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In the Press |
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The Domino Kings
Some Kind of Sign
Hightone Records
Despite personnel changes, The Domino Kings continue to offer some of
the finest traditional country music you’ll hear. Stevie Newman, Les
Gallier, and Richie Rebuth all play guitars here, while David Sowers
handles bass. Like the CD, the guitar parts are short and to the point
– a lesson players (and writers) in many genres would do well to heed
these days.
“Some Kind of Sign” kicks things off just like you’d want them to be
kicked off – punchy, tremeloed chords and breakneck solos push it
along. Check out the chromatic lick toward the end. Whew! There’s
plenty of honky-tonk twangers here that sound great, too. “Walk Away if
You Want To” and “It’s All Over But the Crying” are two-step heaven.
The big, fat solo sound on the latter is an unexpected treat. “Pain In
My Past” is a fun samba, the kind the Mavericks sort of made their own.
Here the guitar work features double- and triple-stops guaranteed to
bring a smile to your face. “A Million Miles From Here” is an acoustic
country tune with twangy double-stops and fine stringbending.
Lyrically, things generally deal with relationships, except for the
finale, “Bridges I’ve Burned.” It’s the extremely heavy tale of a
killer, bound for the electric chair, recounting the sorrow he has
caused. The big guitar solo fits the somber mood.
Fans of country music will love this. Guitaraholics, too. Great care is
taken to make sure all the string work fits the tunes, and sounds
great.
reviewed by John Heidt
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On The Road: Sky's The Limit For Network Live Venture
BY RAY WADDELL
SPRINGFIELD SOUNDS: Musicians from Springfield, Mo., which indeed has a great music scene, are on the road together with the Big Noise From Springfield tour. Organized by HighTone Records and in support of four Lou Whitney-produced records, the tour features the Morells, the Bel Airs, Whitney's Domino Kings and Brian Capps. The tour begins Aug. 12 with a live broadcast on XM Satellite Radio from the Iota in Arlington, Va., and will play big ol' sweaty clubs heading into the fall. Brad Madison at Mongrel Music is booking the tour.
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It wouldn't be much of a risk to wager that most North Carolina music fans don't have an abiding interest in Springfield, Mo. That might change a bit with the arrival in Raleigh of the Big Noise from Springfield Tour, playing the Pour House in the City Market district Sunday.
The Big Noise from Springfield Tour will feature four excellent bands from this Missouri Ozark town -- The Bel Airs, The Morells, Brian Capps, and The Domino Kings. Aside from their hometown, these bands share a roots rock sound that will convince anyone who makes it into the Pour House that the Bottle Rockets aren't the only great roots band Missouri has to offer.
The Domino Kings' latest album, "Some Kind of Sign" (Hightone), is a solid CD, loaded with twang-rich original tunes that will warm the heart of those who favor real country music and rockabilly. Vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Stevie Newman contributed nine of the 11 tunes on the record, and his musical vibe is very much a product of his southwest Missouri upbringing.
"I'm from about an hour north of Springfield," Newman said in a telephone interview. "I'm from way out in the woods -- Hermitage, Missouri. That's where I went to school. When I was growing up our population was about 384 people. It's up there now, however. It's a real metropolitan area. They must have about 400 folks."
Music in the blood
When Newman left his family home, he migrated south to Springfield, the closest city of any significant size. He arrived endowed with a family history as musical as it was contentious.
"I started playing guitar when I was 14," he said. "I grew up in a completely musical family. It's a family that's kind of hard to explain; they're either playing music together or shooting at each other. Their main form of communication has been music. I don't remember a time growing up when we got together and somebody didn't start playing music. There were always instruments lying around the house, and my mom worked on Opry shows.
"My aunt Susie she started on Opry shows, too," he added. "She became an Acuff-Rose [music company] staff writer. When I was young I didn't realize she was in such a lofty position, and maybe she didn't either, because she wigged out and quit. She has that kind of temperament."
Newman has obviously inherited his share of Aunt Susie's songwriting prowess, given the outstanding original material he penned for "Some Kind of Sign" - tunes that truly make the record a distinctive piece of work.
Channeling his influences
A little deeper look at Newman's family history reveals that there's an Appalachian strain that augments his more recent Ozark heritage.
"My mom was first-generation Missourian. Her people were originally from Kentucky," he said, "so her music was really mountain music, but not bluegrass. In other words, Ralph Stanley, not Bill Monroe. Their religion brought out the Southern gospel, and for fun they played country music. Everybody was always hip to Hank Williams and Webb Pierce, and [Merle] Haggard and George Jones, of course."
All the aforementioned artists are classic reference points for any self-respecting roots musician. It's one thing to love their music, and quite another to translate this love into one's own songs and do it as creatively as Newman does.
"I've always thought these influences show in The Domino Kings' music, but you never want to simply go out there and quote your influences," he said. "It never hurts, though, to play through those influences."
It's apparent that The Domino Kings are channeling the vibe of players like Webb Pierce, but, like our local crew Two Dollar Pistols, the best part of what they do is penning songs that pay homage to traditional country music while adding their own voice to the repertoire.
"I'm really lucky to have grown up in this part of Missouri," Newman said. "This area has been such a huge crossroads for the society and culture of music in the last 100 years. In the last 60 years the musical culture has been so rich and varied. We've got everything from orchestras to barber shop quartets to the hardcore country guys, rock & rollers, gospel and the rockabilly guys -- since Memphis isn't that far away.
"This part of the country has always been hard livin', but the music is fantastic."
Philip Van Vleck, Columnist
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Houston Press
They may not be from Texas, but Springfield, Missouri's Domino Kings are still one of the best country bands on planet Earth right now. Not that schmaltzy Nashvegas country; not that Southern-rock-dressed-up-in-a-creased-plastic-cowboy-hat country; no, theirs is the genuine purist's article full of big, bent Telecaster licks, aching Ozark harmonies and, occasionally, enough wildman-on-a-Friday-night trailer-park testosterone to fill their own private sperm bank. Their fourth album, Some Kind of Sign, has drawn praise from everyone from Vintage Guitar to NPR for its classic form and the timeless quality of the songwriting. Recent personnel changes find original members Stevie "Guitar" Newman and rockabilly drummer Les Gallier teamed with electric guitar whiz Richie Rebuth and bassist David Sowers. Sowers's showmanship is such that he actually occupies center stage in this decidedly non-pretty-boy band. When they aren't twanging out the hard-core honky-tonk, these Kings have no problem covering vintage material that ranges from rockabilly to Chuck Berry to Link Wray.
William Michael Smith |
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EAST BAY EXPRESS
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2005-11-23/music/music2.html
The Best Records of 2005
Published: Wednesday, November 23, 2005
by Mark Keresman
The Domino Kings
Some Kind of Sign
At first you think, "Yawn, another roots-rock combo." Then you play this a few times and you notice these Domino Kings' songs have many of the timeless qualities of Buddy Holly, Buck Owens, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Swan Song-era Dave Edmunds: simplicity, directness, melodies that are plaintive and strangely exultant at the same time, lyrics about the heart sung with heart. Before you know it, you've played this ten times in a row.
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