Autumn Hollow

Brendan from Autumn Hollow just sent me a track called “Orlando Brown” from their new record…Full album is coming out 4/2/13 and our local cd release party is at Precinct on 4/6/13. So I figured I’d do a little review of this tune before their full release, then review that when the whole thing comes out. The description of the song is “the 4th track on the record, “Orlando Brown”, is about an ex-NFL player who suffered perhaps the most tragic and unusual career ending injuring in the history of sports.. .Also, there is a group chorus at the end of the song that includes the lovely voices of our children, family, friends, and several musicians who were kind enough to stop by the studio.” That’s pretty badass.

Boston is a sports town, Boston loves a hero, Boston should love this song. This is a story song that doesn’t play out like a typical story song (though at just over 5 minutes it clocks the typical time of one). It’s much more catchy, has a great composition that was obviously well thought out to be a song that would catch people’s ears. Well placed harmony parts, straight forward rock n’ roll guitars and instrumentation and strategically placed breaks in the song make for a really great tune that you want to give more than one listen to.
The close of the song is extremely climatic, building slowly into an all out sing-a-long. It makes me want to be in the crowd at these guys live gig so I can sing along, raise my drink in the air and cheers to the whole audience.

What I get from this right off the bat and throughout of the course of the song (and the band in general) is authenticity. The band is tight, the structure is solid, but they aren’t trying to hide anything. With so much vocal work in the genre you get too much twang, too much put on “I’m singing Americana, do I come from Boston or do I come from Austin” style. Lead singer Brendan Murphy’s voice is genuine, raw, and true. Perhaps the guys lean a bit more to the rock side of the Americana scale than the country side, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. - Red Line Roots

Plainly describing “Americana,” we get a sense of history; beginnings; or even a bad Offspring album; rarely would we consider it to be something that would make much of a modern surge.

To think of beginnings, it feels almost appropriate that modern Americana is emerging from Boston. That is, after all, where most of our beginnings came from.

The Autumn Hollow Band is a quartet from Massachusetts that has leaned on their musical forefathers to create Love Letters & Ransom Notes. The resulting eleven track album is enough to make you stop and reconsider your description of “Americana.” The album has all the necessary ingredients to be tossed into the folk or even country categories. You’ll get all the banjo, steel guitar, and slide you could possibly want. But it is far from that simple.

Songwriter and lead vocalist Brendan Murphy utilizes a thought provoking often off-key, matter-of-fact swagger in his delivery. Singing lines such as “I’ve been thinking/ thinking/ is no good for me” and “Too many people living Anarchy/ Thousands of choices only one they see/ like with the dust bowl and the Cherokee/ I walk with you” with a simplistic, yet intellectual approach he creates a depth to the album that lends itself to what makes Love Letters & Ransom Notes truly unique. He creatively blends his insightful writing to songs like “First It Rains” which will have you humming long after the song is over and “I’ll Be Your Fool” that will have you thinking after it’s entrenched in your emotions. Accompanying the vocals lead guitarist Mike Burke hooks you with catchy licks and swaying solos. It has been a long time since such a solid accompaniment on slide has propelled a song along. Bassist Scott Marucci cleverly mixes the electric and more traditional upright throughout to add substance to the tightly orchestrated music. Driving it all home, Todd Sampson carries the heavy weight of the most contemplative to the light hearted songs with his intuitive drumming.

There is a level that Love Letters & Ransom Notes reaches where, if you’re really listening, you’re moved and treated to a sound of great originality. Sure, there are instant hooks you’ll find on this album from the first run; from the title track in all of its melodic swagger to the quirky “Washing Machine,” but the true craft lies within each song. It is eleven songs of Americana that redefines the subject. - Nanobot Rock