Jenn COURTNEY: Vocals
Oklahoma City; '64 T-bird, Janis Martin, trouble town, bad news, bad boys, bad checks, Prada, Prêt-à-porter designer trash, Dukes of Hazzard, Hillside Wranglers
Maurice TANI: Vocals, Guitar
San Francisco; fast cars, faster bikes, loud guitars, louder hand guns, Doña Diabla, Bakersfield, Roy Loney, Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra, Calamity & Main, Hillside Wranglers
Steve KALLAI: Fiddle, Mandolin
Grangeville, Idaho; Jimmy Rodgers, Bob Wills, Viktoria Mullova, silver tipped snake-skin earth shoes, Kathleen Turner Overdrive, Darren Newfield and the Home Fries
Christopher FISHER: Drums
Huntsville, Alabama; Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb, power tools, power boats, power suits, Calamity & Main, The Cotton Pickers
影響
Hank, Patsy, Merle, Buck, Chet, Johnny, Gram...and on and on....
On this new studio recording, HAMMER & TONGS, the band jangles some familiar nerves and scuffs up some new ground off their beaten path. As on SIRENS(WIR0105), singers Jenn Courtney and Maurice Tani lay out a literate vision of alt-country/Americana that is both dramatic and irreverent. This time, over a dozen additional musicians assist in producing arrangements that range from understated simplicity to lushly orchestral.
H&T features 10 new songs from Tani, written specifically for Courtney's vivid persona. Dark, hyper-romantic ballads and bright, trailer-park operettas. Plus a couple of retooled masterworks: an assertive redo of Leonard Cohen's brooding Everybody Knows and, as an unlisted bonus track, an unexpected version of Leiber & Stoller's existentialist classic Is That All There Is?.
Here's some background:
77 EL DEORA is an SF Bay Area, Alt-Country outfit (whatever the hell that means...). The band has been playing steadily for about four years, doing a little touring - most adventurously Europe last year. Briefly, this is neo honky-tonk, hillbilly noir -a modern, urban take on the genre. From their lightest to their darkest forms, the songs are examinations on the conflict of the human condition. Deception, obsession, delusion, denial, damnation, renewal, redemption, mysticism, snake oil saviors, bad debts, cheatin', lyin', drinkin', dyin', broken hearts, shattered dreams, twangy guitars and the Ray Price shuffle... it swerves erratically between the extremes of electric and acoustic, serious and light, sexy and ...actually, Jenn is always sexy. This music respects tradition, but is not retro. It is modern, but not "new country".
The band's previous CD, SIRENS, received great reaction from the roots/Americana channels. That cd tracked as high as 3 on the Roots Music Report "True Country" chart and stayed on the chart for nearly a year. Ads in music mags like NO DEPRESSION (may it rest its hard copy soul in peace...) featured some great quotes from programmers. Here are a few:
"Smart, hip, hard-core country is what 77 El Deora serves up. Jenn and Maurice keep the country duet alive and thriving." --Rob Bleetstein, radioioCountry.com
"77 El Deora is one of the most distinctive sounding bands of 2006." *****Five stars --Roots Music Report
"'Sirens', is as impressively authentic sounding as the band's image is ambitiously hip." --Slacker Country
"Tani is a master at the play on word and like early Robbie Fulks, respects the tradition of classic country themes, but with a contemporary twist." --Bill Frater, Freight Train Boogie, KRSH FM
"Not a bad track on the whole dang CD, Sirens is loaded with powerful stories of love, lust and loss" --Roy Batchelor, Boot Liquor Radio
"I present to you maybe the best California Country Band that I have ever heard." --Radio Louisiana
"I love this record! I always appreciate when bands bring something fresh to the table while still walkin' the line of tradition." --Dallas Wayne, SIRIUS Satellite Radio
LATEST NEWS New John Miller album should be finished by Christmas. Hope to have copies available by late January/early February. I'll let you know when it's ready. Johnny M
"Ticklin' The Strings" by Sweet Hollywaiians
Amazing Japanese hot string band playing 1920's, 30's, 40's style hawaiian, swing, calypso, blues, italian music and originals,featuring vintage instruments.3 songs with Robert Armstrong and Tony Marcus(from Robert Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders)
"The Sweet Hollywaiians have probably the best feel for this 20's music of any string band working today. They manage the rare feat of sounding relaxed even when their playing is hot, are top notch musicians with tasteful arrangements and a full, rich, warm sound.Plus, they have a nice gamut of tunes, from King Nawahi to Giovanni Vicari to Bobby Leecan. See them live, if you can, for an unforgettable experience. If you can't, buy their Cds!" ~ Terry Zwigoff
Hey, Im posting new videos today! and if you are in Texas, come on out to Six Flags (san Antonio) Friday where I'll be performing with Drake Bell (of Nickelodeon's Josh and Drake) and Saturday with Drake in Six Flags Dallas. Sunday I will be at Jo's on Congress in Austin! Hope to see some of yall out this weekend! And TUESDAY July 14, the band will be filming a performance for the tv show at SAXON PUB! Be in the audience for the tv show 4:30 to 6!!!!!!!! Ruby Jane
The M. Dogs will be bringin' their tasty stew to Murf's Broadway Cocktail Lounge in Redwood City?
Do yourself a favor and get
out of the house! It's Party Time!
Here are the particulars... and tell a friend... in fact, tell all your friends! When?.... Friday, May 29th at 9:00 PM Where?:... Murf's Broadway Cocktail Lounge 700 Winslow @ Marshall
Redwood City, California... just down the street and close to the Fox Theater
Cover Charge?.... Did you say Cover Charge??? NO!!!!
CHECK OUT THE HUNGRY LIKE A WOLF TEASER!!...We are playing at the River Brewing Company on June 10th. It's the night of the Wednesday night market! It'll be a blast!! Show starts at 8:00pm. Hope to see you there!!
Come on out to the Back Forty in Pleasant Hill this Friday night!!! Great Food, Huge Dance Floor, Bar, and some awesome entertainment by Rodeo House!! Open to all ages! 6-10pm
