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| NYC's Prodigals to Launch 'Whiskey Asylum' New York's The Prodigals will be releasing Whiskey Asylum: Select Prodigals Tracks 1999-2009 in the upcoming year; there will be an advance release concert in Ohio at the LC Pavilion, a 2, 500-seat venue in Columbus, OH on New Year's Eve, December 31st, 2008. The latter concert will be co-produced by CD101, the premier independent radio station in the area. "Because of the band's extraordinary relationship with Ohio, this was an obvious gig to launch this, " says founding band member Gregory Grene. Grene says the catalyst for the album was twofold: the placement of two tracks (The Open Reel and The Bunch of Red Roses, both included on this compilation) on the 2008 Ed Norton/Colin Farrell Warner Bros' film Pride and Glory; and the decade that has passed since Go On, the album that first brought the band major critical and audience attention. The album will consist of eighteen tracks, which in the words of Grene, "comprise a kind of best-possible-set if we were playing tomorrow. It's both back catalog and new songs that the band never recorded before. There were two deciding criteria: first, they had to be representative of the current band - these are all songs you will hear if you go to a concert right now, and have stood the test of time. And second, among those current songs, what are the tracks folk most avidly respond to at our concerts? Which are the ones that come up again and again as requests?" The back catalog tracks on Whiskey Asylum span seven albums and ten years. All manifest a sound that is so iconic and specific that, paradoxically, it has transcended any one locale or demographic, resulting in headlining concerts from Los Angeles to Maine, from the Guinness Fleadh to Music Midtown to the House of Blues. There is Grene's "songwriting strength" [Irish Times], "thoughtful, intelligent lyrics" [Washington Post] combined with "beautifully constructed melodies" [Irish Voice]. There is a rhythm section that is "one of the most powerful and pulsating within the genre" [All Music Guide]; Grene's "lightning-quick accordion licks" [Mountain XPress]; and a musical attack that is "fiery, fierce and frenetic, and just the ticket" [Irish Times]. In all, "the core of The Prodigals' style comes across so distinctly that it might as well be trademarked" [Weekly Planet], is "indelibly Irish" [New York Times], and makes the band "NYC's jig-punk answer to the Pogues" [Village Voice] and resulted in the Prodigals topping an Irish Echo readers' poll above Van Morrison and Sinead O'Connor. The band currently features Grene on vocals and button accordion; Dave Fahy on vocals and guitar; Darren Maloney on tenor banjo; Ed Kollar on bass; and Chris Higginbottom on drums. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |