Oakley Hall (band)
Encyclopedia
- For the American novelist, see Oakley HallOakley HallOakley Maxwell Hall was an American novelist. He was born in San Diego, California, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and served in the Marines during World War II. Some of his mysteries were published under the pen names "O.M...
.
Oakley Hall is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band based in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
The group was founded in 2002 and is named for Oakley Hall
Oakley Hall
Oakley Maxwell Hall was an American novelist. He was born in San Diego, California, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and served in the Marines during World War II. Some of his mysteries were published under the pen names "O.M...
, an American novelist. The group's songs combine elements of rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, and old-time music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
, prominently featuring the male-female vocal harmonies of lead vocalists Patrick Sullivan and Rachel Cox. Rather than imitating the style of commercial country or bluegrass, the group's melodies more closely recall old American folk songs and ballads, though often supported by a driving rock beat. In addition to the typical guitars, bass guitar, and drums, the group also features an electrified violin
Electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body...
, an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
tuned like a five-string banjo, and a lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
.
History
Although based in New York, most of the group's members are not originally from that state: Patrick Sullivan is from New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, Rachel Cox is from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Jesse Barnes is from Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Fred Wallace is from Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Claudia Mogel is from New York, and Greg Anderson is from Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Sullivan is a former member of Oneida
Oneida (band)
Oneida is a rock band from Brooklyn, New York. Their influences include psychedelic rock, krautrock, electronic, noise rock, and minimalism, but the overall structure and intent of their music cannot be easily traced to any of these styles...
.
The above line-up was established in November 2004. Shortly after releasing the group's first album in 2005 their label Bulb Records
Bulb Records
Bulb Records is a Michigan-based record label that was formed in 1993 by Peter Larson , and James Magas ....
went out of business, delaying the release of the second album Second Guessing. This led to only a brief pause between it and the release of their third effort, Gypsum Strings in 2006. Released on Oneida's label Brah Records, a subsidiary of Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
, this was their first record to gain wide distribution, and the band toured extensively to support it in the United States, Canada, and Europe. In the spring of 2007 they toured alongside Bright Eyes, and signed to Merge Records
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
. The fourth album, I'll Follow You, was released in September 2007.
In August 2007, drummer Greg Anderson was replaced by Pat Wood. In late 2007, while on tour with Cake
Cake (band)
Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...
, the band temporarily reduced to a quartet as Wallace and Mogel took a break. In January 2008 Ezra Oklan took over on drums.
In January 2008 the band performed "She Belongs to Me
She Belongs to Me
"She Belongs to Me" is a song by Bob Dylan, and was first released as the second track on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. It was one of the first anti-love songs and one of Dylan's first of many songs that describe a "witchy woman"...
" as part of The Royal Albert Hall Project – the inaugural show of the 2008 New York Guitar Festival
New York Guitar Festival
The New York Guitar Festival is a music festival founded by radio host and author John Schaefer and musician, producer and curator David Spelman, who serves at the festival's Artistic Director...
in the Winter Garden
Winter Garden Atrium
The Winter Garden Atrium is a 10-story glass-vaulted pavilion on Vesey Street in New York City's World Financial Center. Originally constructed in 1988, and substantially rebuilt in 2002, the Atrium houses various plants, trees and flowers, and shops...
of the World Financial Center
World Financial Center
The World Financial Center is a complex of buildings across West Street from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. This complex is home to offices of companies including Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, Nomura Group, the Wall Street...
in NYC.
Recognition
I'll Follow You appeared in many 'Best-of-2007' lists including Time Out, the Washington Post, and Harp
HARP (magazine)
Harp was a print and online magazine that provided in-depth information on current music, mainly the adult album alternative genre, which encompasses a large variety of music...
.
Members
- Ezra Oklan – drums
- Jesse Barnes – electric bass guitar, vocals
- Rachel Cox – vocals, guitar
- (Claudia Mogel – fiddle, vocals)
- Patrick Sullivan – vocals, guitar, electric organ
- (Fred Wallace – electric guitar (tuned like a banjo), lap steel)
Former members
- Pat Wood – drums
- Greg Anderson – drums
- Leah Blesoff – guitar, vocals
- Ted Southern – lap steel guitar
- Will Dyar – drums
- Steve Tesh – acoustic guitar, vocals
- Ed Kurz – guitar
Studio albums
- Oakley Hall (2005), Bulb RecordsBulb RecordsBulb Records is a Michigan-based record label that was formed in 1993 by Peter Larson , and James Magas ....
- Second Guessing (2006), Amish Records
- Gypsum Strings (2006), Brah Records
- I'll Follow You (2007), Merge RecordsMerge RecordsMerge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
External links
- Official website
- Oakley Hall at Merge Records
Interviews
- Oakley Hall interview Daytrotter, Sep 2 2006.
- Podcast Hosted by Oakley Hall Soundcrank, October 3, 2006. (mp3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
)
Video
- PUNKCAST#507 Live @ Grand Press, Brooklyn – Jul 18 2004. (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
) - PUNKCAST#918 Live @ Union Pool, Brooklyn – Feb 4 2006. (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
, mp4) - PUNKCAST#1251 Live @ WFC Winter Garden, NYC – Jan 12 2008. (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
, mp4)