MP3 Uncle Moon - Homestyle

Uncle Moon weaves an eclectic blend of acoustic styles that has been variously described as "Kurt Weill at the Grand Ol Opry," "Urban Gypsy Music" and "The closest performance art music has come to moonshine."

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Acoustic, FOLK: Modern Folk



Details:
Uncle Moon weaves an eclectic variety of music drawing on the unique possibilities of its combination of guitar, accordion, violin, saxophone and double bass. It has been called an eclectic folk band, but Uncle Moon's music transcends those roots, exploring and incorporating elements of jazz, country, punk, bluegrass, klezmer, Cajun, cabaret, poetry and art music.

In Homestyle, Uncle Moon finds new mash-ups of all of those genres. Homestyle by turns rocks and swings, thrills and disturbs. The listener may find him or herself pleasantly tapping along one moment and then wondering âWhat the hell is that noise?â the next.

The original tunes run the gamut from the dark blues of Spring, the old-time-y, toe-tapping rhythms of LumpyCraddyPopo, and the extended jam of This Old Town to the no-wave of Uta Hagen. Michael Watersâ poem Suicide Man is set to modernistic tonal atmospherics.

The cover tunes also explore a range of styles. Uncle Moon throws the classic Thank Heaven For Little Girls into the meat grinder with Edvard Greig, Tom Waits and a pinch of Fritz Lang to form a savory musical sausage. There are unique arrangements of material from artists ranging from Thelonious Monk and Django Reinhardt to The Butthole Surfers. Willie Nelsonâs Crazy is taken for a new ride through singer Trey Kayâs sordid past, and thereâs a trippy rendition of the Scottish traditional O Whistle (lyrics by Robert Burns). Homestyle even takes a sonic visit to Russia in the instrumental Always Ready.

Here's what people are saying about Uncle Moon:

"Uncle Moon exists in that other world where the Velvet Underground might be playing at your Junior High Halloween Party. It's a world where violins and accordions are heavier than Metallica and where stream of consciousness spoken word rants are more rock and roll than Robert Plant. It's a beautiful, sweet, wonderfully melodic world that is only slightly disturbed and slightly disturbing. It's a very nice place to visit and it's good that they want to live there."

Michael Cerveris -- 2004 Tony Award winner for Assassins


"A carnival of sounds, from the carousel to the horror show."

John Bright -- Purple Fiddle, Thomas, WV


"Kurt Weill at the Grand Ole Opry."

Anonymous Fan


"[Uncle Moon] sings in every known genre, and invents some of [their] own! These guys genre-hop within a song. A sultry version of Patsy Cline's 'Crazy' or a tender 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' turned into something totally original with [Trey] Kay telling a story from his childhood. A German polka tune could morph into bluegrass. Imagine Frank Zappa and the Marquis de Sade becoming the creative directors behind Firesign Theater."

Jane Birdsong - Highland Noize, Elkins, WV


"Uncle Moon performed everything from Django Reinhardt to Cole Porter with a swinging mix of jazz and Appalachian folk - with some Klezmer thrown in."

Libby Rojas - Capital Noize, Charleston, WV


"Uncle Moon is not like any uncle that you know. Their music can shock you, even though members of the band look perfectly normal, two of them are lawyers. The lead singer, Trey Kay, has the dynamic personality of a Nick Cave without the ego getting in the way of the audience. Trey's roots are in West Virginia, but if you try to dig them up you'll notice that they spread to every state. The band plays a wide assortment of instruments, from the accordion to beer bottles. One band member walks among the audience so much that you feel like offering him your seat but the energy he puts into his saxophone can't be accomplished from a sitting position. Their music makes you want to jump up and down and sing along, but it's best to leave the singing and the playing to them."

Hal Sirowitz, Author of Mother Said and former Poet Laureate of Queens, who moved to Brooklyn partly so he can hear Uncle Moon more.


âUncle Moon is the closest that performance art music has come to moonshine." â Olivier Conan (Bebe Eiffel, Las Rubias del Norte, co-owner of Barbes)