Paleface says their songs are always evolving, alive and growing, in part because of the vital energy they exchange with fans that come to see them play at the 200+ shows they perform a year. Paleface was schooled by friend Daniel Johnston and soon discovered by the legendary Danny Fields at an NYC Antifolk open mic. He has since released over a dozen records including two major label releases. Paleface has influenced and inspired a wide range of artists including Grammy Award recipients Kimya Dawson, who described Paleface as “one of my favorite people on the planet” and Beck who called Paleface “a big influence on my early work” in Annie Leibovitz's book "American Music.” Paleface has also written and appeared on three albums by The Avett Brothers.
Paleface returns to Southpaw on Thursday, June 30th.
Shenandoah and The Night bring their gorgeous to the show, as well as Ithaca's extremely talented newcomers
Kin Ship. Opening the show will be Brooklyn's beloved
Matt Frye.
PALEFACE -High-nergy Indie-folk duo, featuring Paleface himself and drummer Monica "Mo" Samalot on tour in support of their Ramseur Records follow-up One Big Party. The duo celebrated the album's release in the Fall guest-performing with The Avett Brothers at Radio City Music Hall followed by US and Europe Tours- http://PalefaceOnline.com
-- "“You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more appropriately-titled record this year....Joyous, carefree and catchy as hell" My Old Kentucky Blog
-- "One damn good time" Blurt
-- “Paleface...A neo-folk icon” The Flagpole, Athens GA
-- "Paleface is one of the Antifolk scene’s best-loved products" Time Out NY
-- "Calling Paleface’s music “folk” feels a bit like calling a bar brawl “a disagreement.” Technically it might be correct, but the word feels inadequate." PASTE
With an unaffected take on vital American music and a voice that channels the spirit of Little Richard and James Brown - JD McPherson offers his debut effort, Signs & Signifiers, released April 26th on the Chicago based label Hi-Style Records. JD brings his well deserved and highly touted sound to Brooklyn's Southpaw on August 5 where he will open for Nashville's DeRobert and The Half Truths (
BUY TICKETS HERE).
CHECK OUT INCREDIBLE VIDEO FOR "NORTHSIDE GAL" HERE!
Initial comparisons to Little Richard are not completely out of line, and when presented with the semblance, McPherson is quick to give kudos to Mr. Penniman and Mr. Brown, “Little Richard has one of the greatest recorded voices in Rock N' Roll, and James Brown's work in the sixties was beyond reproach.” JD also cites a number of other influences on his reason for being, including David Byrne, and Joe Strummer as well as having a large affinity for female crooners of the past, such as “Love Letters” vocalist Ketty Lester.
McPherson traveled from his home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to record Signs & Signifiers in Hi-Style’s Chicago based studio. Hi-Style is home to a vanishing and now unique recording technique: 100% analog. The album’s twelve songs were recorded through a collection of vintage microphones into an old 1960’s Berlant ¼ inch tape machine, all under the watchful eye of bassist, producer and Hi-Style owner Jimmy Sutton. McPherson says, “I have recorded this style of music in the digital realm, and it just doesn't quite "sing" as much. Slamming that 1/4" tape really hard produced the most beautiful distortion I've ever heard.”
Signs & Signifiers kicks off with the fervent pulse of the first single, “North Side Gal”, before segueing into one of the albums two covers, McPherson’s take on “Country Boy”, an old R&B number originally written and recorded by Tiny Kennedy. “I liked the rhythm of the track, how it was very sparse and minimal. We wanted the musical track for this cover to mimic a loop, especially some of the abstract, out-of-tune loops that The Rza and Raekwon did in the mid-90s. I love the textures in that era of Hip Hop. We kept it basically bass and drums, with little sprinkles of piano and big, booming pulses of weird, reverb blues guitar.”
Two eras of JD’s record collection crash into each other on “Fire Bug”, a song that JD says he “wanted to sound as if Stiff Little Fingers had recorded at Del-Fi Records.” But it may be the album’s title track where JD comes into his own. “Recording "Signs” was when I knew that we had a lot more options available to us in terms of songwriting and arrangement. There are elements of Chess Records there, but with a nod to the Smiths' "How Soon is Now" droning guitar throughout. At nearly 5 minutes, it's the longest song I've ever recorded! It builds and builds, but avoids complexity. It's meditative.”
Signs & Signifiers’ authentic take on rock n’ roll and rhythm & blues gives a solid nod to the Atomic Age, but McPherson prefers not to be painted into a corner with a label, whether it be “retro”, “roots” or “rockabilly”. McPherson asks, “What is retro? Is Adele too retro? Is La Roux too retro? To me, Adele sounds like a product of her influences... as is the case with anybody else“, McPherson adds, “With the recurring interest in "soul" or even "R&B", there seems to be a line most artists won't cross - that line into the world of the swinging, visceral abandon of real Rock and Roll. The Pixies - in my opinion, the greatest band of the 90s - were hugely influenced by surf music, and through presenting it in a new way, breathed life into it and created some extremely exciting music. I hope to do the same with traditional, American Rock N' Roll.”
