Pete Pidgeon - guitar, lead vocals
Chris Lapidas - guitar, vocals
Mike Macbeth - drums, vocals
Dan Prindle - bass, keys, vocals
Ben Golder-Novick - sax, keys, bass, vocals
Two Dolla Crack Horns:
Sam Kininger - alto sax
Brian Thomas - trombone
Daniel Duncan - trumpet
Taka Hagiwara - tuba
Influences
Stevie Wonder
The Beatles
Radiohead
The Band
Sam Cooke
Phish
Sounds Like
"CD Review"
by Linda Laban
Boston Metro - December 17, 2007
The songs on Pete Pidgeon and Arcoda's Doubt is For Losers are as sparklingly positive as its title suggests. This self-produced, self-released effort (one of several, mostly live discs, released since 1998) combines funk, gospel, AM radio pop, Broadway, and jazz. Conviction, if not downright fervor, carries him far. That and a solid band, which includes Dap Kings/ John Scofield drummer Eric Kalb. Oddly, or not, the disc isn't touched by any musical influences past the mid 1970s.
"Pete Pidgeon Aims High With Arcoda"
Locals to celebrate new release at Bill's Bar Friday Night
by Jed Heneberry, Managing Editor
BostonMusicSpotlight.com - November 9, 2007
You can’t say Pete Pidgeon isn’t trying. On his new full-length album with his band Arcoda, Doubt Is For Losers, Pidgeon plays over 30 of the 89 odd instruments on the record, all while serving as the producer, art director, manager, booking agent, and songwriter. “The important thing is that I’ll be getting more sleep in the next week or so than I have in the last year and a half,” Pidgeon quips.
That grueling recording process is a result of Pidgeon’s intense drive to succeed in his desire to make music for a living. “When I realized I was going to be turning 30 soon I realized I had to get my act together,” says Pidgeon. “If I’m gonna do it I’m gonna do it now. I really went all out and did everything I could possibly do on this record so that if it didn’t succeed, then I could look back and say that there was nothing else I could have done.”
The result is an album steeped in the staples of pop tradition, importing blues from Motown, horns from soul, strings from The Beatles, and filtering it all through a virtuosity which stems from the jazz tradition. Standout song “What?” contains many of these influences all within its constantly shifting arrangement.
“There was just so much work going into that tune,” Pidgeon says of the song. “It started out as just me playing the chords on the acoustic guitar, but it had so much more potential that I decided to go all out and get the whole orchestra involved. Even just tracking down someone who played the tympani was a process.”
Doubt’s grandiose ambitions are a far cry from Arcoda’s beginnings at SUNY New Paltz in the Hudson River Valley. Pidgeon moved to Boston after outgrowing the local scene and linked up with The Slip and members of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones during Arcoda’s early time in the hub.
“That scene was really bumping at the time,” Pidgeon explains. “Then about a year after it dried up. And not until about a year ago did it seem like anything was happening. There’s a good scene now that’s starting to brew up in the Boston area, Zox, Bon Savants, Bang Camaro, all those bands are starting to make a great buzz for the scene now.”
Pidgeon and Arcoda will celebrate the release of Doubt Is For Losers this Friday at Bill’s Bar on Lansdowne Street. Accompanying the band will be four-piece horn section Two Dolla Crack Horns.
“If the amount of work that I’ve put into the album is any display of the potential of the live show then people should expect a lot from it,” promises Pidgeon. “The show is very tight. Think of a James Brown Soul review where it hits very hard and the tension is there the whole time, we don’t let up. It’s going to be a very exciting show. We’re not going out there to just play the songs.”
Indeed, Pidgeon is way past just playing the songs. He’s now playing them with a definite purpose, a sense of ambition with a hint of desperation that reveals just how important making music is to him. And if Pidgeon’s own personal dedication and intensity is any indication, Arcoda will continue to make music for a long time to come.
Pete Pidgeon and Arcoda play Bill’s Bar Friday, November 9. Doubt Is For Losers is available at www.petepidgeon.com, along with more information about the band.
Arcoda is often described as creative songwriting - a mix of complex harmony with singable, memorable melodies. Arcoda would be a branch on the same family tree as Paul Simon, The Beatles and Stevie Wonder. Rooted in Americana (recorded with Levon Helm of The Band) with a modern, pop-rock edge (recorded at Radiohead producer Paul Kolderie's Camp Street Studios), Arcoda combines radio-friendly hooks with deeply unique production. Pidgeon's lyrics are original, intuitive and, as Sam Cooke said of his own, open ended enough for the listener to uniquely identify with them.
Pete Pidgeon and Arcoda was formed in the spring of 1998 at SUNY New Paltz in New York. The band soon outgrew the Hudson Valley in 2000 after multiple local sellouts and moved to Boston that winter. The band has since grown steadily and amassed a strong Northeast following, including sellouts at Bill's Bar on Lansdowne Street.
Arcoda's debut album ...At First Sight hosts appearances from Levon Helm of The Band and Nate Albert of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones among others. The disc received steady airplay from WERS in Boston and WKZE in western Connecticut where it was named one of the top 10 indie releases of 2003. In addition, Jambands.com editors voted it one of one of their Top 50 albums in 2003.
Arcoda's live show often includes the three-piece Two Dolla Crack Horns featuring Sam Kininger (Soulive, Dave Matthews). Akin to the spirit of Bob Dylan, Pidgeon keeps the Arcoda lineup fresh with new talent as his sound evolves. Luminaries Ed Toth of Vertical Horizon/ Doobie Brothers, Sting side-man Fareed Haque, Pete Francis manager Rob Abelow and Jim Loughlin of moe. have all given Arcoda their personal seal of approval.
Pete Pidgeon and Arcoda spent 2005 – 2006 supporting the three-song Happy Song EP. The disc was distributed for free to over 2000 people and downloaded innumerable times from www.Arcoda.com.
The full-length, follow-up Doubt Is For Losers featuring Eric Kalb (John Scofield, DAP Kings) and Nate Edgar (John Brown's Body) was released on November 1, 2007. The album was mixed at Radiohead producer Paul Kolderie's Camp Street Studios by Brian Brown (Natalie Merchant, The Blakes) and mastered at Peerless Mastering by Jeff Marshall. As of November 21, 2007 the disc was in rotation at 148 radio stations in The United States and Canada and had charted in four states. Perry Serpa of Good Cop PR in New York City is behind a national press campaign that has just gotten underway. Amazon.com, CD Baby, iTunes, and SNOCAP have all posted early sales of the album.
With the players involved in and outside of the studio, Doubt Is For Losers promises to be the stepping stone leading to Arcoda’s well-deserved success.
Pete how are you and thanks for hunting me down! Something So Far is already stuck in my head I really like your melodies - glad to see the music's going great! SHS would be proud! ;D
Hey Pete! I heard about the new recordings and love the new album cover! All your work is paying off. Oh, and rock on to the Two Dollar Crack Horns! Hope to see you in the NY area soon! Keep my updated.
Peas, Jenay
Hey Pete,
Thanks for taking the time to listen and give some feedback. Way appreciated! Will do the same when I have the energized mind to do so! Best of luck.
-Todd
