JUSTIN BERNASCONI- Vocals, Guitars, Ukulele, Harmonica
CAT CANTERI- Vocals, Drums, Percussion and Guitars
ROSS RICHARD- Lap Steel & Guitars
TROY GENNOE- Bass
also The Stillson Family Band are
SAM BOON - Sax and Piano/ Keys
MISHA HERMAN - Accordian/ Obeo
COREY ROMEO- Mandolin
Influences
JJ Cale, Clapton, The Band, Incubus, Roy Buchanan, Jeff beck, John Butler, Neil Young, Gomez, leonard cohen, joni mitchell, pink floyd/roger waters, richard thompson, robert johnson, jaco pastorius, weather report, police, ac/dc, hank williams, dixie chicks, jimi hendrix, missippi john hurt, bruce springsteen, the police.
Sounds Like
BEAT Magazine Issue 1170 - 10 June 2009
THE STILLSONS: Circus
(Green Media/MGM)
Monday Morning is the perfect opener to The Stillsons’ debut album, Circus – a record that resounds in honest storytelling, emotive melodies and evocative messages. There’s a simplistic charm in the way English-born lead vocalist/guitarist Justin Bernasconi wistfully ponders: “It’s Monday morning, ain’t got much to say/it’s Monday morning, I’m waiting on another day”. With The Stillsons’ rich blend of Australian folk-rock, English pop sensibilities and country-fused blues, the Melbourne group has garnered much praise as a notable roots-rock band with a strong live presence (bassist Jesse Mac has recently been added to the line-up).
Circus permeates with beautifully-crafted arrangements comprising an array of instruments including lap steel, ukulele, banjo, mandolin, saxophone, piano, harmonica, accordion, cello, and glockenspiel. Charity and Ghosts (where’s your mama gone?) addresses the stolen generations of British ‘orphans’ transported to Australia in an effort to populate the nation with ‘white’ stock up until 1967. This distressing and disturbing historical fact is addressed with incredible poise and sensitivity by Bernasconi’s pensive vocals and a shimmering arrangement lined in a heartfelt melancholy.
Fiona’s Party Talk is a heart-rending folk lament in which drummer/vocalist Cat Canteri delivers a remarkably engrossing vocal performance. Atop deeply mournful keys, Canteri sings: “She dresses for a girl’s night out/she wonders why her friends find men and why she misses out/she’ll leave the crowd and wish she stayed at home/her mother can’t understand why she’s alone”. The album shifts into a rollicking country-blues swagger with Down The Line, Why Don’t You Need It (featuring a saxophone solo from Samuel Boon and Ross Richard’s gorgeous lapsteel melodies), and Young Boy Blues, showcasing an evocative Canteri and an extremely charismatic Bernasconi in the latter track.
The ethereal folk of Blue Tack finds Bernasconi returning to the soft emotive nuance of earlier songs, while the sparse yet glistening instrumental Birds and Circus (Reprise) – a song about the mixed joy of leaving home and the isolation often brought upon by change – bring the album to a tranquil conclusion. The Stillsons’ debut album is a beautifully-realised and moving record that captures the finest elements of Australian folk-rock music whilst offering a hauntingly distinct inflection.
CHRISTINE LAN
MX NEWS - Victoria
"The Stillsons energetic and intense live performances have become hard to ignore"
MORELAND TIMES - Victoria
“It was Melbourne’s own The Stillsons who stole the show; emerging with an explosive sound and creating a vibe, which proved hard to imitate as the day progressed.” - [Of the Brunswick Music Festival]
TRIPLE J UNEARTHED 'Punter's' REVIEWS
charity & ghosts (where's your mama gone?)
Rating: 5/5
This song is mature in it's dealing with the subject. I find it soulful and it gives me goosebumps.
lily mae martin
Monday Morning
Rating: 4/5
Monday Morning... Great lyrics and feel. I like the reflective thoughts and the way you capture a reluctant start to another week. Nice one.
Cilla
Monday Morning
rating: 4/5
This song captures much of what is to love about the Stillsons. It evokes a feelings of ethereal whimsy, beautiful melancholy and introspection tinge...
morgan the great
From the bands humble beginnings recording in a run-down back-packers in St Kilda, 2009 was a busy year for The Stillsons.
They released their debut album to critical praise - check the reviews on this site - played the Melbourne's live circuit; regional Victoria and Tasmania; and have recently completed a series of gigs in the UK (September).
Featuring the dual-vocals of front man Justin Bernasconi and drummer Cat Canteri, their unique sound is a cocktail of traditional and contemporary influences with echoes of Fleetwood Mac, Gillian Welch and The Audrey’s.
They are currently demoing up new songs for their second album, which will be put up exclusively on this site very soon!!
BIO
Englishman Bernasconi took up residency in a rat-infested hostel in Melbourne 2004; where he began composing Birds, a track which would later feature on their album.
He was introduced to guitarist Ross Richards and drummer Cat Canteri. As the music grew, The Stillsons soon found themselves on the road.
Their live shows created an abundance of media attention. “Circus” (April 2009) is now, courtesy of MGM/Green Distribution Media and will be available in all good music stores nationally and iTunes.
For more information contact:
Bookings: thestillsons@hotmail.com
Chris Bright
Publicist: chris@yomo.tv
Circus can be purchased on-line at waterfrontrecords.com and iTunes
Fell free to review selected tracks at triplejunearhted.com
From the deliciously simple strummed guitar chord that gently introduces the opening track MONDAY MORNING, the album Circus stands out.
Four years sfter the four-piece Stillsons grouped in Melbourne, their debut album is a breath of fresh air that carries unexpectedly simple charm, honesty and acute sensitively. It is not rushed.
Pleasingly, it steers clear of the all-too familiar trend of being a self-indulgent introspective into young angst, striving only to tell a story, using music as a backdrop.
The band effortlessly draws together blues, folk and country. Each track is permeated with beautifully crafted arrangements introducing a host of instruments to complement the emotive melodies aimed at honest storeytelling.
An example is the title track CIRCUS - the story of an English girl travelling to Australia, determined to hold on to her previous life back home.
DOWNLOAD: Charity and Ghosts (where's Your Mama Gone?)
FILE BETWEEN: The Audreys, The Beautiful South
RHYTHMS MAGAZINE JUNE 2009
Led handsomely by lead Stillson Justin Bernasconi who has written and performed the bulk of the material as well as producing the breezy roots aesthetic of this wonderfully free flowing record, CIRCUS shines with a real energy and a twinkle in the instrumentation that shimmers throughout the half-hour duration. Bernasconi alternates the lead vocal between himself and drummer/ percussionist Cat Canteri effortlessly with the raspy melody of Bernasconi suited to the at times Joan Baez-esque folk delivery of Canteri.
With an array of instrumentation used in a manner that is understated - never drowning the songs in a downpour of overused horns and strings - Bernasconi and co including pianist/ keyboardist Samuel Boon and lap steel player Ross Richard go on off shuffling progression of ditties that ease an aching soul, such is the clean, soothing manner in which the songs are performed. 'Down The line' finds Canteri in blues/jazz lounge mode supported by a boom chicka boom rhythm with basic harmonica, glockenspiel and lap steel to drive this baby home.
If anything the record could have benefited from more vocal interplay between the leads, feeling Canteri potentially dominates once to often. 'Young Boy Blues' sees Bernasconi attempt to reverse the trend with a straight-down-the-line blues jam that morphs into the heartfelt 'Blue Tack' coupled with just the acoustic guitar, soft backing vocals and the always melancholy addition of the lap steel to provide the necessary twang. And then wait for the instrumental ukulele/ violin/ lap steel driven 'Birds' that has opening credits Deadwood theme music written all over it. This is a fine record.
RAVE! Magazine Review - THE STILLSONS – "Circus"
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Image(Green Media/MGM)
More polished roots music from an urban centre
There’s actually no one called Stillson in this Melbourne four-piece. But they play like a family that’s travelled the country backroads of this nation for a while. The surprise is, they’ve only been around four or so years, assembled by a newly arrived immigrant from Britain, multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer Justin Bernasconi. His main foil in this band is drummer Cat Canteri whose sweeter vocal delivery adds a nice counter to his darker but still measured tone. They draw together strands of roots music – blues, folk, country – with instruments like lap steel, banjo ukulele, putting them in a similar category to Adelaide’s Audreys. There’s some mild-mannered country blues in Down The Line and more of an electric feel in Why Don’t You Need It?, not to mention a typical traditional blues crawl in Young Boy Blues. But the centrepiece of this album is Charity And Ghosts (Where’s Your Mama Gone) which cheekily slips in bits of The Middle Of The Road’s tacky 1971 hit Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep, helping to disguise a more sombre tale of orphans transported to Australia for cheap labour. That alone is a mark of this band’s abilities.
BILL HOLDSWORTH
"A perfect song" 'Charity and Ghosts (Where's Your Mama Gone?)' - described by MADDY MAC PBS 106.7FM RADIO
I’ve been a music journalist for more than 10 years. Over the years, many artists and managers have asked me what the best way to break into the European music market is.
Here are some things you can do:
Publish artist press releases, news, and tour dates to the CountryHome Forum on MySpace, http://groups.myspace.com/CountryHomeMagazine , CountryHome Forum is part of CountryHome, http://www.CountryHome.de , Germany's Premier Country Music Online Magazine. Everything you publish to the CountryHome Forum will be published in my weekly Newsletter which has over 80,000 readers.
Send me CDs and DVDs for review and set up an artist interview with me. All reviews and interviews will be submitted to the magazines I'm writing for. More information for which magazines I'm writing can be found at http://www.MySpace.com/ChristianLamitschka
Upload artist videos to http://www.MyVideo.de and http://www.ClipFish.de . Both websites are like http://www.YouTube.com and uploading videos is free. The websites are completely in German. If you don’t speak German and need assistance, I will help you open an account and upload a video for 25 Euro. Each additional video upload for the same artist name and at the same video website is 10 Euro.
If you have more questions about the European music market or about any of the information I send to you today, please contact me at Ch.Lamitschka@t-online.de too.
Editor & Journalist for Country Music Christian Lamitschka An der Pfingstweide 28 61118 Bad Vilbel Germany
Once again I have a favour to ask of everyone out there in the MySpace world, and I’m sorry because I know these things can get a bit annoying, but every vote counts, and I am happy to return the favour if you need me to vote or rate anything of yours, so… if you get the chance could you please rate my new song “Million Miles Away” on Triple J Unearthed?
Hey Guys, Hope your well. come along if you can. Tracey McNeil and Luke Sinclair are
gunna play a duo and the Bakersfield Glee Club will throw down a set
too. Should be a good day.
Hey guys, I heard that you're playing on a Tuesday night in November? I'm gonna try make at least one of these dates for sure!
ALEX HALLAHAN & BAND at the WESLEY ANNE Tuesdays in November with a revolving door of special guests each week:
Tuesday 3rd November + Anita George Tuesday 10th November + Lady Grey Tuesday 17th November + The Stillsons Tuesday 24th November + Fee Brown + Gen Finnane
STARTS TONIGHT!
Hope ya'll are very well.... where's my Stillsons T-Shirt?
Online Now!
