July 17, 2007

Richmond Fontaine -- FREE INSTORE

Richmond Fontaine In-store Performance
Thursday, July 19th, 7:00pm

Every once in a while a voice comes out of the speakers and requires that you sit down and give it your undivided attention; Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine has one of those voices. It's not really the voice, but you knew that, it's the song. In Willy's case the songs are slices of life, every one a short story or a character sketch and each of them a little bit darker than the one before it. The characters aren't so sharply developed that you'll see yourself in them - and that's a good thing - these guys have a bit of a blurry, looking out the window of a diner, quality. The people who populate Richmond Fontaine's world all share a down on their luck everyman quality. These are the guys with the anonymous, yet strangely familiar, voice that you hear singing to themselves as they pass under your window some time after the bars close but before the street sweepers
come along.

This one is highly recommended for fans of Matthew Ryan, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Dave Alvin, and the Calexico/Giant Sand collective (some of whom guest on Thirteen Cities).

Some recent press:
"(their writing is)...on par with that of Springsteen, Waits, Steinbeck and Carver."
    - The Sun Newspaper (UK)

"****" (4 Stars)
    - Uncut

"****" (4 Stars)
    - Mojo

"nothing short of breathtaking - We live in a world of hyperbole and exaggeration which is a pity because when this album is called a masterpiece such words lose some of their effect. But a masterpiece it is -- daring, adventurous, literate, and consummate." (10/10)
    - Americana UK Review

Click for a glimpse of their live show (give it a minute to get past the really loud rock - when the jumping around guy disappears it's time to turn it up.) Please note that the video is for a full band performance and since they're on a very small promo tour, this in-store will be a stripped down acoustic affair.
(More media at the "read more" link below)

Click to buy/sample their latest release Thirteen Cities.