09.19.11 - Toledo, OH @ the Ottawa Tavern
09.20.11 - Columbus, OH @ Woodlands Tavern 09.22.11 - Chicago, IL @ Elbo Room 09.23.11 - Beloit, WI @ The Coughy Haus 09.24.11 - Madison, WI @ house show 09.25.11 - Minneapolis, MN @ Bryant Lake Bowl 09.27.11 - Rapid City, SD @ Prairie Berry Winer 09.29.11 - Leavenworth, WA @ Der Winterhof 09.30.11 - Tacoma, WA @ house show 10.02.11 - Seattle, WA @ Rendezvous 10.03.11 - Portland, OR @ Alberta St Public House 10.05.11 - Nevada City, CA @ Tin House Studio 10.06.11 - San Louis Obispo, CA @ Linnea's Cafe 10.07.11 - Fresno, CA @ Bel-Tower 10.08.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Origami Vinyl 10.09.11 - San Diego, CA @ Tin Can 10.10.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hotel Cafe 10.11.11 - Las Vegas, NV @ TBA 10.13.11 - El Paso, TX @ Percolator 10.14.11 - Santa Fe, NM @ Cowgirl BBQ 10.15.11 - Albuquerque, NM @ Kosmos 10.17.11 - Austin, TX - TBA 10.18.11 - Baton Rouge, LA - TBA 10.20.11 - Nashville, TN @ FooBarr 10.21.11 - Louisville, KY - TBA 10.22.11 - Richmond, VA @ Cafe Diem 10.23.11 - Williamsburg, VA @ The Meridian 10.24.11 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Garage 10.25.11 - Staunton, VA @ Baja Bean 10.27.11 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fire 10.28.11 - Swarthmore, PA - TBA 10.29.11 - Brooklyn, NY - House Show |
At first glance, the members of Brooklyn’s Go Round appear to be textbook hipsters. To wit: two pairs of glasses, one beard, two unconventional stringed instruments, and (probably) a mutual love of Townes Van Zandt (the early 70s era of course). They may live in the hippest borough in New York, but the music is decidedly arcadian. In fact, the band has produced a kind of idiosyncratic mythology for urban misfits—those strange folk that move to the city from the mountains for no apparent reason besides an urge to wander. It’s a very specific niche that lesser artists have attempted to fill, but the Go Round has an edge on the competition. Let’s call it a “birth right” advantage.
Brandon Whightsel’s upbringing reads like a folk tale. He was born in the Himalayas to an etymologist and Alpine nurse. His formative years were spent on an olive farm in northwestern Italy, where he taught himself to play the guitar. He met his future bandmate, Richard Duke, while hitchhiking in Nebraska. Also a self-taught musician, Duke had left home at 15 to busk through Eastern Europe. The two agreed this was obviously a fated meeting and decided to make music together. Now, five years since that chance encounter, the Go Round is a verified full band, with the addition of drums (Scott Townsend) and violin (Theodora Prunoske).
Gone, released in 2010, is 12 tracks of modest beauty. Duke and Whightsel’sharmonizing rarely deviates from a steady formula, but the effect is notable for its simplicity. On the opening track “Undiscovered,” Dukeand Whightsel establish themselves as lyricists foremost, with smart prose like “It’s so hard to get through life when you are undiscovered. Your baby is cold comfort, but she is undercover.” The album explores the fertile grounds of loss, addiction, loneliness, difficult love. The strongest tracks pare down these themes to their basic point of origin: the romantic. Gone is very much a romantic’s feat; Duke and Whightsel don’t glorify their dark subjects, but they hardly shy from pain. “Hard Hearted Girl” has the duo bemoaning some cold bitch, whose hold on her foolish man is both perplexing and usual. On “There There,” Duke’s vocals—breathy, as a drawn-out sigh—match the song’s woeful leitmotif. What keeps the album from being a total downer, however, is in the delivery. “Lonesome Blues,” in particular, draws from the traditions of “old-time” mountain music, and its foot stompin’ chorus is just enough to stave off the demons.
The Go Round is currently on tour in support of their upcoming EP, Eastern Parkway (September 20th). For a full list of tour dates, go here. More information on the band can be found at their official website and Facebook. To stream/digitally purchase Gone and selections from Eastern Parkways, visit their Bandcamp page. Finally, show your support by donating to their touring fund on Kickstarter (and get some fun thank-you gifts like chocolate chip cookies!).
Brandon Whightsel’s upbringing reads like a folk tale. He was born in the Himalayas to an etymologist and Alpine nurse. His formative years were spent on an olive farm in northwestern Italy, where he taught himself to play the guitar. He met his future bandmate, Richard Duke, while hitchhiking in Nebraska. Also a self-taught musician, Duke had left home at 15 to busk through Eastern Europe. The two agreed this was obviously a fated meeting and decided to make music together. Now, five years since that chance encounter, the Go Round is a verified full band, with the addition of drums (Scott Townsend) and violin (Theodora Prunoske).
Gone, released in 2010, is 12 tracks of modest beauty. Duke and Whightsel’sharmonizing rarely deviates from a steady formula, but the effect is notable for its simplicity. On the opening track “Undiscovered,” Dukeand Whightsel establish themselves as lyricists foremost, with smart prose like “It’s so hard to get through life when you are undiscovered. Your baby is cold comfort, but she is undercover.” The album explores the fertile grounds of loss, addiction, loneliness, difficult love. The strongest tracks pare down these themes to their basic point of origin: the romantic. Gone is very much a romantic’s feat; Duke and Whightsel don’t glorify their dark subjects, but they hardly shy from pain. “Hard Hearted Girl” has the duo bemoaning some cold bitch, whose hold on her foolish man is both perplexing and usual. On “There There,” Duke’s vocals—breathy, as a drawn-out sigh—match the song’s woeful leitmotif. What keeps the album from being a total downer, however, is in the delivery. “Lonesome Blues,” in particular, draws from the traditions of “old-time” mountain music, and its foot stompin’ chorus is just enough to stave off the demons.
The Go Round is currently on tour in support of their upcoming EP, Eastern Parkway (September 20th). For a full list of tour dates, go here. More information on the band can be found at their official website and Facebook. To stream/digitally purchase Gone and selections from Eastern Parkways, visit their Bandcamp page. Finally, show your support by donating to their touring fund on Kickstarter (and get some fun thank-you gifts like chocolate chip cookies!).
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