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Ryan Schmidt
Ryan Schmidt’s performance at the NH Edge Music Series @ Dover Soul was amazing. His blend of soulful lyrics, rooted in the teenage angst of growing up in the 21st century, and creative songwriting, provides the listener a passionate and sometimes funny look into his life. With songs ranging from a found love letter about his mother’s high school sweetheart, to experiences dealing with life’s challenges, and one of my favorite songs 10 days which has an introspective look at his life.
Ryan’s music will capture your heart, your mind, and make you hold on throughout the entire journey of his performance. Ryan’s live performance is nothing less than inspired and you would be hard pressed to believe that this emerging new artist is only seventeen years old, his music and songwriting is far more mature than his years. Keep your eye on Ryan Schmidt as he is definitely going places.
Not only did I enjoy Ryan’s performance, but felt he is one of the best solo artists I have heard to date.
- Scott M Harris
NH Edge, Producer NH Edge Music Series
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
In the era of pretty-boy, iconoclast-wanna-be bands posing their way through rock, Famous offers salvation. Led by vocalist/guitarist Ben Phillips, the anti-Christ of the poser movement, “All The Wicked” packs gut-level force with expertly crafted songs to create one of the most eminently listenable, solid rock albums ever to emerge from the Seacoast.
The nine-track CD, released on the Burning Records label, is gaining alternative and hard rock fans alike for its visceral as well as cerebral brand of music. This makes sense, considering the NY/NH-based trio is rounded out by Mark Damon on bass and Jamie Perkins on drums, whose skill and musical muscle have been honed by years of plying their craft on the East Coast.
The songs are characterized by an emotional fierceness and contemporary edge that reach for the soul and give it a twist. In “All The Wicked” love does not always redeem, souls burn, anger seethes – all to shifting sonic textures that hook the listener from the start. Each song has its own allure, its own persona, ranging from the seductive, swirling rhythm of “What She Doesn’t Know,” to the relentlessly catchy chorus of “Take Me Out.”
Phillips, channeling Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix, has an unbridled, passionate delivery. There are nods to the band’s influences -- the Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin -- throughout the album and they combine with the band’s fresh perspective to form progressive rock with classic roots.
By the time Famous winds down “All The Wicked” with the plaintive, acoustic “Give Me Your Soul,” chances are good, the listener already has.
- Denise Wheeler
NH Edge
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Cara Connolly
28-year-old Cara Connolly proved herself a rising star on the Seacoast scene with a 45-minute acoustic set of original songs at the NH Edge new music series at Dover Soul on July 26. Accompanied by guitar and whiskey and water on the rocks, Connolly spun a set characterized by universal themes such as isolation, love and loss, made personal by her colorful observations and clever anecdotes. In “Pink Champagne,” a friend attempts suicide by drinking a bottle of red hair dye. In “Filthy Together,” a confession of love is spurned. The audience was won over by the inhabitants and insights from Connolly’s world and by her engaging persona.
She is a singer/songwriter with refreshingly original lyrics,
warm, powerful vocals and inventive styles, who studied briefl y at the Musicians Institute and Berklee College of Music. New to this area, having plied her craft in Los Angeles, Connolly is one of the most promising acts to grace the Seacoast in a decade.
- Denise Wheeler
NH Edge |
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Liz Parmalee
Seacoast performer, Liz Parmalee, channels her writing from a pool of creative obscurity peppered by a healthy dose of pop culture reference. She has succeeded in taking both the dramatic and
banal chapters of her life and made them equally interesting, and perhaps more importantly, pleasing to the ear. In “Nightlight,” a song from her CD “Madeira,” Liz gives us insight into the clash of contradictions that define her:
"My Victoria’s Secret’s on inside out I’ve got my father’s lips and a Playboy pout I’ve got electric guitars and a nightlight in my room And I can walk on water…"
Contradictions are what Liz is all about. Her unassuming and innocent good looks belie a torrent of complex themes that manifest in her performances. Thankfully, she delivers the
message in a sweet mix of Jewel-esque vocals, and skillfully-plucked acoustic guitar.
– Tim Deal
NH Edge
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Pocket Full of Tree House Schemes…
The Whatnot’s latest CD, One More Pocket, provides an apt soundtrack for lazy summer days and grimy little boys concocting wild schemes within the sanctuary of tree houses. While most summertime pockets promise the frightening combination of rusty old scout-knives and partially-suffocated toads, One More Pocket delivers The Whatnot’s trademarked blend of melodic pop and driving acoustic backup, replete with three-part harmonies so tight they can make you squeal- and I did- like a wee little girl.
The CD’s opening song, Apathy, sets the lyrical tone for a languid New Hampshire Summer:
i hold ambivalence in this age
another weekend wastes away
try to focus but i'm so damn tired
i force myself to be inspired
and this pot of coffee keeps me wired
The Whatnot’s influences are not an enigma. The band distills Guster’s mass-appeal harmony-laden college pop, while calling upon three-chord, guitar-driven classics from The Beatles, and chuckle-rock from The Bare Naked Ladies. However, in a scene where so many new acts are trying to sound like the new acts they just heard on MTV, The Whatnot’s sound is refreshingly original- so refreshing, in fact, that it borders on carbonated, effervescent even.
One More Pocket is the band’s second CD release as The Whatnot, and includes 11 previously unreleased tracks recorded primarily at The Halo in Westbrook , Maine by Jonathan Wyman. Additional recording was conducted by Duncan Watt at Kanuba Digital, Exeter , NH . The band includes, Chris Mathews on percussion, Matt Junkin on bass, and Patrick Curry on guitar.
One more Pocket leaves us with the very appropriate, Think About It, which echoes the listener’s unhurried disposition.
…I'd rather be in bed
Or spending my free time as I see fit
Instead of worrying what's planned
I check my calendar again…
– Tim Deal
NH Edge |
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Dover Soul’s Reincarnation party
Jupiter 2 and Heavens to Murgatroid, two bands that know the meaning of the word “reincarnation,” played to a packed house on July 12, marking the kick-off of The NH Edge new music series at Dover Soul. Members of both bands literally helped build the foundation of the Seacoast music scene. They’ve been around since the late ‘80s. They’ve performed, recorded, closed shop, resurrected and, on Wednesday, they ascended to the height of local rock’n’roll legend.
Surrounded by rockers who have musical muscle and mileage, the Messiah Colletta let rock’n’roll hell break loose. Clad in a black cowboy hat and orange frilled, circa-1980 tux shirt, he commanded a rousing presence with his piercing vocals and dramatic gestures reminiscent of Travolta, Elvis and Johnny Cash all rolled into one. Still possessed after an energetic and solid set with his band, he re-fueled on espresso martinis and joined Heavens to Murgatroid for a half-hour of over-the-top covers that included “Secret Agent Man,” “867-5309, (The Jenny, Jenny song)” “Sweet Emotion” and “Blood & Roses.” It was a Replacements-style, off-the-cuff, unrehearsed set that left the audience calling for more.
The audience was packed in tight, a mix of The Faithful – those like Butch Heilshorn of the late, great Bobhouse, and Jim Doolittle of Play Hard Records, who also helped shape the scene in its infancy – and the newly baptized, who howled around Colletta as he was christened with a prom queen tiara. Both bands showed their process, humor and flair.
The evening opened with a solo acoustic set from Brian Scanlon. Jury’s out on if he’s an angel, but he’s blessed with a great voice.
- Denise Wheeler
NH Edge
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Listen to Podcast |
Listen to Podcast |
Dover Soul’s Reincarnation party
Jupiter 2 and Heavens to Murgatroid, two bands that know the meaning of the word “reincarnation,” played to a packed house on July 12, marking the kick-off of The NH Edge new music series at Dover Soul. Members of both bands literally helped build the foundation of the Seacoast music scene. They’ve been around since the late ‘80s. They’ve performed, recorded, closed shop, resurrected and, on Wednesday, they ascended to the height of local rock’n’roll legend.
Surrounded by rockers who have musical muscle and mileage, the Messiah Colletta let rock’n’roll hell break loose. Clad in a black cowboy hat and orange frilled, circa-1980 tux shirt, he commanded a rousing presence with his piercing vocals and dramatic gestures reminiscent of Travolta, Elvis and Johnny Cash all rolled into one. Still possessed after an energetic and solid set with his band, he re-fueled on espresso martinis and joined Heavens to Murgatroid for a half-hour of over-the-top covers that included “Secret Agent Man,” “867-5309, (The Jenny, Jenny song)” “Sweet Emotion” and “Blood & Roses.” It was a Replacements-style, off-the-cuff, unrehearsed set that left the audience calling for more.
The audience was packed in tight, a mix of The Faithful – those like Butch Heilshorn of the late, great Bobhouse, and Jim Doolittle of Play Hard Records, who also helped shape the scene in its infancy – and the newly baptized, who howled around Colletta as he was christened with a prom queen tiara. Both bands showed their process, humor and flair.
The evening opened with a solo acoustic set from Brian Scanlon. Jury’s out on if he’s an angel, but he’s blessed with a great voice.
- Denise Wheeler
NH Edge |
Listen to Podcast |
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