The Phil Aiken Army includes, or has included:
Phil Aiken: Piano and vocals;
Joe McMahon, Joe Klompus, Matt Tahaney: Bass;
Dean Fisher, Jefferson Davis: Drums;
Russell Chudnofsky, Nate Leavitt: Guitar;
Chris Toppin: Vocals and percussion
Influences
DylanBeatlesStones, Faces (both large and Small), Brian Wilson, Townes van Zandt, Kinks,
Elliott Smith, Neil Young, Elvis, Elvis, Sun Records, Graham Greene, Gram Parsons, Graham Aiken, Emmylou, Phillip Roth, Saul Bellow, 70's hard rock, 70's AM radio hits,Tommy Flanagan, Monk, Neil Finn,Hank Williams,Ramones, Buzzcocks, Miles, Dan Penn, Steve Earle, Emmit Rhodes, Big Star, Gene Clark, Ronnie Lane, my friends and family, the musicians I play with, Old movies, Marquee Moon, Replacements, MBV,Nirvana but not their offspring, not The Offspring, The Zombies, Robert Pollard,The Band, Nicky Hopkins, more Nicky Hopkins, and
all the people that unwittingly provide me with a never ending supply of song fodder.
Sounds Like
"Aiken is a popmeister when it comes to songwriting/arranging, but that's not to say he's either glib or formulaic in his approach. Rather he's a lyricist with something to say and a knack for conveying those lyrics via some very polished arrangements" - CMJ Music Monthly
Strong songs that are truly in their own kaleidoscope tinged world. -Ear Candy
At first listen, this is a very good album with catchy and imaginative songwriting, and at second, a haunting piece of work with the kind of nuances that will linger in your head for days. - Music Critic
Phil is a Boston area songwriter-singer and piano/organ slinger. If you pay attention to such things, you may have seen him in recent years regularly on stage with Buffalo Tom, Bill Janovitz & Crown Victoria, Delta Clutch (now The Blizzard of '78), The Bathing Beauties, or Guitarzan. One offs, cameos,sit-ins, and sessions have included performances with Little Feat, The Shods, The Gentlemen, Ben Kweller, Graham Parker, James Taylor, Eddie Vedder, Tanya Donelly, Chris Colbourn and Hilken Mancini, Joe Pernice, Ken Stringfellow,Fresh Mowed Lawn, Furvis, The Russians, The Sun Sawed in 1/2, Paul Barrere, Peter Gammons, a handful of Red Sox players, Skypaint, Senor Happy, an Elvis impersonator, and a bunch of other bands and people.
Along with playing assorted sundry keyboard instruments with the aforementioned various heroes and villians, he is about to release his 2nd solo album. Why does Phil speak of himself in the 3rd person? Dont know....I generally don't. And enough with the name dropping, already.
But anyway, yeah, 2nd solo record....the first one was kind of a hodgepodge of big dumb rock and small dumb rock. This one is primarily piano,bass and drums, with the bass and drums being played by the lovely and talented Joe McMahon, and the irrepressible Dean Fisher. Additional performers include Chris Toppin, Tanya Donelly,Russell Chudnofsky, Jimmy Ryan, Nate Leavitt and Matt Tahaney.
The new record, It's Always the Quiet Ones, is now out, and available at
www.CDBABY.com, www.NotLame.com, iTunes, and a bunch of other download sites. Or
just click on the album cover below......
Used to rent Super 8 movies from the Stoughton library. Had family that lived at Hemisphere Gardens, across from the BPM (then it became Shaw's), had even more family that lived on the other side of the expressway. Yep, me and Stoughton go way back.
Hey Phil...thanks for finding me on here and thanks for the add. I've actually seen you play live a bunch of times and the Hot Stove events and such things. Hope to actually meet soon!
Hey Phil, hope u'll have a great summer! I'm still in the middle of deciding where to go and what to do, I'm waiting for a small bad period to pass and I'm being eaten by mosquitos in Milano! Still listen to your album! Ciao, Francesco
I know, I know....These are annoying to get. But would you please take a god damn second to vote for us? FREE live Minky Starshine mp3's to everyone who votes by this Tuesday! (Be sure to respond with an email address to recieve the goods via email)
Thanks For the Add.
