Butcher Brown "Camden Square"

DYNAMIC JAZZ/HIP HOP/FUNK COLLECTIVE BUTCHER BROWN ADDED TO KAMASI WASHINGTON TOUR

NEW ALBUM ‘CAMDEN SESSION’ RECORDED AT MARK RONSON’S STUDIO OCT 12. ON GEARBOX RECORDS

 

SINGLE “CAMDEN SQUARE” OUT TODAY

 

Butcher Brown has been added as direct support for jazz star Kamasi Washington’s national tour this fall and winter. An incredibly dynamic collective, Butcher Brown reveals jazz, funk, and hip hop influences swirling together into an incredible groove. A recent late night show at the Blue Note saw a line out the door of young fans, playing a sweaty packed two-hour set. Already this year, the band has played both jam band festival Lock’n and indie rock fest Otis Mountain and did a live Paste Magazine session. NPR says, "The young quartet traffics in loose, groove-based instrumentals, often laid-back and with a healthy dose of boom-boom-chick." Here they are performing “Street Pharmacy” live at the Paste studio.

 

Today marks the release of “Camden Square,” the first single from ‘Camden Session,’ which was recorded at Mark Ronson’s London studio. Shareable link.

 

Part of a new wave of young jazz mixing the genre with other influences, the band has been described notably as “hip hop Mahavishnu.” Multi-instrumentalist Devonne Harris aka DJ Harrison played keys and synths on Jack White’s latest album “Boarding House Reach” and took part in his third collaborative Playlist Retreat, headed by DJ Jazzy Jeff. A percussion prodigy turned international jazz sideman, drummer Corey Fonville’s national performance career began when he was just 14, with a 2005 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. The group also features trumpeter and saxophone player Marcus Tenney; wunderkind guitarist Morgan Burrs; bassist Andrew Randazzo.

 

 

‘CAMDEN SESSION’ TRACK LIST

 

1. Pre-Cut Interlude #1
2. Fiat
3. Street Pharmacy
4. Pre-Cut Interlude #2
5. Camden Square
6. 918

 

BUTCHER BROWN TOUR DATES

 

September 14 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry

September 15 – Charlottesville, VA – Belmont Park

October 4 – Syracuse, NY – Westcott Theater (w/ Turkuaz)

October 5 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom (w/ Turkuaz)

October 6 – Saratoga Springs, NY - Putnam Place (w/ Turkuaz)

October 11 – Chattanooga, TN – Songbirds (w/ Turkuaz)

October 14 – Greensboro, NC – The Blind Tiger (w/ Turkuaz)

October 17 – Northampton, MA – Pearl Street Nightclub (w/ Turkuaz)

October 18 – Providence, RI – Fete Music Hall (w/ Turkuaz)

October 24 – Greenville, SC – The Firmament (w/ Turkuaz)

October 25 – Nashville, TN – EXIT/IN (w/ Turkuaz)

October 26 – Covington, KY – Madison Theater (w/ Turkuaz)

November 1 – St. Paul, MN – The Palace (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 2 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 3 – Chicago, IL – The Riv (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 5 – Toronto, ONT – Sony Centre (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 7 – Portland, ME – The State Theatre (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 8 – Boston, MA – The Royale (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 9 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 10 – Washington, D.C. – Lincoln (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 11 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 14 – Richmond, VA – The National (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 15 – Raleigh, NC – Ritz (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 16 – Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works (w/ Kamasi Washington)

November 17 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre (w/ Kamasi Washington)

Butcher Brown bio

Butcher Brown is an up-to-the minute throwback to the great progressive jazz bands of the 60s and 70s. Whilst all members were born after the mid-70s golden age of fusion, their modern, hip-hop-inflected funk has rich echoes of Weather Report, Return to Forever, early Earth Wind and Fire and, perhaps, a pungent whiff of Zappa. Like those bands, Butcher Brown’s unified sound comes from the intertwined talents of the five members, each bringing something unique to the mix.

Whilst each individual member maintains their own illustrious side-projects (working with artists such as Christian Scott, Nigel Hall, Mumu Fresh, Black Thought, Phonte, Rapsody, 9th Wonder), Butcher Brown is a hard-working band in an era where most groups are fleeting assemblages, together only long enough to record. The band cultivate a dedicated audience through combining a conventional, label-oriented approach with releasing “underground” tapes, disciplined rehearsal and engaging, adventurous performance. Recent high-profile performances include touring with Galactic last year & performing alongside bands such as Lettuce, Eric Krasno, Soullive, John Schofield, Tauk, & Motet whilst their future schedule looks packed as they prepare to support Kamasi Washington’s US dates this autumn.

Butcher Brown’s releases to date range from the polished soul/funk of “All Purpose Music” (Ropeadope) (2014) to the 20-track underground groove-laden beats cassette “GrownFolk” in 2015. Both were released to critical acclaim and explains their almost cult status in the music world. The band have come in leaps and bounds in recent times: last year’s “Live at the Vagabond” (Gearbox) record showcases the raw energy of their live shows, whilst the band’s most recent Bandcamp release, Afrobeat-themed “Afrokuti: A Tribute to Fela”, provides further testament to the band’s tight synchronicity as well as the truly unbelievable musical capabilities of each band member.

Multi-instrumentalist Devonne Harris is arguably the visionary of this egalitarian band. His responsive keyboard work shapes the harmonic colors through which the music pulses and flows. Under the name DJ Harrison, he’s created a vast catalog of hip hop beat tapes. He recently released a solo album entitled “Hazy Moods” on Stones Throw Records, the Los Angeles label responsible for releases by Madlib, J Dilla, and many more. Jellowstone Records, his home studio, is a pivotal focus of the vital Richmond music scene, with a growing reputation drawing big name visitors including Nicholas Payton (who recorded his 2014 record “Numbers” there with Butcher Brown). Recently projects include playing keys and synths on Jack White’s latest album “Boarding House Reach,” having selections featured on Phonte’s solo album “No News is Good News,” and taking part in DJ Jazzy Jeff’s 2^nd and 3^rd annual Playlist Retreat

Bassist Andrew Randazzo is arguably the band’s navigator. “He’s the cool one, the calm one. He’s the mortar, binding together the rhythmic and harmonic side of the music. Both onstage and off, he holds everything together and makes everything go smoothly. And he is an amazing player.” In the band’s funk-inflected music, the foundation is foreground; the bass as much a lead as a rhythm instrument.

Drummer Corey Fonville is pure explosive energy. “He’s always ready for battle,” Harris says. “A huge, controlling factor in our sound.”  A percussion prodigy turned international jazz sideman, Fonville’s national performance career when he was just 14, with a 2005 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In the years since, Fonville’s taken his propulsive energy around the world, playing with Christian Scott at New York’s The Blue Note and performing alongside Chris “Daddy” Dave in China. He’s the beating heart of Butcher Brown, pumping out fresh, danceable rhythmic complexities aimed at both the brain and the hips.

Guitarist Morgan Burrs is the youngest of the group. Coming from a family of musicians, and being surrounded by all types of music since birth, you could say he was destined to lead a life as a musician. In high school, he was awarded 2 full tuition scholarships to study at Berklee College of Music’s 5 Week Summer program 2 years in a row, & having attended VCU, he’s become a force on the Richmond Music scene. He’s recently performed at Budweiser’s Made In America Festival with hip-hop producer legend 9^th Wonder and rapper Rapsody

Marcus Tenney is a multi-instrumentalist from Richmond, Virginia. Working freelance since 2005, Marcus has been playing trumpet and saxophone with bands such as Foxygen and No BS! Brass. He has also done studio/session  work for Spacebomb Records and records and performs original music with a host of his own ensembles. Marcus has worked with artists such as Braxton Cook, Count Bass D, Matthew E. White, Natalie Prass, Billy Williams and many others.

As a band dedicated to innovation and informed by a love of the past, Butcher Brown’s modernistic fusion is aptly described as “hip hop Mahavishnu.” Impressive as they are individually, together they are something increasingly rare: a real band, playing for their audience and for each other, on the verge of a brilliant future.

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APPLEWOOD ROAD – TRIO OF AMY SPEACE, EMILY BARKER, & AMBER RUBARTH – EARNING ACCLAIM FOR AMERICAN RELEASE OF SELF-TITLED DEBUT

Applewood Road – the trio of songwriters Amy Speace, Emily Barker, and Amber Rubarth – are earning raves for their self-titled debut album, out this month on Gearbox Records. The trio’s “My Love Grows” was featured on Spotify’s Folksy Love playlist. Here’s what we’re reading:

“Impressed me with their close harmonies.”
- Paste Magazine

“Lovely… near perfect folk album… I was mesmerized.”
- No Depression

“The harmonies of the three women… shine.”
- Glide Magazine

“Serendipity.”
- Mother Church Pew

“Musical magic.”
- The Alternate Root

Radio add date: August 21

“Losing My Religion” live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL8-4ayvZQ0

UK praise:

“****… a stunning country showcase of three gorgeous but markedly different voices.”
– Q

“Flawless set that has to be the most haunting release of the past year... Unfailingly seductive and wistful.”
– Sunday Times

“*****… There’s a moreish magic to the harmonies of this country-folk trio that recalls the vintage appeal of the Everlys and the Andrews”
– Telegraph

“Truly gorgeous…”
– Maverick Magazine

“*****… full of style, allure and artistry… likely to be in my top five albums this year.”
– R2

“****… Sometimes things just seem meant to be… honey-harmonied wonder… magic.”
– Record Collector

“STUNNING” (Q) AMERICANA TRIO APPLEWOOD ROAD PLOT US SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM JULY 14 AFTER UK ACCLAIM

“Barker is from Australia, Rubarth grew up in California and Speace is from Baltimore, but at times they can sound as if they spent their childhoods singing together around a family hearth in the Appalachians” – Richard Williams, The Blue Moment (UK)

Crosby, Stills & Nash; Simon & Garfunkel; The Everly Brothers; The Civil Wars; Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: some bands have voices that were just meant to sing together. Applewood Road is one of those bands.  

A chance meeting in an East Nashville cafe during AmericanaFest led to Amy Speace, Emily Barker, and Amber Rubarth writing the song “Applewood Road,” the nugget of which came from a dream that Rubarth had. The trio booked an immediate session to lay it down at the analogue studio Welcome To 1979.  Barker says, “We felt our voices blended naturally, and went away beaming with the joy of having created the song together.”

All three recognized the magic of that recording and plans were put in place to return to record a full-length album. Also entitled “Applewood Road,” the resulting thirteen-song set adds two bonus track for US release on Gearbox Records on July 14, 2017, including a stunning live cover of R.E.M.'s hit song "Losing My Religion." 

“Applewood Road” music video (OK to share): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8U9zlRzqaQ

The album is chock full of highlights and each songwriter contributed several songs, including a co-write between Rubarth and frequent Norah Jones collaborator Adam Levy on the beautiful “To the Stars.” Rubarth explores our innate draw to both the familiar and the unknown on “Old Time Country Song.” Barker wrote songs in northern Europe, Nashville, and her native Australia for the project, including “Bring the Car Round,” inspired by the wildfires Down Under. Speace’s lullaby to her niece and nephew took a dark, more mature turn on “Josephine.”

Each of the songwriters has their own distinguished solo career: Speace was personally signed by Judy Collins; an NPR critic said, "Her velvety achey voice recalls an early Lucinda Williams." Speace was personally discovered by folk icon Judy Collins who signed her to her own record label and recorded her songs;  she has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered" and The New York Times writes “what Amy Speace says — what she sings — she says with a confluence of poetry and honesty, of emotional specificity." Many will know Barker’s music from the award-winning theme to PBS Masterpiece series “Wallander” starring Kenneth Branagh; her new album “Sweet Kind of Blue" was recorded in Memphis with Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price). Rubarth has shared her songs from South Africa to Japan to Carnegie Hall, opening for legends like Emmylou Harris and Ralph Stanley; her new album 'Wildflowers in the Graveyard' releases early Autumn, followed by her acting debut starring in feature film “American Folk” (2018).

Here’s what UK press had to say about Applewood Road: 

“****… a stunning country showcase of three gorgeous but markedly different voices.” – Q

“Flawless set that has to be the most haunting release of the past year... Unfailingly seductive and wistful.” – Sunday Times

“*****… There’s a moreish magic to the harmonies of this country-folk trio that recalls the vintage appeal of the Everlys and the Andrews” – Telegraph

“Truly gorgeous…” – Maverick Magazine

“*****… full of style, allure and artistry… likely to be in my top five albums this year.” – R2

“****… Sometimes things just seem meant to be… honey-harmonied wonder… magic.” – Record Collector

The album was recorded live, direct to tape, at Welcome to 1979 studio in Nashville with the performers gathered around a single microphone. Alongside the three band members, the album features contributions from Aaron Lee Tasjan, Josh Day, Fats Kaplin, Jabe Beyer, and Telisha Williams. It was mastered at Gearbox Records with vintage analogue equipment.

Applewood Road "Applewood Road" music video

About Applewood Road

In September 2014, three songwriters met for the first time in a cafe in East Nashville. By the next morning they had put the finishing touches to their first song, ‘Applewood Road’, which they recorded live to tape at Nashville’s all analogue studio, Welcome to 1979.

The song’s nostalgic air, along with the clear, sparse arrangement of three vocals accompanied by double bass, drew immediate positive response, and they decided to expand the idea into a full album.
Six months later, they reconvened to write, rehearse and record songs for the self-titled album Applewood Road. The songs were again performed live around a single microphone at Welcome to 1979 and recorded to two-track tape with minimal accompaniment from some of Nashville’s finest session players, including Aaron Lee Tasjan, Josh Day,  Fats Kaplin, Jabe Beyer, and Telisha Williams.

The tapes were assembled at London’s most exclusive high-end mastering suite, Gearbox Records, mastered through their vintage analogue outboard, and lacquers cut in-house on their own Haeco lathe.

Applewood Road is Emily Barker, Amber Rubarth and Amy Speace.

About Amy Speace:

Amy Speace is a folk singer, timeless and classic, and a bit out of her own era. “She has one of the richest and loveliest voices in the genre and her songs are luxuriously smart,” writes Craig Havighurst (host of Nashville’s “Music City Roots). “She’s profoundly personal yet also a bit mythic.”  Since her discovery in 2006 by folk-pop icon Judy Collins, Speace has been heralded as one of the leading voices of the new generation of American folk singers. Her latest release, “That Kind Of Girl”, received rave reviews by Billboard Magazine, The New York Times and NPR.  Recorded live in 3 days with her longtime collaborator/producer Neilson Hubbard,  with a small combo featuring Will Kimbrough (Emmylou Harris) and Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket), Girl is spare, direct and brutally honest and is her most personal collection of songs yet.

Born in Baltimore, Amy Speace studied classical acting in New York City after graduating from Amherst College and then spent a few years with The National Shakespeare Company and other Off-Off Broadway classical rep companies, doing guerrilla Shakespeare in Lower East Side parking lots, working backstage on Broadway, writing poetry in cafes and feeling increasingly like success as a theater artist was just out of reach. In that season of doubt, she bought a cheap guitar at a pawn shop in the East Village and began putting her poetry to music and in short time was appearing at local folk clubs The Sidewalk Cafe, The Bitter End and The Living Room. Judy Collins’ manager caught a set of Amy’s at the 2005 SXSW conference and brought her demo back to Collins, who had just started her own imprint, Wildflower Records and immediately signed Amy.  Her Wildflower Records debut “Songs For Bright Street,” was released to rave reviews in 2006 and featured E-Street band fiddler Soozie Tyrell and a duet with The Jayhawks Gary Louris.  That year she was nominated as Best New Artist by the International Folk Alliance.  In 2009 she released “The Killer In Me,” recorded in North Carolina with Mitch Easter (REM, the db’s), which had NPR comparing her to a young Lucinda Williams.  That record's bonus track, an acoustic version of her song "Weight of the World" was recorded later that year by Judy Collins herself, who named it “one of the best political folk songs I’ve ever heard.”  WFUV, NYC's premier AAA radio station, awarded "Weight of the World" the #4 Folk Song of the Decade.  Seeking new inspiration, in late 2009, Speace moved to Nashville, changing management and labels, and began collaborating with producer/songwriter Neilson Hubbard on a collection of songs that would become  the  cinematic “Land Like A Bird,” released in 2011 on Thirty Tigers.  In 2013, she received the best reviews of her career with the epic "How To Sleep In A Stormy Boat,” a string-laden song cycle inspired by Shakespeare, winning 4 stars from Mojo Magazine and a feature on NPR’s “All Things Considered”.  Rock critic Dave Marsh, long a fan, who contributed the album's liner notes, wrote "Amy Speace’s songs hang together like a short story collection, united by a common vantage point and common predicaments…it’s a gift to hear a heart so modest even when it’s wide open." 

An accidental side project was born in East Nashville in 2015, when Applewood Road was formed.  The trio of Speace, Amber Rubarth and Emily Barker  met in 2015 at a coffeeshop in East Nashville and, after writing one song together, were signed to a deal with the London-based Gearbox Records. Their eponymous debut was recorded in 4 days around one microphone at Nashville's analog studio Welcome To 1979 and was released in the UK in February 2016 to astonishing 4 and 5 star reviews. The Sunday London Times called the album “a flawless set that has to be the most haunting release of the past year” and The Telegraph wrote “There’s a Moorish magic to the harmonies of this country-folk trio that recalls the vintage appeal of the Everlys and the Andrews.”  Applewood Road appeared that summer at Glastonbury Festival, The Cambridge Folk Festival and on the Andrew Marr Show. 

About Amber Rubarth:

"Part of the new old-soul generation." - HUFFINGTON POST

"She has developed a unique gift of knocking down walls with songs so strong they sound like classics from another era." - ACOUSTIC GUITAR MAGAZINE

Amber Rubarth has a playful simplicity and insightfulness to her musings on life that has connected with people around the world.  She has performed in villages across South Africa and small clubs in Japan, at Carnegie Hall, and backed up by a full chamber orchestra, as well as hundreds of clubs and theaters throughout Europe and the US. "She has developed a unique gift of knocking down walls with songs so strong they sound like classics from another era." -Acoustic Guitar Magazine.  The word has spread organically around her independently released albums, attracting glowing features from The Huffington Post, NPR, and BBC Radio.  She has been hand-picked to open tours for songwriting legends Emmylou Harris, Kenny Loggins, Richie Havens, Marc Cohn, Loudon Wainwright III and Dr. Ralph Stanley and was awarded Grand Prize in NPR's Mountain Stage New Song Contest.  A live recording of Rubarth from Memphis' legendary Sun Studio is currently airing on PBS.Rubarth's forthcoming record, Wildflowers in the Graveyard, is a collection of songs centered around the theme of of life/death/rebirth in nature and relationships.  It opens with her raw vocals and a finger-picked guitar, "There are wildflowers springing up at the graveyard / An oak tree that's been standing here so long / And dandelions pretty in the sunshine / 'til the wind blows and they're gone." All songs are self-penned and recorded analogue straight to 2" tape with engineer and co-producer Matt Andrews (Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, Dawes) in her hometown of Nashville.  The record has a bold magnetic energy that draws you in to each nuance and detail, revealing layers with the elegance of a wildflower in a land consumed by fireworks.In addition to her solo music, Amber recently made her acting debut co-starring alongside folk troubadour Joe Purdy in the new feature film American Folk, which won Best of at the Cleveland International Film Festival and will release in the Autumn 2017.   She has also scored and composed for films including the highly acclaimed Sundance Film Festival winner Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (with Paul Brill) and the award-winning documentary Desert Runners.  She also is the founder of two collaboration projects, Brooklyn indie band The Paper Raincoat, an iTunes Indie Spotlight featured in commercials for Google and Aquafina, and the UK-based harmony folk trio Applewood Road, whose debut album was named The Telegraph's Best Albums of 2016.

Wildflowers in the Graveyard will be released worldwide Summer 2017.