Evangenitals

They should catch on very quickly and will, I guarantee, get any festival up and dancing, with clapping hands, and a lot of smiling moon-eyes growing misty over the ballads. (FAME Review, Mark S. Tucker) - Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

"If you get a chance to see these gals you'd be a fool not to. They put on one of the best parties you can go to. Great crowd, good music and a sure-fire fun time. I'm a believer..." - Front Porch Musings

"This is fun, freedom, and freak folk all delivered with a huge capital ‘F’" - BlogCritics Music

Their sound is a chimera of American music, a blend of country, bluegrass, jazz and rock, with soulfondling lyrics, which might leave your skin wet from dancing and your eyes dripping tears of joy all in the same evening. - Monterey County Weekly

"had me thinking a female Old 97's" - Beat Surrender

What the hell kind of church service is this? - LA Weekly

The female harmonies between Juli Crockett and Lisa Dee are like the Andrews Sisters re-imagined as tragic mermaids… I haven’t heard harmonies ring this good since the Chapin Sisters were on the scene. - LA Record

Albums whose material is tightly wound about a central theme can be a tricky business to get right, and for which it is even trickier still to find a sizable listening audience. Having recently listened to—no, experienced—the new album by Los Angeles-based band The Evangenitals, I must say, in terms of this strictly themed collection of songs, they did indeed get it right…and I very much doubt they will have any difficulty whatsoever sharing it with a broad audience. More than the lyrical content and overall subject matter, this is more to do with the sound, or sounds, which are comprised of manic, diverse, unusual and creative songwriting and delivery at its best. In this way, the songs on the new Evangenitals album go through eclectic shifts—soaring strings and haunting vocal masterpieces, avant-folk and alt-country, gypsy punk and organic jazz, rootsy pickers, electro new wave weirdness and seafaring blues, and more.

A literary theme full of nautical references, adventure, triumph and failure, life and death, and so on, comes from the pages written by Herman Melville…hence the title of The Evangenitals’ album, Moby Dick. This album doesn’t simply tip its hat to the old tale; it also proves itself seven times over an impressive marriage of fiercely original and free songwriting and absorbing story conveyances. And while it is hard to not be equally fond of every song on the Moby Dick album, the standout songs are decidedly “Ahab’s Leg,” “The Sermon,” the title track, and “Quee Queg.”

The Evangenitals project was founded by playwright/director Juli Crockett and opera, jazz and gospel singer Lisa Dee, both of whose vocational influences are very evident in the band’s songs. What’s more, the members of The Evangenitals clearly have a strong chemistry and mutual need to bridge genre gaps and crumble musical boundaries. And, as such, they have put together a truly extraordinary effort that will undoubtedly prove timeless and widely appreciated. - Examiner.com

"they can take the band out of the bar and into the mainstream music scene" - Music Connection Magazine (October 2010)

"The Evangenitals are a folk rock band best taken with a whiskey neat. The mishmash of styles and eccentric personalities makes for an entertaining night filled with spontaneous sing-alongs, hearty laughs and masterclasses in guitar, upright bass, and drums." - Music Connection Magazine (October 2010)

We’re talking about alt-country at its finest, but that’s only the start. Influences of Southern rock, cow punk and even a little klezmer pop make a tasty brew. - Pasadena Weekly

In a very small series in a club here in LA I went to see two shows within a couple of weeks. One was an able band that was playing loud, not even too loud, just nicely up there. Their songs were compelling, the playing was good. Lots of conversations going on throughout the show.

Two weeks later the "Evangenitals" played the same venue. Almost at "classical chamber music" volumes. Barely audible as far as clubs are concerned. Similar type of music, similarly centered around the quality of the writing and the emotional depth of the performance. Result: Nobody whispered a word, 100% attention from the entire audience throughout the whole set. Remarkable. - BigBlueLounge

For pure craziness, there are lots of other bands, including one that I can't write to but I've become a big fan; they're called the Evangenitals. They're from Los Angeles. One of the front singers is a former boxer-slash-philosopher. She's a fantastic singer. Her name is Juli Crockett. - Powells

"I hope these underground bohemian diamonds stay true to themselves; they should never be tampered with." - Music News Nashville

"When Juli Crockett and Lisa Dee come together vocally they deliver a solid harmony that captures the mood of the song and lyric perfectly." - Today's Country Magazine

"Will the band name hold them back? Who knows and...who cares? The only thing that matters is the music. And in this case, these seven tracks kick ass." - babysue/LMNOP

Billing themselves as “the love child of Frank Zappa and Stevie Nicks,” the Evangenitals fly the freak folk, alt-country, hippie love and punk rock banners, cite influences from the Violent Femmes to Dolly Parton and Devo, and are thoroughly allergic to pigeonholes, which isn’t that surprising when you consider the band’s original members started making music more or less on a dare while working at a Silver Lake sex toy company.

At the time, songwriter/lead vocalist Juli Crockett, vocalist Lisa Dee and guitarist Brett Lyda were living in an apartment complex near Mr. T’s Bowl in Highland Park, which has since become a home away from home. Per Crockett, a onetime amateur LA district champion boxer and playwright/director with prodigious amounts of energy, their band name was a product of a work-related brainstorming session. It’s gimmicky, but it set the tone for the irreverence that’s become an Evangenitals hallmark. This is, after all, the boho crew that transformed OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” into a whispery country-noir ballad, skewered Ron L. Hubbard’s legacy in “Ode to Scientology” (“I want to be clear/ I want to be here/ Whatever it costs to stop this aching”) and whose promo poster (for last year’s “Everlovin’”) featured band members arrayed in a tableau evocative of the Last Supper.

It’s also the band that learned by doing — first at open mic nights, then at myriad clubs across LA. And Crockett & Co. swiftly learned how to use laughs to provoke tears. “The Work Song” transforms the recitation of a bland daily schedule into a mantra as poignant as it is funny. Wisecracks take a back seat on “Time to Go” (“If this is love then I’m sorry we’re in it”). “I Just Forgot” blames the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice on male ADD with a sweet country lilt over a tick-tock rhythm that gradually evolves into an audience sing-along.

Things have changed since their beginnings five years ago; Lyda, for instance, has departed, and ubiquitous Eastside guitarist Henry Bermudez has signed on. But the collective resistance to pigeonholing remains. Crockett’s likely to snarl like a punk rocker one moment and then yodel the next, while pulling off an odd dance that’s part Appalachian stomp and part shadowboxing bravado. Her harmonies with Dee occasionally suggest a more tuneful Freakwater, but they so exuberantly flout genre conventions that what starts out as a pretty ballad can end up a raucous, multi-instrumental jam. It’s hard to know what to expect from their live shows — and, while their recordings are fine, the Evangenitals are best experienced live. - Pasadena Weekly

"Like the Dixie Chicks being beaten with their own guitars at the playful hands of the Violent Femmes." - Aaron James, Musician

"The Evangenitals... sound sort of like a cross between Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks and L’il Kim. I bought their album." - Steve Almond, Co-Author of Which Brings Me To You

"Transports you back to a time when the music came from front porches and folk gatherings that allowed for the songwriting to take center stage." - Today's Country Magazine

Soaring strings and haunting vocal masterpieces… This album doesn’t simply tip its hat to the old tale; it also proves itself seven times over an impressive marriage of fiercely original and free songwriting and absorbing story conveyances. - No Depression

Whether as trio or nine-piece ensemble, the distinctive harmonies of founding members Juli Crockett Feldman and Lisa Dee are the bedrock of the band’s sound and success. - Dear Vagina

Since this is the Doo Dah, nothing should surprise us, like the 2015 Doo Dah Grand Marshall being not only Juli Crockett (pictured right), but her Evangenitals.

The Pasadena Doo Dah Parade has selected renaissance woman, Juli Crockett, to lead this year’s 38th Occasional Parade. Consider the fact she’s a singer, songwriter, playwright, theater director, undefeated professional boxer and amateur champion, and leader of an alt-country/Americana genre-defying band and you’ll get the picture. Don’t forget to add Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Communications to her resume. Doo Dah organizers say “Juli is a fierce and brilliant artist who embodies the spirit of our event!” (PasadenaDooDahParade.org) - Hometown Pasadena