Ryan Quinn - lead tenor vocals, guitar, banjo, pedal steel guitar
Andy Goulet - upright bass, Fender bass, harmonica, theremin, vocals
Brendan Rogers - drums, vocals
Brandee Simone - high harmony vocals, bells, tambourines, cowbell, etc.
Jason Bourgeois - guitar, organ, vocals
Members Emeritus (and those on sabbatical):
Betty Widerski - fiddle
Bob New - pedal steel
Chase Billingham - high harmony vocals, mandolin
Isaac Sussman - baritone vocals, piano, organ, accordion, toy piano, glockenspiel
Dan DuBois - tenor vocals, electric guitar
Influences
Los Hijos Unicos is influenced by the classic country sounds of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, Bob Wills, and Buck Owens, but we're not really honky-tonk revivalists, despite our love of fiddle, steel guitar, and sharp, cutting Telecasters.
We love The Kinks, The Byrds, The Sonics, The Beach Boys and The Beatles, but we're not a surf band nor a '60's pop throwback group, although we do try to incorporate Brian Wilson's vocal arrangement ideas and ear for basslines, along with the Beatles' ability to combine disparate influences in a single song. The Kinks' and The Sonics' abandon and distorted sound excite and inspire us, as do The Byrds' harmonies and arrangements.
We are huge fans of Stax and Atlantic soul artists, and we try to keep these records in mind while arranging the songs, writing 3-to-5 part call-and-response harmonies for most songs and taking the supercool organ tones and deep-in-the-pocket basslines from these records.
We like country-rock and alt. country from Gram Parsons and Michael Nesmith to Uncle Tupelo and most places in-between, but we don't see ourselves as too deep into that scene. Oh, we also dig The Magnetic Fields and The White Stripes for more modern music.
Sounds Like
Johnny Cash and Kafka on a road trip get drunk and then have a fist fight.
Los Hijos Unicos hails from North Adams, MA originally, but is now located in Northampton and Somerville, MA.
We play country music as if the country-rock pioneered by Gram Parsons and Michael Nesmith had been influenced by punk early on rather than having become stale and boring and overproduced like The Eagles.
We play "Nuggets"-style garage rock with steel guitar. We play folk songs with theremin. We play a lot of waltzes to which you can't waltz.
"The Pioneer Valley Rose" at the Valley Worm Fest, May 22, 2008.
My debut single ROLLIN' IN THE HEY is currently #83 on the Music Row Breakout Chart and is poised to move into the top 75 WITH A BULLET!!!. Request it at your local radio station today and CLICK ON THE ALBUM COVER BELOW TO BUY THE ENTIRE CD FOR A LIMITED TIME FOR ONLY $5.00.