brakes, this happens a lot. It’s where the indie-roots band discovered a shared love for the timelessness of Motown records, the weight of the Raising Sand album, the textures of modern rock bands, as well as the intensity of a really skilled acoustic player.

It’s also where they cemented their bond, after spontaneously forming the band after one gig at Belmont University. Just a few months later they enlisted producer Doug Williams, best known for his authentically raw approach with the Avett Brothers. The band tracked 1988 live, applying their musicianship to an eclectic and textured array of pop-influenced original songs with guests Jessica Lea Mayfield, Joe Kwon and Byron House.

Ford Jr. found his bandmates by chance in a dorm at Belmont University in Nashville, where he was becoming known for his soulful folk-rock songs. His first introduction was to guitarist Mike Harris, who circumvented the music school’s practice hour rules to pretty much any time he wanted, rolled his amp into Ford Jr’s room to jam on Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn tunes all night. Later, when Ford Jr. started disliking performing his songs alone, he heard about Harris’ new band, The Apache Relay (named for the underdog race in Ben Stiller’s Heavyweights.)  And though Ford Jr. had never heard or met the trio with Brett Moore and Kellen Wenrich -- he hired them to back him at a show, and that was that.

There was something about the musicality that everyone brought to the table that just worked right off the bat. Mixed in is a Bad Brains bumper sticker, a bit of Suzuki training, jazz lessons, a lot of Beatles listening, knowledge of traditional mountain music, a worship of Phil Spector and the love for the complex but accessible layers of bands like the Arcade Fire.

Michael Ford Jr. wrote every song on the album. He has an unvarnished way of presenting the joy of infatuation or the sadness of loss. It’s youthful in a way, in that it grasps of deeper emotions before time starts making them more complex and overwrought. 

A song about a kiss “Sugar Cane” kicks off the album, leaping with bright, melodic energy, flowing seamlessly into the exaltation of “Sun Child.” An all-together different kind of love is “Sweet Louisianne,” the most important song to Ford Jr., who relocated to school after Katrina hit his homestate. And on “Sisters, Brothers, Lovers” he sings about the bittersweet time in life when you create your own adult family in the freedom of college, only to have to part.

With equal parts acoustic and electric, Michael Ford Jr. and The Apache Relay are gaining a following on the road for their jumping-up-and-down energetic shows. Even on the acoustic numbers there’s always some head-banging excitement with a mic stand or two getting kicked over, the crowd reacting to the band’s joy of just playing together…

http://www.reverbnation.com/michaelfordjrtheapacherelay

http://www.myspace.com/mfjrandtheapacherelay

12/09

Press Contact

Kim Fowler

Two Dog Media

615.228.7177

kimfowler10@gmail.com

KELLY JOE PHELPS

WESTERN BELL

Release: March 24 on Black Hen Music


Kelly Joe Phelps’ eighth album Western Bell is a collection of 11 solo instrumental guitar pieces chosen from over 30 which he recorded this past summer of 2008. Primarily improvised (using 6- and 12-string guitars, and a return to lap-slide), these pieces share a common theme; the impact of having spent an entire life in the modern American West among its rivers and dark valleys, mountains and endless roads, vast burnt prairies, taverns and lumber-towns.

Handling this theme with an instrumental and improvisational approach allowed Phelps to “poke around inside boxes of images, memories, experiences, and paint musical portraits that neither words or straightforward composition could accomplish. Improvising, in particular, was the way to get as close as possible to the immediacy of each memory, its feel, sound, smell.”

The notion that Phelps might put out an instrumental record came only after a lengthy exploratory process. “I was simply looking for ways of playing the guitar I’d yet to figure out, ways that didn’t involve plotting notes or chords beforehand, that didn’t include lyrics or singing. The challenge every day was to disappear into it, to have an image or thought turn itself into music before I could stop it.” Recording each day’s outpouring became crucial when he realized he’d never remember what had been played over the previous 5, 10, or 15 minutes, and “being able to listen back was an important learning tool in that it helped me better understand what I was ultimately involved with.” As more and more pieces were recorded and subsequently titled the idea of putting together an instrumental album started to take shape, and Western Bell began its journey

Four records ago was the last anyone had heard of Kelly Joe’s lap-slide playing, the instrument that used to be exclusive to his repertoire. His renewed interest in once again pursuing the instrument is displayed breathtakingly in three songs here: “Blowing Dust 40 miles”, “The Jenny Spin”, and “Little Family”. The results are spellbinding, weaving image after image, blurring notes together in a whirlwind of color, banging the slide against the side of the fretboard as an axe to idea; moving and magical.

Of the eleven pieces of music, only two are in familiar compositional form: “Western Bell” itself, a welcoming introduction on 12-string that tips its hat toward American fingerstyle giants John Fahey and Leo Kottke all the while playing with the rules of standard harmony, and the whimsical “Hattie’s Hat”, a tribute to a funky Seattle diner Phelps adores that reveals his love for the adventurous and playful Thelonius Monk. These two demonstrate Phelps’ admiration for and understanding of the traditional elements of America’s rich musical history, and set the table for his own groundbreaking addition to its catalog.

On the whole, there is nothing out there quite like this record; Ghosts walking across the stage, pictures of childhood adventure you will recognize yourself, women and men the kind of which may no longer exist, marbles and rings and trees covered in moss. And scant few records anymore that stand so close to the edge, inviting us to admire the view.

Check it out here. Great writers, great editors.

http://www.blurt-online.com/reviews/view/837/

With A Hearty Endorsement From Sharon Jones, Austin Soul Man, Nakia, Releases Debut Water To Wine....

Go to www.nakia.net to Stream or Follow Link to Last.fm for Free Download Now Thru End of SXSW

Growing up in the only biracial family in a small Alabama town, the son of a Hispanic father and mother of Irish stock, Nakia Reynoso (who goes by Nakia) didn’t exactly fit in - but channeled middle school racist-tinged bullying into soul music – all the way to Austin, where he has been packing in crowds, getting serious buzz, and attention from national press. He’s already shared the stage with Sharon Jones, who volunteers, “He’s the real deal ya’ll, he’s got some serious soul.” Along with his band The Southern Cousins, and backup singers The Fresh-Up Girls, he’s one of the few newcomers to bring the crowd to its feet at the prestigious Austin City Limits Music Festival last year. Nakia releases his debut album, Water To Wine on April 7, passionately rooting out the Stax/Volt spirit with a dose of his own authentic southern-fried rock.

“The debut full-length from Nakia proves the Appalachian-born belter one of Austin's most talented singers. Booming, deeply soulful, and accented with the occasional twang, his pipes propel an impressive set of Allmans-inspired Southern gospel…poignant anti prejudice anthem, "There Goes the Neighborhood" hits all the right notes, "Elizabeth Lee" adds a dose of dirty Delta blues, and "Choose Your Poison" spikes a dash of New Orleans piano boogie.”....
The Austin Chronicle

SXSW Official Showcase – Friday, March 20 at 9pm – BD Riley’s (204 East 6^th