ALEX WOODARD
The Album
Mile High
The Track
"Beautiful"
The Label
33rd Street/Bayside Dsitribution
Residence
San Diego
Liner Notes
Catch a wave and you’re sittin’ on top of the world.
Landlubber Brian Wilson may have made a fortune writing songs about surfing, but lately Triple A radio has had its share of surfers who make music when they’re not in the ocean. The best-known is, of course, Jack Johnson, and Donavon Frankenreiter joined the ranks last year; meanwhile Alex Woodard has just released his third full-length CD (following a pair of late-90s EPs).
Woodard grew up in San Diego and spent most of his free time in the water, though he did manage to find time to teach himself piano by playing along with the radio and sneak in some acting jobs, doing commercials, movies and TV shows(including an episode of The Love Boat). He got an education in the fine art of musical storytelling by listening to his dad’s 8-tracks of Springsteen, Seger and Mellencamp. Surfing may be his first love, but it doesn’t pay the bills so when it came time for college Alex took the responsible path and headed up the Pacific coast for Los Angeles where he majored in business economics at UCLA. That’s where he turned into Alex Woodard, the singer/songwriter.
After college, Woodard drifted from LA to Boston to Seattle, where he started playing out for the first time. It was the mid-90s and his first EP got play on KMTT (who called him “the new breed of Seattle band”), KEXP and AOR station KISW.
You wouldn’t be the first—nor the last—person to mistake Woodard’s last name for the more common Woodward. The thing is, once he started noodling around on the guitar while studying high finance, Alex was also starting to develop the type of easy rock sound that could make him a star one day, and then maybe people would get his name right after all. On Mile High, Woodard and producer Pete Droge have mastered a sound that recalls latter day Petty, with more drama perhaps, a little bit of Droge’s Thorns stuff and a whole lot of Dog’s Eye View. You could see where fans of Johnson’s and Frankenreiter’s would fall for Woodard too, though he doesn’t really sound all that much like either of them. His songs thrive on a blend of gentle arrangements (ably played by his longtime band, which boasts members of Posies, Fountains Of Wayne and Gigolo Aunts, among others), Woodard’s whiskey smooth voice and the kind of melodies that always seem to attract a crowd. The mid-tempo “Beautiful” is a great jumping on point for radio, but so would have been several other tunes on Mile High, including “Wonderful,” “I Know It’s True,” “Blood, Salt And Silver” and the title track.
Alex Woodard is He’s back in the San Diego area now, and when he’s not on his board he’s been building a nice résumé. He’s played SXSW three times in the last four years, his first CD (2000’s Nowhere Near Here) charted at Triple A radio and became a hit at his hometown Alternative station, 91X, and his last album (2002’s Saturn Returns) was a most-added record at College radio. And now, with Mile High, Alex Woodard has delivered a delightful CD that holds up quite well under close scrutiny.
Site
www.alexwoodard.com
Quote
"Alex Woodard's 'Wonderful' is the perfect 'winter into spring' track...It's upbeat, bouyant message of introspection and considered possibilties, coupled with the Pete Droge-produced driving acoustic sound make it so...Alex is right on time with his 'Wonderful' cruisin' and thinkin' song."
—G. Michael Keating, PD/MD, WBCG (The Beach) Punta Gorda FL
"This is the record you could buy any one of your friends, regardless of their musical tastes, and know that they will be thanking you for a long time."
—Hilary, 91X, San Diego
Retail
Mile High is now in stores.
Tours/Performances
March 9 Lestat's, San Diego
March 31 Martini Ranch, Encinitas, CA
April 7 Hotel Utah, San Francisco
April 9 Room 5, Hollywood, CA
April 14 Silvie's, Chicago
April 16-25 Kona, Hawaii
May 5 Twigg's, San Diego
September 29-October 3 The Rock Boat with Sister Hazel, O.A.R., Gavin Degraw and others, departing from New Orleans
Contact
Barry Lyons, Rent-A-Label
barry@rentalabel.net
Voice 310.397.8520
CHUCK PROPHET
The Album
Age Of Miracles
The Track
Pin a Rose on Me
Discography
Age Of Miracles (2005) New West
No Other Love (2002) New West
The Hurting Business (1999) Cooking Vinyl
Homemade Blood (1997) Cooking Vinyl
Feast Of Hearts (1994) China
Balinese Dancer (1993) China
Brother Aldo (1990) Fire
Residence
San Francisco
Liner Notes
Born in Richard Nixon’s hometown of Whittier, California, Chuck Prophet emerged on the scene as the guitarist for the pioneering '80s LA psychedelic cowboy punk band, Green On Red. He played and sang on eight of their albums and one EP before the group quit in 1992. His seventh solo record, and second on New West, Age Of Miracles is the follow-up to 2002’s successful breakout album, No Other Love. As a songwriter, he's had his songs covered by Kelly Willis, Kim Richey, Jim Dickinson, and even Country Top 40 artist Cyndi Thomson. Considered a solid singer-songwriter among his peers, Prophet is also an in-demand guitarist, having added his chops to records by Cake, Kelly Willis, Bob Neuwirth, The Silos and Warren Zevon. Prophet picked up key national exposure when he opened the Lucinda Williams tour two summer’s back. She is a fan.
It’s tough to beat No Other Love with its catchy feel-good perennial summer hit, “Summertime Thing,” but Prophet manages to deliver the goods with plenty of fresh offbeat hooks on Age Of Miracles. Amidst the bleeps, bloops and loops, aided by his keyboard-playing wife Stephanie Finch, Prophet comes up big with great new funky songs like "Pin a Rose on Me," "Just To See You Smile" and the title track, a fine candidate itself for a future single. For kicks, check out the remake of Barry Mann’s "You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)". Kim Richey co-wrote "You've Got Me Where You Want Me". The album is co-produced by Eric Drew Feldman (PJ Harvey, The Polyphonic Spree, Captain Beefheart). Led by airplay on WXRT Chicago and KFOG San Francisco, look for spins on Age Of Miracles to increase steadily with the spring-time temperatures!
Site
www.newwestrecords.com
On
WXRT Chicago
KFOG San Francisco
XM Cafe
KGSR Austin (on "You Did")
WRLT Nashville
KBAC Santa Fe/Albuquerque
KTBG (The Bridge) Kansas City
KRSH (The Krush) Santa Rosa
WDST (Radio Woodstock) Woodstock/Poughkeepsie
WUIN (Carolina Penguin) Wilmington
KYSL (Krystal 93) Frisco/Breckenridge/Vail
KOZT (The Coast) Ft.Bragg/Mendocino County CA
KLRR (Clear 1077) Bend, OR
KTAO Taos
WMWV Conway NH
KROK (The Wave) Leesville/DeRidder LA
KSPN Aspen
KSMT (Jefferson Public Radio) Ashland/Medford OR/Redding CA
KPND Sand Point ID/Spokane
KFMU Steamboat Springs CO
KDBB (B-104) Park Hills MO
...and many more!
Quote
"Chuck Prophet is a Foghead Favorite".
—Haley Jones, MD/APD KFOG San Francisco
Press
”No matter what territory he’s staking out, Prophet's guitar playing is both tasty and tasteful, and a battery of support from Wurlitzer organ and Moog synthesizer to horns, and a bona fide string section keeps the sound wide and lush yet wonderfully intimate. Miracles just about lives up to its title: it’s eclectic and cohesive, fresh and classic.”
—Boston Phoenix
”Lush, elliptical, inventive."
—Amazon.com
“Age of Miracles, Prophet's seventh and latest solo album -- he initially made his mark as guitarist for grizzled psychedelic cowboys Green on Red -- serves up his usual omelet of fractured Memphis soul, country (he was alt before alt-country was cool) and Dylanesque romps.”
—Washington Post
Retail
Age Of Miracles is now in stores.
Performances/Tour
Chuck Prophet appeared on World Café 3/9. After his UK tour, he will began a U.S. summer tour.
Apr 11 Bury, Great Britain
Apr 12 Bristol, GB
Apr 13 London
Apr 14 London
Apr 15 Newcastle, GB
Apr 16 Glasgow, GB
Apr 17 Leicester, GB
Apr 18 Leeds, GB
Apr 19 Sheffield, GB
Apr 20 Nottingham, GB
Apr 21 Bedford, GB
Apr 22 Winchester, GB
Jun 18 Snowmass Village, CO
Jul 1 Quincy, CA
Contact
Jeff Cook, New West Records
voice 866.960.7524
Email jeff@newwestrecords.com
