Indie-Americana, "as apt to produce a tear as a belly laugh, but sure to make you feel something everytime."

11 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, COUNTRY: Bluegrass



Details:
Reading, Pennsylvaniaâs own alt country auteurs Frog Holler will be releasing HAYWIRE, their fifth full-length recording via the ZoBird Records imprint late Winter â06. HAYWIRE, the proper follow-up to 2003âs RAILINGS was produced by Brian McTear (Matt Pond PA, Burning Brides, Mazarin) at Miner Street/Cycle Sound in Philadelphia with additional production by engineer, Amy Morrissey.

HAYWIRE takes the conflict directly to the source, unlocking memories and questioning perceptions of the prices paid, the definitions made âHaywire,â taking sides âRat Raceâ, âtruthingâ lies ââ74,â and hoping for a last chance at getting it right âOne Last Time.â While Frog Hollerâs ethos has essentially remained the same, it was their approach to the recording process that differed this time around. â We knew we only had eleven days in the studio, so we wanted to delve into the songs before hand in a way we hadnât beforeâ, said Darren Schlappich, singer, acoustic guitarist and songwriter for Frog Holler. Schlappich, bassist Josh Sceurman, and drummer Daniel Bower spent tireless hours of pre-production cementing the arrangements and, in turn, gave way to a new found studio confidence that, with the help of McTear and Morrissey, would allow a more focused effort in capturing, not only a warm, natural sound, but the intangible qualities of Frog Holler to tape. Mike Lavdanskiâs soaring harmonies are pushed to the forefront and invoke a John Denver-like spirit as evidenced on âGwendolyn Brown,â while the bandâs tight, emotion-filled playing is as conflicted as ever pitting Todd Bartoloâs bell-toned lap steel of âOn Winter Bluesâ vs. guitarist John Kilgoreâs space-echoed, freak out on âOne Last Time.â Schlappich wills the band to believe in itself on âSight Unseen,â pleading, âIf I / told you / sight unseen / the futureâs bright / would you believe me?â and by song, and records end, itâs obvious Frog Holler is a band in control and at the height of its powers.
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Schlappich and Lavdanski started Frog Holler along with original bassist Will Dennis as a bluegrass trio in June of 1996. The two had met through a vibrant scene of open mics in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Schlappich, a lifelong resident, and Lavdanski, a transplant from Southern California, found an immediate kinship in the simplicity and spontaneity of bluegrass music. Schlappich, a former athlete who played quarterback at the same high school as Oakland Raiders QB Kerry Collins and current Michigan starter Chad Henne, was making his first foray into music when he met up with Lavdanski, who âplayed his banjo like a guitarâ, and whose former group, the Kutztown-based jam-grass outfit, Saucony Creek Ramblers, had just broken up. Kilgore, a former band mate of Lavdanskiâs in SCR and front man in the epic, math rock outfit Motherâs Favorite Hippie joined half a year later along with drummer Toby Martin. Kilgore was recruited because he played lap-steel guitar, but it was his defining guitar work and dissonant chords on Schlappichâs straightforward original songs that laid the foundation of Frog Hollerâs shift from pure bluegrass to its own unique brand of American rock music.

After releasing their 19-song debut, COULDNâT GET ALONG (ZoBird Records) in early 1998, Dennis left the band, and was replaced by current bassist Sceurman. Sceurman, son of a storyteller from the neighboring Lehigh Valley, was raised around the burgeoning folk scene of the legendary venue, Godfrey Daniels, but also had a proclivity for Hendrix and hard rock, which he pursued throughout his early years in bands with his brother Neal. Frog Holler released ADAMS HOTEL ROAD (Record Cellar) in 1999 and IDIOTS in 2001 on the Philly indie label Record Cellar. It wasnât long before the band from rural PA was showing up on the pages of major publications like, the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, MOJO, and No Depression, as well as on the radio, appearing on NPRâs âHere and Nowâ, and New York DJ, Vin Scelsaâs weekly, âIdiots Delightâ program, of which the legendary host proclaimed, âone of the most memorable nights of music ever on ID!â Frog Holler records were also being played on specialty shows throughout the country, eventually landing them at #34 on the Americana charts. Their profile was also boosted by a âdeliriously entertainingâ(Village Voice), âkillerâ(No Depression), âlive show to be reckoned withâ that started dotting the map from Boston to North Carolina, New York City to Chicago, and anywhere in between including a 2002 tour of the Netherlands.
After a long courtship and a role as a part