Bob Mittnacht and The Crowning Glories
Milwaukee, WI | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | INDIE
Music
Press
by Blaine Schultz
Album: Bob Mittnacht and the Crowning Glories
Record Label: Lavish Means Records
Tuning into WMSE on Tuesday nights for the Midnight Radio program might give you some advance warning of the influences that figure into Bob Mittnacht’s talents as a songwriter. Coming off somewhere between Garland Jeffries and T-Bone Burnett, Mittnacht and his band combine guileless lyrics with an organic rock sound the features great pedal steel swells by Ken Champion and Hammond organ parts from Larry Byrne. As a guitarist Mittnacht’s clean and economic Telecaster lines add punctuation with punchy riffs.
Prismatic childhood memories of older gearheads as well as thoughts of raising one’s own family root these songs in something other than the latest hipster fad. There’s nothing trendy here, just sturdy tunes built for the long haul. Not that Mittnacht doesn’t have an axe to grind. “All Screwed Up,” the ominous “There’s A Better Way” and “Ivory Tower” illuminates his social conscience and frustrations with the powers that be. Here’s to the emergence of the Port Washington Sound. VS
See Bob Mittnacht and the Crowning Glories opening 3/11 at Shank Hall with Chris Difford of Squeeze
- Vital Source Magazine
by Blaine Schultz
Album: Bob Mittnacht and the Crowning Glories
Record Label: Lavish Means Records
Tuning into WMSE on Tuesday nights for the Midnight Radio program might give you some advance warning of the influences that figure into Bob Mittnacht’s talents as a songwriter. Coming off somewhere between Garland Jeffries and T-Bone Burnett, Mittnacht and his band combine guileless lyrics with an organic rock sound the features great pedal steel swells by Ken Champion and Hammond organ parts from Larry Byrne. As a guitarist Mittnacht’s clean and economic Telecaster lines add punctuation with punchy riffs.
Prismatic childhood memories of older gearheads as well as thoughts of raising one’s own family root these songs in something other than the latest hipster fad. There’s nothing trendy here, just sturdy tunes built for the long haul. Not that Mittnacht doesn’t have an axe to grind. “All Screwed Up,” the ominous “There’s A Better Way” and “Ivory Tower” illuminates his social conscience and frustrations with the powers that be. Here’s to the emergence of the Port Washington Sound. VS
See Bob Mittnacht and the Crowning Glories opening 3/11 at Shank Hall with Chris Difford of Squeeze
- Vital Source Magazine
Discography
Bob Mittnacht and The Crowning Glories - Self titled debut 11 song CD was released December 5, 2006. Various tracks have received airplay on radio stations including WMSE and WMIL in Milwaukee.
Photos
Bio
With too many years of musical experience to count, Bob Mittnacht is embarking on a solo career in an effort to put a long overdue focus on his original music and impressions of life which he has gathered over the years. The results can be found in the mix of rock, alt-country and blues influences that you will hear in Bob Mittnacht and The Crowning Glories.
Born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Bob’s musical interests were cultivated at a very young age listening to his parents who both had a musical performing background. There was always music heard around the house as he was growing up either from his piano playing kindergarten teacher mom or his funeral director dad who had been a big band drummer with a touring army band during World War II.
Bob’s interest in rock music can be best traced back to that Sunday night in February of 1964 when The Beatles invaded America through television sets across the country on the Ed Sullivan show. Shortly thereafter he started amassing a collection of vinyl 45rpm singles which in turn lead to his interest in playing music. His first band, Myst was formed with some high school friends during the late 60’s and early 70’s. This group with some line-up changes evolved into a follow-up group Mad Hatter, both of which dabbled in original music along with the blues-rock and pop covers of the day.
Throughout his musical journey Bob Mittnacht has continued to write and intersperse his original music into the live performances and recording efforts of a variety of bands he has performed with over the years. Some of them included Centerline, Fly By Night, Network, Lavish Means, Beam and The Schwags to name a few. These bands covered a wide spectrum of musical styles and as a result, provided influences which can be heard throughout Bob’s songwriting today. As it goes in the band business however, none of these groups ever stayed together long enough to release any of the original material that was written and recorded. This frustration, lead to Bob’s eventual decision to pursue a solo career.
Bob Mittnacht and his new band The Crowning Glories first got together in early 2006. The band brings together some of the best players Bob has worked with over his many years making music including John Barrett on drums and backing vocals, Michael Sancho on bass and backing vocals and Larry Byrne on organ and piano. Bob handles all of the guitar work and lead vocals.
With a catalog of original material written in recent years, Bob Mittnacht and The Crowning Glories spent the summer of 2006 recording their self-titled debut album at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin with Brandon Mason (Norah Jones, Bono, David Bowie, Martha Wainwright, Tim McGraw, Joan Baez and The Secret Machines) handling the engineering and mixing duties. Additional recording was done by Beau Sorenson at Smart Studios and the project was mastered by Trevor Sadler at Mastermind Productions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The CD was released December 5, 2006 on Lavish Means Records and the band performs and tours on a regular basis.
Band Members
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