THE DUHKS
By Jim Manion, PD/MD, WFHB Bloomington
The Album
The Duhks
The Label
Sugar Hill
Liner Notes
The Duhks are a frisky young folk-fusion band from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Their sound is their own; the usual genre designations do not apply. Traditional melodies from Ireland, Acadia and Appalachia mesh with propulsive organic polyrhythms that also carry the pulse of electronic funk. Their mix of instrumentation and influences is both unusual and natural, and much of the time the framework for stunning vocals.
The five members of The Duhks are Tania Elizabeth (fiddle), Jessica Havey (vocals), Jordan McConnell (guitar and pipes), Leonard Podolak (banjo) and Scott Senior (drums and percussion). All but drummer Senior share lead and harmony vocals, with Havey getting the main vocal spotlight. Havey sings with just the right dose of gospel/soul flavor, at times bringing the expressiveness and edge of Etta James to the mix. Havey immediately gets your attention when she jumps on the lead vocal of the album's opening track, "Death Came a Knockin'". Havey's vocal exuberance is balanced by the airy beauty of fiddler Tania Elizabeth's soprano, who shines on "The Wagoner's Lad".
The Duhks' new release on Sugar Hill was produced by Bela Flek, whose presence is felt not from imposing his own sound, but by his keen sense of capturing remarkable musical moments with clarity. Flek contributes one modest banjo track to the set and brings in a few musical friends like Paul Brady, Edgar Meyer, Abigail Washburn and Victor Wooten here and there, but only for subtle touches. From start to finish, the album is The Duhks' and no one else's.
The pacing and dynamics of the self-titled CD's fourteen tracks weave through the type of setlist that would make less-talented musicians shudder. Some of the songs kick with layers of rhythm and melody that can confound while they draw you in ("Death Came a Knockin'," "True Religion"), their mission coming clearer as vocals kick in. Others ("Mists of Down Below," "The Wagoner's Lad") are just simply gorgeous and full of musical sensuality. The Duhks' instrumentals ("Gene's Machine", "The Magnolia Set," "The Dregs of Birch") put to rest any question that a pop/rock approach to working with traditional elements means you can't play old-style tunes with intricate finesse.
Besides bringing in traditional songs and adding their own twists and melodies, The Duhks also make fine song choices from contemporary writers, including Ruth Unger of The Mammals, Paul Brady and Sting. Of special note is their revival of Canadian folk cult heroes Fraser and Debolt's 1970 gem "Dancehall Girls". Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" also stands out, with Leonard Podolak's rough and ready lead vocals driving home the song's point.
For radio, the varieties of musical settings on the album present multiple airplay opportunities. An arresting and up-front song like "Death Came a Knockin'" would fit into an upbeat, drive-time mix. "The Wagoner's Lad" would sound delicious on a Sunday morning. Their rangy instrumentals would be more fitting for specialty shows with folk and international flavor.
The Duhks are on a relentless tour and word of mouth is spreading fast about the band that can inspire a mosh-pit with their rock-energy musical fusion that sounds brand new yet quite familiar. All the more reason to play them on the radio.
Site
www.sugarhillrecords.com
ON
WFUV Bronx/New York
WXPN Philadelphia
WTMD Towson/Baltimore
WDET Detroit
KPIG Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz/San Luis Obispo
WFPK Louisville
KCLC St. Louis
XM Cafe
WNCW Spindale-Asheville/Charlotte/Greenville/Spartanburg
WDST Woodstock
WCBE Columbus
KUT Austin
WNRN Annapolis/Baltimore
KRSH (The Krush) Santa Rosa
KOZT (The Coast) Fort Bragg/Mendocino County, CA
WGWG Boiling Springs/W. Charlotte
KTHX Reno
WMNF Tampa
KLCC Eugene
KXCI Tucson
WYSO Yellow Springs/Dayton
KRCC Eugene
KNBA Anchorage
KFAN Fredericksburg, TX
KHUM Ferndale/Eureka/Humboldt County, CA
WEVL Memphis
WSYC Shippendale, PA
KFMU Steamboat Springs, CO
MSPR
WBJB Lincroft, NJ
WMFO Medford/Boston
WKZE Sharon, CT/Poughkeepsie, NY
KLRR Bend, OR
WBCG Punta Gorda, FL
KYSL (Kystal 93) Breckenridge/Vail
KTBG (The Bridge) Warrensburg, MO/Kansas City
DMX
WFHB Bloomington
WMWV Conway, NH
WRSI (The River) Northampton/Springfield/Greenfield/Amherst, MA
KDNK Carbondale/Aspen
KAXE Grand Rapids, MN
WSGE Dallas/Charlotte
WUKY Lexington
WNKU Highland Heights, KY/Cincinnati
WMVY Cape Cod
KRCL Salt Lake City
WDIY Allentown
WUTC Knoxville
Acoustic Cafe
KUNC Greeley, CO
KSLU Hammond, LA
KMTN Jackson, WY
KSUT Ignacio/Durango, CO
KVNF Paonia, CO
KPND Sandpoint, ID/Spokane
WYCE Grand Rapids
KRVM Eugene
Maine Public Radio
WERU Blue Hills/Bar Harbor, MN
KUWR Laramie/Cheyenne, WY
...and many more!
Press
"...A band to watch, [wielding] a look and an attack that's as much punk rock as folk, marrying Canadian and Appalachian string-band music with (what else?) Salsa dance beats and dramatic soul singing."
—Village Voice
"[Offering] an inventive bridge of folk music styles capped by Latin percussion and an overall virtuosity that could make them stars."
—Boston Globe
Retail
The Duhks is now in stores.
Tours/Performances
Appeared on World cafe 3/15
3/22 Tampa, Skipper's Smokehouse
3/24 Live Oak, FL Suwanee Springfest
3/25 Live Oak, FL Suwanee Springfest
3/26 Live Oak, FL Suwanee Springfest
3/27 Live Oak, FL Suwanee Springfest
4/14 Cleveland, Beachland Ballroom and Tavern
4/15 Lancaster, PA Chameleon Club
4/16 Bryn Mawr, PA The Point
4/17 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theatre
4/19 Somerville, MA Johnny D's
4/20 Ithaca, NY The Chapter House
4/21 Northhampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall
4/22 Amenia, NY Troutbeck Country Inn
4/23 New York, NY Joe's Pub
4/26 Arlington, VA Iota Café
4/28 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest
4/29 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest
4/30 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest
5/01 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest
5/05 Lexington, KY The Dame
5/06 Newport, KY Southgate House
5/07 Chicago, Fitzgeralds
5/08 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
5/12 Louisville, Uncle Pleasants
5/13 Birmingham, AL Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil
5/14 Asheville, NC Stella Blue
5/16 Greensboro, NC Wild Magnolia
5/18 Charleston, SC The Music Farm
5/19 Atlanta, GA Smith's Old Bar
5/21 Durham, NC Sugarfest
5/22 Nashville, 3rd & Lindsley
6/18 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
6/25 laytonville, CA Kate Wolf festival
7/03 Jacksonville, OR Britt Festival
7/13 Weehawken, NJ Hudson Riverfront Performing Arts Center
7/15 Greenfield, MA Greenfield Community College
7/16 Greenfield, MA Greenfield Community College
7/17 Nelson, NH Forget-Me-Not Farm
7/19 Kennett Square, PA Longwood Gardens
7/22 Bean Blossom, IN Magnoliafest/Mid-West
7/23 Bean Blossom, IN Magnoliafest/Mid-West
7/24 Bean Blossom, IN Magnoliafest/Mid-West
Contact
Lindsay Reid, Sugar Hill Records
lindsayr@sugarhillrecords.com
Voice 919.489.4349
ALEX WOODARD
By Jim Nelson A Taste Of Triple A
The Album
Mile High
The Track
"Beautiful"
The Label
33rd Street/Bayside Distribution
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.
Woodard is 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, Afternoon host, 91X, San Diego
Press
"His original songs were great... a combination of Springsteen and Dylan, but a better voice."
—San Diego Reader
Retail
Mile High is now in stores.
Tours/Performances
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
