New York band recently celebrated CD release at DROM
RED ROOSTER
www.redroostermusic.com
Formed in 1998 by lead vocalist Jay Erickson and lead guitarist Nat Zilkha, Red Rooster enters its second decade with its third release, the impressive WALK (Wondermore, September 2009), which follows 2002’s PORCH SONGS and 2005’s DOSE. The longtime friends expand their brand of alt-country folk Americana roots rock with a wide array of instruments on the new disc, featuring Susannah Hornsby (Bruce Hornsby’s niece) on accordion and vocals, Andrew Green on banjo, Dave Gould on saxophone, Brandon Doyle on French horn, Jamie Forrest on mandolin, Dick Neal on dobro, Jon Howe on harmonica, Simon Wettenhall on trumpet, Jeremy Randol and Lucas Ives on drums, Daniel Engelman on bass, and Peter Nilsson on keyboards. “Lord, these songs won’t get me far / I’m gonna write them as far as they’ll go,” Erickson sings on the opening track, “Bluebird,” and the band does indeed take them as far as they will go. Lush harmonies and bluesy interludes drive “Satisfied Mind,” while funky horns and guitars propel “The Places in Between.” The centerpiece of the album is the noirish story-song “Let It All Go,” with a panoply of sweet guitars and horn solos and an infectious chorus.
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New album was recorded in Brooklyn and upstate New York
WALK was recorded in Brooklyn and upstate New York, and that dichotomy is evident in both the music and the lyrics as the city and the country continually do battle. “The city flows down in the street / Subway tracks lay down the beat / I miss the sound of the shuffling creek beside me,” Erickson sings on “Black Point Road.” The yearning “Washington Square” is a kind of companion piece to “Raining in Los Angeles,” spanning three thousand miles of heartbreak. The New York-based band held a CD release party on October 30 at DROM and is continuing the celebration with stops in Chapel Hill, Charlottesville, and Washington, DC, before heading out to the West Coast, where you can catch them in Oregon and California. (They’ll be in New Haven, Albany, and Wellsville in December.) Meanwhile, WALK is available as a “pay what you want” download at the band’s Web site and comes with three bonus tracks, including a cover of the Police hit “Every Breath You Take.”