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Blind Willies
Indie / Acoustic / Post punk

"To be is to eat and to be eaten."

SAN FRANCISCO, California
United States

Profile Views:  18853




Last Login:  7/5/2008
View My: Pics | Videos

   Contacting Blind Willies

 MySpace URL: 
  http://www.myspace.com/blindwillies  

   Blind Willies: General Info
Member Since3/17/2006
Band Websiteblindwillies.net
Band MembersVocals, Guitar, harmonica: Alexei Wajchman/ Fiddle, vocals: Annie Staninec Image and video hosting by TinyPic
InfluencesVladimir Vissotski, Alan Price, Big Joe Williams, Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie Mctell, Bessie Smith, Blind Boy Grunt, Bob Dylan, The Band, Bruce Springsteen, Huddie Ledbetter, Beethoven, Dave Van Ronk, David Blue, Dead Kennedys, Django Reinhardt, Dock Boggs, The Doors, Dvorak, Elvis, Frank Zappa, Fred Neil, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, J.B. Lenoir, The Jonah Kit, Leonard Cohen, Lightnin' Hopkins, Lou Reed, Meat Puppets, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Nico, Nirvana, Odetta, Otis Redding, Patti Smith, Phil Ochs, The Pogues, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Rev. Gary Davis, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Skip James, The Staple Singers, Townes Van Zandt, Ted Hawkins, Vic Chesnutt, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Jimmie Rodgers, Coltrane, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Billie Holiday, Gene Krupa, Stravinsky, Sol Wajchman.
Sounds LikeImage and video hosting by TinyPic

The Unkindness Of Ravens came today in the mail. I'm listening to it now. And I love it, the songs, the good sound of it, the intimacy of it, old spirits joined in its newness.

I will introduce your music to my show's listeners on March 1st. Thank you for sharing yourselves in music, and for getting a copy of this beautiful recording to me.

Duke Lang

Better Days Radio

coopradio.org, 102.7FM

Vancouver, BC

" . . . these ten tales explore the darker side of life with word play that is evocative of a quiet desperation, a cool loathing of unavoidable situations or perhaps a pitiful yearning for redemption. Take this as an example: “There’s something in the night/even when you’re blind/taking drugs to cancel time/that keeps your eyes wide open/and your heart clenched tight” (‘There’s Something In The Night’) or the near genius of: “Marie was born in Santa Fe/with saxophone and pretty lace/she’d play for food or spread her thighs/depending on the moon/and on its hollow bones of solitude” (‘Marie’). There’s plenty more where these gems came from and with scarcely a track less than five, six or seven minutes long there’s plenty of scope for developing the themes."

Paul Villers, Americana UK

I cannot urge fans of all sorts of folk music enough that they should not miss out on The Unkindness of Ravens. The opening track alone is sufficient to pay for this debut CD, but there are nine other gems just waiting to be discovered.

Jennifer Patton, Editor

Delusions of Adequacy ----------------------------------------------------------------

Blind Willies perform If You Was A Good Pimp, 6/22/07: Image and video hosting by TinyPic

If the Devil went down to San Francisco where Blind Willies are located and challenged Annie to a fiddlin' contest it would be no contest because you cannot fiddle like this without divine intervention. Blind Willies prove once again that traditionally styled folk music can sound aggressively modern.

jill no jack

Heart of the Night podcast 1/31/08

indieheart.com

Record LabelDiggory Records
Type of LabelIndie





   Upcoming Shows ( view all )
Jul 5 2008 8:00P
Conor Byrne Pub Seattle, Washington
Jul 25 2008 12:00P
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Hillsdale, New York
Sep 30 2008 7:00P
8th Notes from Underground SF, California

Blind Willies's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

7/4/08 KQED Review  (view more)

5/30/08 New DOA Review  (view more)

5/12/08 Woody’s Children WFUV  (view more)

4/10 Everybody’s Looking for a Meal  (view more)

4/1/08  (view more)

[View All Blog Entries]

   About Blind Willies

Blind Willies is Annie Staninec, multi-genre fiddler, and Alexei Wajchman, guitarist/singer/songwriter. They met and began playing together in the halls of San Francisco School of the Arts. They're both recent graduates of University of California at Santa Cruz.

Annie has been playing bluegrass/old time fiddle for more than a decade. She's also a consummate gypsy jazz violinist. In 2006 she toured with David Grisman and the Gypsy Caravan. The highlight of those performances was a full orchestra playing David Grisman’s “Gypsy Medley” from his soundtrack recording for the film, King of the Gypsies. As the featured fiddler, Annie electrified audiences in solos that honored the late Stéphane Grappelli who originally recorded the piece with David. She has also played with Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Stephane Wrembel, and Crooked Still. Annie was Djangofest Northwest's 2006 recipient of the Dudley Hill Award for exceptional young artist. In 2008 she was named Fiddler of the Year at the inaugural Northern California Bluegrass Awards.

Alexei grew up in San Francisco's Mission District. After learning to play clarinet and sax, he taught himself to play guitar and began writing songs at 15. He was awarded the Blue Bear Celebrity Scholarship to study guitar and voice in 2002 and 2003, and he was a 2003 California Arts Scholar in sax. His early influences included Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Velvet Underground, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors. His music is a soulful mix of folk, country, rock, and blues, and his lyrics are an intimate exploration of America's psycho/social landscapes. Writing in the popular online zine Delusions of Adequacy, editor Jennifer Patton wrote "Blind Willies play incredibly wonderful music. Alexei is a remarkable songwriter."

Blind Willies made their professional debut at San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in 2004. They've also played Berkeley's Freight and Salvage, SF's Great American Music Hall, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Zeum, and the SF Folk Festival. In 2007 they performed with Peter Stampfel(Holy Modal Rounders, The Bottle Caps) in New York, and opened for Penelope Houston(Avengers) in San Francisco.

Their albums were recorded and mixed by Lemon DeGeorge(Jolie Holland, Sundance Audience Award documentary Genghis Blues) at Crib Nebula in San Francisco, and mixed and mastered by Paul Carlsen(Nirvana's Nevermind, Neil Young, John Prine) at Paul Carlsen Productions in Guerneville on the Russian River.

Radio play includes Better Days Radio, Vancouver, BC; Pirate Cat Radio, SF; KPIG, KRSH, WXPN, KPFA, WFDU, KALW, KZSC, KZSU, KUSP, KYOU, KQED, KDVS, KKUP, WOBC, WTJU.

Blind Willies' new CD, Everybody's Looking for a Meal, is available now. Click on the title.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Order our debut full length CD,

The Unkindness of Ravens:

1 CD=$15 includes shipping

2 CDs= $28 includes shipping

Buy our cd here or at blindwillies.net. Or buy online @cdbaby.com and itunes.

Go to blindwillies.net

PRESS

Listening to this album is like reading a book of stories in a Greyhound terminal in the middle of the night. There are a few people sleeping in chairs around you, the fluorescent lights are spooky and warm at the same time, and one stark and poignant story after another--of loss, redemption, love, hope and no hope--leaves you somehow elated to be alive and on your way anywhere. I love these songs.

Sean Adams, CD Baby review ---------------------------------------------------------

We got this in the mail a couple of weeks ago and really like the stripped-down folky sound to Blind Willies . . . "Marie" reminds me of "Hobo," a very old Tim Buckley tune that I have on vinyl on a Linda Ronstadt/Stone Poneys compilation. "Hobo" has a cold and blustery sound to it, like a Northeastern winter by the ocean. "Hobo" and "Marie" share a similar, repeated descending melody, but "Marie" sounds more like the blown-out desert, a cold wind howling as the sun descends on a scrubby landscape of rock and cactus. The song's tragic teen storyline reminds me of Ben Ehrenreich's novel,The Suitors.

KQED December 2006 Mix Tape Dark X-mas ---------------------------------------------------------

Blind Willies 6/22/07, Sha Shtil/Shadows Everywhere, a sinners medley:


   Blind Willies's Friend Space (Top 24)
Blind Willies has 1452 friends.
 Ariel 


 tiana 


 hellokitty 


 heinz 


 Saint Dynamite 


 The Jonah Kit 


 Jay Dancing Bear 


 Breakfast with Enzo 


 Paul Carlsen Audio Engineering 


 DOUG LANG 


 PETER STAMPFEL 


 Buster Keaton 


 CROWSONG 


 Blue Bear School of Music 


 Carnival of Song 


 Alex 


 Nathan 


 David Langlois 


 Stephane Wrembel 


 Jared Engel 


 CitySessions 


 BETTER DAYS radio 


 Delusions of Adequacy Online Zine 


 Djangofest 





Blind Willies's Friends Comments
Displaying 50 of 127 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
Annie Crane





Jul 2 2008 2:07 PM

Hello Blind Willies! Hope all's well. -Annie.
email lrg web post
Click here to go to the site.
LT and The Blues Express





Jun 24 2008 4:17 AM

LOVE THE WAY YALL MAKIN THEM STRINGED INSTRUMENTS SOUND GO GO holla at yall later LT.
The Jonah Kit





Jun 19 2008 12:26 PM

The new CD sounds great. It's like Dylan, Waits, Springsteen and the Wandering Stranger stripped to their skivvies, singin' and shoutin' for their souls, while racing through the reeling Mission district night with the Devil cracking whips of fiddle
strings at their heels, and bowing dark holler anthems with forked tongue and tail.
Well done!
Larry (the official page)





Jun 13 2008 6:47 PM

Great sound, seriously good music.
I'll be looking for a chance to catch a Bay Area show!
Daxton





May 24 2008 8:18 PM

Love the songs so much I got on I tunes hunted you down and bought them I hope you guys come to Aus one day I am a big fan keep me updated on any new stuff.
Jenna Mammina and Brian Gore





May 5 2008 5:00 PM

fine playing!
Lauren ♫





May 4 2008 9:42 PM

Loved hearing you at the Black Cat this evening. You two have an amazing sound together.
Mindy's Mix





Apr 16 2008 1:53 PM

Thanks for sharing your truly unique and tasty music! I'd love to have you stop by KRCB sometime and share you music with the North Bay audience!
Grimey Blue





Apr 12 2008 8:19 PM

Thanks for the add.
You two rock!
Looking forward to catching you in the Bay Area.

All The Best,
G.B.
Daddy Bone





Apr 3 2008 8:34 AM



You guys give me the willies

But your music sounds real good!








Saint Nicholas Orchestra





Mar 31 2008 11:09 AM

Thank you very much for adding our Orchestra!A.
Bielak
Annie Crane





Mar 26 2008 9:24 AM

great playing with you guys last night! all the best and stay in touch:)
annie
Jimmy Grant





Mar 15 2008 9:52 PM

Impressions Flyer.
Arnie Baird





Mar 10 2008 1:16 PM

I'm looking forward to meeting and hearing you at Cafe Improv!

Hope all is well

Arnie
Arcadio





Mar 2 2008 3:50 PM

Our first show at the Make-Out Room. Would be cool if you could come:
Earth in Vessel





Feb 24 2008 10:46 PM

Wondering if you could give feed back on the new tunes? We all know your amazing.
Notlob Parlor Concerts





Feb 18 2008 7:25 AM

Thanks for finding this humble series. Maybe we can do something down the road.
Chuck Crowe





Jan 23 2008 7:44 AM

Howdy!
Followed my nose here from Saga...
I caught a few of Annies SUPER performances at NAMM so I had to stop in.
Wow! Blind Willies is (are?) brilliant!!!
Thanks so much for bein' a friend!
Chuck Crowe
Alia





Jan 14 2008 5:20 PM

sf SCHOOL OF THE ARTS high school reunion! at the old campus behind sf state university this friday January 18th

start: 9pm
end: 6am
venue: the old sota campus behind the humanities building of sf state university around 1600 Holloway Avenue
host: class of '04
who?: anyone and everyone who wants to have fun this friday night!
i'll bring the boos and music - you bring yourself!
my number:
(415)794-6694
jaffra@sfsu.edu
Bob Couchenour





Dec 21 2007 11:27 AM

Here's wishing you Love, peace and joy through this holiday season, and in the coming year all God's blessings and prosperity.


DOUG LANG





Nov 21 2007 11:07 PM

Everybody's Lookin' For A Meal
is a wonderful song!

DL
Nathan Taylor





Nov 1 2007 9:50 AM

just stopping by to say Hello

Nathan
David Kent





Oct 26 2007 10:31 PM

Thanks for the add.
I saw you open for Rick and Aireene at the Freight.I was in the front row, right in front of Annie's Fiddle which caught on fire through out the set.I tried to fan the flames but there was no puttin it out.
You two were smokin and I loved it.
I hope to see you around.
pete neame plus ...





Jun 25 2007 1:45 PM

Hi folks.........

some while back you expressed an interest in hearing my take on Woody Guthrie's 'Tom Joad'........well.....I've just posted it........

hope you like it as much as I enjoy your music here!!!

all the best!

Pete
Rach!!!





Jun 23 2007 1:48 AM

Absolutely lovely. I'll assasinate those talking people next time, promise ;)
Ray and Kim Hammer





Jun 22 2007 4:15 PM

Hey guys! Thanks for the ride into G-ville. I owe you one. I like your sound!
Rach!!!





Jun 20 2007 11:18 AM

Your music is absolutely lovely! I can't wait to see you guys at Hotel Utah.
The Hair





Jun 12 2007 8:52 PM

Hey thanks for looking me up. Hope you enjoy the photos. Annie was standing on the dark end of the stage so it was a bit hard to get a good photo.



Easy Myspace help



Guy
Mr. O'Muck





Jun 12 2007 2:10 PM

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BUCKSHOT