NASHVILLE |DATE: AUGUST 25, 2006
FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/MITCH SCHNEIDER/LATHUM NELSON
ROGUE'S GALLERY ON "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN":
BABY GRAMPS TO PERFORM "CAPE COD GIRLS"
MONDAY, AUGUST 28;
ACCLAIMED ALBUM OF "PIRATE BALLADS, SEA SONGS & CHANTEYS"
IN STORES NOW
In celebration of the recent (8/22) release of ROGUE'S GALLERY: PIRATE BALLADS, SEA SONGS & CHANTEYS, eclectic steel guitarist and vocalist BABY GRAMPS will perform the traditional call-and-response song "Cape Cod Girls" on "Late Show With David Letterman" this Monday, August 28. The performance comes amidst critical praise for the album, with the New York Times calling it "a strong album with heart," describing BABY GRAMPS as having "a voice like Popeye after smoking an entire tin of Prince Albert" (Ben Ratliff, 8/20/06).
The album is a collaboration between film director GORE VERBINSKI, actor JOHNNY DEPP and music producer HAL WILLNER with ANTI RECORDS. Released this week (8/22), the truly extraordinary two-CD set is filled with contemporary reinterpretations of songs from a genre of music that has all but disappeared. BONO, STING, NICK CAVE, BRYAN FERRY, LOU REED, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III, RICHARD THOMPSON, GAVIN FRIDAY, VAN DYKE PARKS, ANDREA CORR and RUFUS WAINWRIGHT are only a few of the distinguished artists who turn in uncompromising and honest performances that illuminate the power of traditional sea songs.
BABY GRAMPS is an acclaimed Seattle-based performer who's known for his eclectic influences and performances with artists like Phish, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, String Cheese Incident and Leftover Salmon.
Check out these critical quotes on ROGUE'S GALLERY: PIRATE BALLADS, SEA SONGS & CHANTEYS. For more information, check out http://www.babygramps.com/ or Myspace.com/roguesgallery.
"Chanteys are durable songs, and this turns out to be a strong album with heart as well as ideas…"
–Ben Ratliff, NEW YORK TIMES, August 20, 2006
"Though all these stories date from a time long gone, and refer to practices nowhere present in the modern world, there's a barbarism, saltiness and even vulgarity in the best performances that makes it all feel like it's happening right now."
–Jim Farber, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, August 20, 2006
"There are some buried treasures: Nick Cave haunts 'Pinery Boy' like a mournful wraith, and Loudon Wainwright III's 'Good Ship Venus' is filthier and funnier than a D-12 freestyle."
–Dorian Lynskey, BLENDER, September 2006
"Rogue's Gallery takes in a range of barnacle-covered nautical oldies, from the ripely gorgeous to wickedly profane."
–Chris Morris, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, August 17, 2006
"…It's fun hearing a buttoned-down celeb like Sting cut loose with an unrecognizable performance on 'Blood Red Roses,' singing about chasing whales around Cape Horn. He seems to have enjoyed himself, because he also sings a lovely ballad called 'Shallow Brown,' making him one of the few artists to contribute multiple songs."
–Nick Marino, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, July 18, 2006
"Among many delights, Martin Carthy's 'Hog Eye Man' and Nick Cave's 'Pinery Boy' are immediate attention grabbers."
–Fred Shuster, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS, August 17, 2006 (3 stars out of 4)
"Listen for the original bling (or booty) of hip-hop, the swagger of rock, and the kind of true independence that you kids only dream about."
–DAVID ISKRA, FILTER MINI, August/September 2006
"…an ebb and flow of randy couplets, odes to rum and ruin, heart-stomping sadness, archaic nautical-speak…it's the collaborative spirit of Rogue's Gallery and its history lessons that make the set worth it."
–JOHNNY LOFTUS, DETROIT METRO TIMES, August 23, 2006
"…a revelatory folk-song collection with the sea in the leading role. Drawing traditional material from the British Isles, auteur-producer Hal Willner gathers stars and unknowns over 43 tracks that range from poignant laments (including a showstopper by Bono) to dirty sing-alongs (Loudon Wainwright III's outrageous "Good Ship Venus").
–WILL HERMES, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, August 25, 2006
"Helming Rogue's Gallery is the masterful producer Hal Willner, who previously put together albums that paid tribute to jazz geniuses Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus, composer Kurt Weill and others. He does an admirable job here of assembling and recording this full-spectrum talent pool… Leaving loved ones, the specter of death, hard work and hard drinking are key subject matters handled particularly well by Bono on 'A Dying Sailor to His Shipmates,' Martin Carthy on 'Hog-Eye Man' and Nick Cave on 'Fire Down Below,' with many others also making a strong showing. The utterly inspired pairing of Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry with chamber pop singer Antony on the rousing 'Lowlands Low' is a peak achievement, as is ex-Wall of Voodoo Stan Ridgway's rum-soaked reading of 'Hanging Johnny' and Akron/ Family's touching take on 'One Spring Morning.'"
–Martin Bandyke, DETROIT FREE PRESS, August 24, 2006 (3 stars out of 5)
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ROGUE'S GALLERY ON "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": BABY GRAMPS TO PERFORM "CAPE COD GIRLS" MONDAY, AUGUST 28; ACCLAIMED ALBUM OF "PIRATE BALLADS, SEA SONGS & CHANTEYS" IN STORES NOW
