Gentlemen and Scholars

After the measured production of Ambrosa, let's get down on our hands and knees, way deep into the mud and swamp and find something thick and dirty. Gentlemen and Scholars roar out of the speakers like a Gulf storm blowing across the green algae of the Bayou. Jeremiah Galey may bust out singing "I wasn't born on the bayou/I'm not a son of the south" but damn, he'd fool me. This song is all hot n sweaty, swamp-bred boogie, blues and funk. With Galey having one of the more captivating voices I'd heard in ages. Thick and whiskey and gumbo fed, it's rife with emotion and dirt. Love it. The rest of band are killer also with loose guitars, a nasty slide action, some tasty organ, and horns. This song is a killer summertime stomp. Reminds me of a more fleshed out Black Bone Child. Should be playing over cold beers and boiling crawdads. Actually, should just be played period! Over and over again."

-Racer - The Ripple Effect

How often do you come across a band that can write an entire album’s worth of songs and each one of them have their own unique sound? I’m going to go ahead and guess almost never. After searching through pages of bands on ReverbNation trying to find a band that stood out from all the others, I finally found one in Gentlemen and Scholars. This a rock band that can incorporate many different styles and genres into their music and make it sound awesome. Even if you’re not into rock music, you should check this group out.

First of all, these four guys are insanely talented and creative. It almost makes me want to take a trip to their hometown of Evansville, Ind. to see if all the musicians there are this good. Most of their tunes sound like ten musicians are playing on them instead of just the four that make up the band. Vocalist/guitarist Jeremiah Galey has a voice that stands out from most other singers and writes some pretty deep lyrics:

I’m sippin bourbon from a silver spout

Wasn’t born into religion, oh no

Come on, step in line

Ain’t got no fear of God,

I just ain’t got time[...]

-lyrics from the ”County Hound Ramble” single

He may not be able to hit every note, but you can hear his emotions pouring out of every word that comes out of his mouth. The guitars are what keep me listening to track after track, and along with Galey, Patrick Brady has some pretty crazy riffs. Not only do the riffs stand out, but the tone of the guitars add a raw, bluesy sound to the music.

Brady also lays down some insanely catchy melodies on the keyboard in a few tunes as well. Pick any of this band’s songs and you will be able to tell that bassist Shane Strickland has some rhythm to spare. Throw the incredible drumming of Kyle Burchett on top of that and you have the driving force behind this outfit.

After playing music together pretty much their whole lives, Brady, Galey, and Burchett joined forces with Strickland nine years ago to form Gentlemen and Scholars. After releasing their first album, The Record, The Keepsake, and The Thief, in 2008, the band signed with Torque Records to release their second album, The Fault. It didn’t take them long to figure out they should just do things on their own though. After the brief stint with the record label, they released two more albums, Bad Apples and Thick As Mud on their own, as well as doing a ton of touring in support of each album.

As I mentioned earlier, this group is a rock band that’s not afraid to explore other styles and genres. A few examples of this can be heard in songs like the swamp rock influenced “Country Hound Ramble,” the screaming, punk rock style of “We’re Outta Here ‘89,” to the groove-oriented tune “Heater.”

There’s not much of anything you won’t hear while jamming to these songs. “Poor Man. Fool” has a country vibe to it with a mellow acoustic guitar sound and harmonica featured throughout, making it one of my personal favorites from the band. Whichever song you listen to on their playlist, you’re sure to hear something that makes it it’s own, unique, and creative piece of music.

Gentlemen And Scholars is a band that doesn’t let any genre classification hold them back. Playing whatever style they want to, this approach opens up the creativeness of the musicians and has helped them write some unbelievable music. They are currently working on their fifth album, as well as building their own studio, so make sure to check them out on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and Instagram, and get out to a show when they hit the road. The bands that can jam like these guys are always the best live, so keep an eye on their tour schedule. - Shutter16

Reigning from Evansville, IN Gentlemen and Scholars come out swinging with their album entitled Thick As Mud. With the first song, “Heater” starting to play, you learn that these guys mean business and want to jam out whether you listen or not. The best thing I can say is that it’s classic rock at its truest form.

Jeremiah Galey provides gritty, yet smooth vocals that belt out every lyric with a great rock n roll fashion. With the other members of the band providing the strong foundation for the songs, the lyrics seem to mesh well with what’s being done. More often than not, you expect this style of rock to not have much sustaining power in today’s music scene. But hey, we’re rockers, right? So let’s rock and leave the other music at home. This band belongs in anyone’s music collection/playlist and should stay there.

I found the mixing of this album to have that raw, live feel, as if the band were playing it all in one take and just feeding off one another. And being a musician, that’s just the kind of thing I dig, so points to Gentlemen and Scholars on capturing that feeling.

“Lay Down and Die” definitely pushes out a great blues-rock sound that anyone at a live show would no doubt take notice of, and root them on.

“We’re really just a group of friends who happen to play music together, “explains Patrick Brady, who plays guitar and keyboards in Gentlemen and Scholars. “We’re all just normal, everyday people with families and jobs, but this has always been our first priority,” says Brady.

That statement, quoted from their profile, nicely sums up how these guys approach their music and maybe, life in general. Gentlemen and Scholars, Thick As Mud. Get it, play it, turn it up, and appreciate it for what it is. Great tunes by a group of friends who just want to jam and rock our eardrums into submission with high energy and a taste of that chill, take it easy, vibe.

Personal Favorite Tracks: Diego, Lay Down and Die, Groove Belly, Keep on Girl.

Review by: James West
Indie Rock Magazine - Indie Rock Magazine

When I heard the name “Gentlemen and Scholars” I was sort of expecting to hear pretentious avant-garde music someone made on their Mac Pro. ” I was pleasantly surprised that upon listening to Thick As Mud the band has more in common with My Morning Jacket and Lynyrd Skynyrd than a hipster who composes all of his music on a computer. Gentlemen and Scholars is from Evansville, IN and is made up of five gentlemen Jeremiah Galey (vocals), Patrick Brady (guitar, keys), Adam Noblett (lead guitarist) Shane Strickland (bassist) and Kyle Burchett (drums).

Thick As Mud is a guitar rock album that sounds like a bunch of guys rocking out in a room together. Galey is usually straining his voice to just the right point against distorted guitar riffs. While we are talking about guitars I loved the tone they were able to achieve. The lead guitar has just the right amount of distortion to sound like a classic 70’s tone. Strickland and Burchett are also a key ingredient to the band as they are not a rhythm section that is simply there to create a backbone. They play in the pocket together and also know how to flex their muscles.

The first thing you hear on the album is the sound of a motorcycle that begins your ride into good old-fashioned rock and roll. The first song “Heater” has a rather sparse verse almost completely made up of bass, drums and vocals. It prepares you for the heavy chorus that is quite anthemic as Galey sings “I don't give a damn what your mother heard.” “Lay Down And Die” is a slower song that tips it hat to the blues while “Diego” is a fueled song that is bursting at the seams with energy. “My Dime” has some of the best lead guitar work on the album as well as another howling performance from Galey. I loved the closer “Dirt Dawgz,” which would be a great song to hear at your local dive bar if you want to go dancing with your favorite number. This hoedown ditty was definitely a good way the end the album.

Thick As Mud is an unpretentious album that delivers straight up southern inspired rock. I think I'm going to pour myself a shot of Jack Daniels and give it another spin. - The Equal Ground

The mixture of emo-sleek vocals, classic piano and shots of nu metal seem like completely polarizing components, but when rock music’s Gentlemen and Scholars bring these together, it forms a cohesive entity that is unmatched by others of the nu metal ilk. The band’s latest release The Record, the Keepsake, and the Thief is a strong statement in favor of the reaction that nu metal/post hardcore, relatable to The Receiving End of Sirens, has to classic piano’s exuberance. It gives hardcore a sophistication and symphonic pitch that keeps it alive and meaningful for upcoming generations of rock.

The elegant piano lines of backup vocalist Mike Brady in songs like “After Me Comes the Flood,” “Introduction,” “Termius Semita (An Outroduction),” and the title track act as shock absorbers for the velvety threads of Wes Beach’s voice, which furls and elongates like the suave wrist action of an illusionist. The flustering guitar riffs produced by Adam Noblett and Patrick Brady create series of vortexes entrusted to subterfuge suctions made by bassist Jeremiah Galey and drummer Kyle Burchett in songs like “Chemistry,” “Nature Boy,” and “Anchoring the Ages.” The flusters rise to symphonic reams which push Beach’s vocals to fight the tide and entice the listener to push with him. The lyrics draw this struggle out particularly in “Anchoring the Ages” when Beach besieges, “Oh Captain, I’ve see it / This ship will be our tomb / I’ll tell the men to swim towards shore / This ship will be your tomb / Swimming in disaster / Counting rifts and countless gifts / But I can’t, I can’t.” In a profound way, the lyrics mirror the hard economic times of today, and the struggle that people are facing currently.

Gentlemen and Scholars also offer two tracks, “Depression in Rotation” and “Me, God and Freddie Mercury,” with acoustic rock traction and breaks hankered down by nu metal clamps. But the band’s strength lies in their skill for making quaking nu metal riffs with swells of classic piano and ventilations of emo-singed vibrations which peal through tracks like “Deviant Pilot and the Crash Course,” “Nevada is the New California,” and “Witnessing the Departure (All Roads Lead to the Casino).” These melodic entities have reflections of The Last Goodnight, and a vocal breadth with the range of Cary Brothers.

Gentlemen and Scholars album The Record, the Keepsake, and the Thief course through a wide stretch of terrain that all manage to segue into each other as if it was tilled by the same maker. The album has swigs of stately piano reels fitted into hard rock molds in a way that few bands attempt. It is what makes Gentlemen and Scholars album unconventional, and yet, it gives the band an identity that has the potential to captivate audiences and keep them enthralled.
Final Verdict: 84/100 - Susan Frances (Absolutepunk.net)