Lauris Glen Vidal, Jr. , along with various and sundry other dark characters...
Influences
Mingus. Waits. Stones. Lovin Spoonful. Booker T and the MG's. Brother Ray Charles. Hank Sr. Hank Snow. Cash. Janes. Kinks. M Ward. The Lucky Bastards. Billy Thames. Muddy Waters. Hendrix. My Fam. Little Triangle Side Windows In Old Cars. Fresh Fish. Barefeet. Sand in your pants. Sunburn. Waves. Polynesian voices and Ukuleles with slack key guitar.
Sounds Like
one of the best reviews ever of my show- "sinister yet effervescent" -I like it.
"Kitchen sink beat-blues with off-kilter percussion and an affected sense of swampy melodrama (straight from the Franks Wild Years school) from an ultra-indie Fl., solo artist"
- Jim Reed -CONNECT SAVANNAH
for a nice article about me, check this write up in the amazing local magazine REAX:
http://www.reaxmusic.com/articles/view/interview_with_lauris_vidal-277
BITTER PILL FOR ST. VALENTINE live at FRANK'S FRONT ROW
About LAURIS VIDAL - live at COMMON GROUNDS SEPT 6-
The EP "SHOOT SHOOT YOUR SKELETONS" was released to the world officially October 13th with a large party at a unique venue- Caffe da Vinci in Deland, FL. It is now available at CDBABY.com and other local record stores, with more to follow.
The recording was created in a brick room during the first 2 weeks of the month of June, 2006. Jason Pratile deftly helmed the drumkit and various percussion duties on the tunes "Body Bags," "Good Years, Dark Clouds," "Freed," and "Skeletons." He also worked the knobs and faders during session tracking on most of the other songs.
The remaining instruments- lap steel, tenor banjo, soprano ukulele, guitars, bass, marching bass drum and snare, tambourines, a wok, were all played and engineered by Lauris. All of the tracks were cut in 1 take- the best take recorded all the way through in one performance was used. On most songs, the very first track- the scratch track of vocal and acoustic guitar- was used in the final product. This method, along with the bare-bones, raw microphone techniques used, creates a very live organic feel throughout the EP.
The final tracks were then all hand-delivered to Josh Rohe. Josh spent two full days on his home computer tweaking the tones and hits to just the right place for your ears to enjoy. Josh has gone on since this experience to do the same things for some of the people you hear on the radio, well, alot of those people.
Lauris descended south to FL from DC in august of 2005. Before that, he lived for 5 years in DC. During that time, he played all over DC, NYC, Charlottesville, VA and a handful of other venues on the east coast.
Since moving to FL, Lauris has played all over FL, including a 14 date East Coast tour stretching from Central Florida, up to NYC with a nice stint in the deep southern states.
These songs were all born out of Lauris' experiences in the streets of Washington, DC. "Body Bags" was written after encountering a fresh sidewalk homocide scene in a residential section of downtown Baltimore. "Good Years, Dark Clouds" tells stories of time spent living at and below the poverty line with other springtide young professionals and and how they made the most of every minute of it.
All of these compositions are founded on hope. Dark titles, some dark scenes, yet all convey a sense of freedom and release... Of making it through and becoming stronger.
Listen and decide- in a few days, I can guarantee at least one of the tunes will creep up in your head...you'll feel what he's singing about..."you know these are good years, living under these dark clouds."
LAURIS VIDAL - live at COMMON GROUNDS SEPT 6-'s Friend Space (Top 12)
LAURIS VIDAL - live at COMMON GROUNDS SEPT 6- has 1571 friends.
hey there (: how is it going? Hope all is well. I wanted to drop by with my love n support at your page. have a safe labor weekend! much love April Marie X
LAURIS! i will try not to miss it this time!! i am so glad you're playing CG. have you played there before!? it's very caffe da vinci, in my opinion. well, dirtier. haha. i miss you, my friend!!! <3
Click this link for Jenna Nicholls album "Curled Up Toes in Red Mary Janes"
"Just as unhurried as it is precious and reflective. The atmosphere is serene; you’ll pick
every word that is uttered and find a world that normally goes at a million miles an hour
slow to a relaxing canter. "
Can't get your excellent slide guitar skills out of my head from Saturday's performance. Thanks. I need a CD of your stuff next time I see you. We always forget. Heres a flyer for our show on Sat. Take it easy man.
