"Wumpwumpwumpwumpwumpwump go the drums; the guitar makes a noise like it’s hocking up a ball of Chesterfield phlegm;karangarangarang goes a beer bottle as it hits the floor – and off goes Lonesome Shack, ripping up “White Lightning”, the opening track on their new live album City Man.

Recorded in April of 2012 at Seattle, WA’s Café Racer, City Man finds Lonesome Shack’s original core duo of drummer Kristian Garrard and guitarist/vocalist Ben Todd joined by bassist Luke Bergman. Bergman’s presence is often more felt than heard: he muscles up the Shack’s raw country blues sound that Todd and Garrard are known for without reshaping it, patrolling the territory that lies somewhere between the bass drum pedal and the thumb of Ben Todd’s picking hand. At times Bergman is so in synch with his bandmates that you might not know there was a bass there … except for the fact that Lonesome Shack’s grooves on City Man often feel like they’re about to take out Café Racer’s walls at any moment.

Garrard and Todd do that thing they do so well: take ahold of rawboned blues by the horns and put their own twist on it. On the surface, it’s easy to burrow into City Man and imagine it was recorded in some Mississippi juke joint a long, long time ago (accentuated by the fact that Todd pushes both his guitar and the vocal through the same little amp). But when you put an ear to what’s really going on, you start hearing all the subtle-but-wild-ass stuff Garrard’s doing – or the cool how-did-he-do-that riffs Todd pulls, tugs, and flecks out of his Tiesco’s strings – or Bergman’s not-what-you-would’ve-expected-was-going-to-happen approach to blues bass. And therein lies the secret to Lonesome Shack: you can have a happy, casual hangout with City Man and have a good time – or you can dig into the thing as deeply as you like and find a treasure trove of mind-blowing grooves that go somewhere beyond the traditional.

“Bad Luck” is a fast-paced straight-ahead stomper; when the Shackmen go into a rhythm huddle at the midpoint, involuntary limb movement is unavoidable. The guitar and the vocal swagger as one on “Dwellers” with the drums going in six different ways underneath it all; “Mushin Dog” sounds like early Hot Tuna pumped through twin Cherry Bombs; Garrard lays the beat right against Todd’s fingerpicked, raspy-toned main riff on “Love Makes Love” while Bergman slams big balls of bass into the cracks.

“Switcher” is slow and tension-filled: listen to Bergman’s bass as it stalks Todd; Garrard’s drums sound as sinister as a flick-flicking switchblade. “The Admiral” is a funky made-to-dance tune offering up the yin/yang of Bergman’s butt-grinding bass lines and the spastic rhythm jerks of Todd’s guitar. And then there’s the title track: Todd leads things in – just he and his guitar – sounding like a long-lost radio broadcast of a never-before-heard Lightnin’ Hopkins tune while pounding through the first verse and chorus. Garrard and Bergman land hard, adding much momentum to the tune’s lurch and sway; and when guest hornman Andrew Swanson lays into his saxophone on the title track, it’s like ripping the top off a 55-gallon drum of pure raunch.

Lonesome Shack has discovered the secret of how to pay homage to the past while exploring vibes and rhythm textures from far-away places. Never mind quantum physics, gravitational time dilation, or parallel universes – these guys have figured out how to pull off multi-dimensional time travel with an old tube amp, a cracked cymbal, and a big dollop of greasy blues. Have mercy."

-Brian Robbins, Jambands.com

click here for the full text

"Rabbit Run"
Written by Stefan Zillioux, Martin Reinsel, Jon Newman
Performed by Gravel Road
Courtesy of Gravel Road/SFFTV

We're still looking for a clip to share, but you can find some additional details here:

http://www.soundtrack.net/movie/the-baytown-outlaws/

The latest release from the “most-experienced Seattle band that few people are aware of” comes out on November 30th.  The 7” Green Vinyl of Pedernales (Knick Knack Records) by Seattle’s Dark Blue Rockers GRAVELROAD will not be in stores until mid-November but you can come down to their Vinyl Release Party at the Rendezvous’ Jewel Box Theater on Friday November 30th and hear the band live as they release the recording of tracks they laid-down at Willie Nelson’s Texas studio of the same name earlier this year. Joining GravelRoad at the vinyl-release party will be 2 of Seattle’s finest raw musical acts - NightTrain & Lonesome Shack.

Marty Reinsel, GRAVELROAD’s drummer and 1/3 of the band’s nearly-decade-old incarnation, spoke about how this recording came about.  “Both the tracks and the relationship with the Pedernales studio are rooted in our history over the last 5 years of so.”  With regards to the tracks, the side A song, “Monkey with a Wig,” is an original one that band members Kirby Newman and Stefan Zillioux started working on many years back and the Side B track, “See That My Grave’s Kept Clean” is a traditional by Blind Lemon Jefferson (1927) that the band got to playing at the encouragement of KEXP’s Greg Vandy for a live tribute show for the Harry Smith Anthology series a few years back.

Reinsel continues,  “The basis of the relationship with the Pedernales Studio - definitely the finest recording studio I’ve ever set foot in, let alone recorded in - began late one night about 3 years ago" after a show supporting nonagenarian Mississippi outlaw blues man T Model Ford. "I met Jacob Sciba, Willie's Lead Studio Engineer about 3am after a show at Emo's in Austin, he appeared out of nowhere and we hit it off from the start .... He's been coming to all of our shows in Austin for the last few years.

“Earlier this year we are out on tour playing a dive bar in south Austin on a Saturday with 1 day off to follow.  Jacob invited us to Pedernales on our free day, told us to set up & had us treat it just like another live show on tour.  Since he knows that room inside and out, he had us set up and we just played - it was almost too easy!  We did more tracks than just the one on the 7”, but we were happiest with these 2 for this special release.  I’d always wanted to do a 45 RPM but we simply hadn’t yet. When Joe Johnson of Knick Knack Records heard the tracks, he said it had to be released on Green Vinyl ... we all agreed. Everything about this seemed like it was the right thing to do.  It was the easiest and greatest recording session for us yet and, of course, a recording at Willie’s studio had to be on green vinyl.”

GravelRoad is not planning a full tour for the release of the Pedernales 7”.  The band will instead focus on the recording of their next album, due out in late-spring 2013 and focus on touring behind that release.  In the meantime, the band will be playing select shows in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, touring local psychiatric hospitals and mental health facilities - a hobby of the band’s, says Reinsel: “We love the reception we get there ... it’s a lot more real than select shows where people are reluctant to let loose, ya know.”  GravelRoad will be continuing full touring in 2013.

"Proud Wonderful Me, Proud Wonderful Me (out now, Knick Knack Records, facebook.com/ProudWonderfulMe): A band with a name like this must be either unbearably uplifting or incredibly funny. Luckily, these guys are the latter. Pairing goofy vocals with '70s-reminiscent garage rock, this debut EP is lighthearted and fun." SE (Thurs., Nov. 15, Comet Tavern)

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-10-31/music/it-s-november-2012-and-seattle-sounds-like/

"*Lonesome Shack, City Man (out now, Knick Knack Records, lonesomeshack.com): Recorded live at Cafe Racer a month before the tragic May 30 shootings, Lonesome Shack's driving country blues and psychedelic Americana reveal yet more versatility among the tight-knit Racer crew, a group of UW students and friends who play everything from free jazz to folk. Drummer Kristian Garrard and bassist Luke Bergman (who moonlight as guitar duo Thousands) take a backseat here to frontman Ben Todd's bluesy bawl and gritty guitar, and tracks like the driving opener "White Lightning" crackle with crowd chatter. Elsewhere, "Bad Luck" and "Mushin Dog" electrify with tightly percussive, roots-fueled rhythms. And that wailing, greasy sax on "City Man" is just perfect. GE (Fri., Nov. 30, JewelBox/Rendezvous)"

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-10-31/music/it-s-november-2012-and-seattle-sounds-like/

Here's what The Seattle Weekly's music editor Chris Kornelis has to say about GravelRoad's latest release on Knick Knack Records.

"GravelRoad, Pedernales (out now, Knick Knack Records, gravelroadblues.com): "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" is the season's first solid drinking song (you'll need a whole pitcher). "Monkey With a Wig," the front side of this single, is sophisticated bar-band blues at its most riffalicious."

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-10-31/music/it-s-november-2012-and-seattle-sounds-like/

October 2012 - Knick Knack Records released the live album, City Man on 12 inch 33 rpm vinyl, CD and digitally.  The album was recorded live to ½ inch tape one evening at the band’s favorite neighborhood bar Cafe Racer- where the band members originally met and held a weekly gig for 2+ years. The album is dedicated to the Cafe Racer family and the victims of the tragic shooting that took place at Racer a month after the recording was made. The album begins with “White Lightning” (CD trk 1), a driving riff set to a marching band rhythm, followed by the slow and lurking “Switcher” (CD trk 2), a cautionary tale of one who is quick to turn from friend to enemy. “Down and Alone” (CD trk 5) takes a lone guitar line and slowly builds it up to a heavy pulse. Side two fires off with a breakneck jam “Dwellers” (CD trk 6) then moves on to the sax infused title track “City Man” (CD trk 7), both haunted by the imagery of country living and the mixed curse of the city.

The address on songwriter Ben Todd's 2002 Driver License reads "Hwy 180 W South of SF Bridge, Alma, NM". This indeterminate location is where Lonesome Shack began. In New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, Todd hunkered down in the shack he built and studied the music of the American folk and blues lineage. In 2007 Todd joined up with drummer Kristian Garrard (Thousands) in Seattle and they released two LPs, one EP, and completed two west coast tours, two national tours, and a tour to Maine. With the recent addition of bassist Luke Bergman (Also a member of Thousands) the band combines the sounds of post-WWII electric country blues with a heavy groove that anchors them in the present.

Here's the video for the first single from 'City Man' called 'White Lightnin'

GravelRoad is at it again and we're releasing a 7 inch single that was recorded at Willie Nelson's Pedernales studio while on their spring 2012 tour.

They're celebrating with label mates Lonesome Shack and the wonderful ladies of NighTrain on November 30 at The Rendezvous Theatre.

GravelRoad is working recording at Elliot Bay Recording Studio with Brian Nelson engineering the sessions.

Jim Diamond (Detroit) will be doing the mix, just as he did with 'Psychedelta'

The legendary Jack Endino is engineering and mixing the new EP from Mystery Ship.  Knick Knack Records will be releasing this record on 12 inch 45 rpm vinyl in mid-2013.