It's been twelve years since The Earl Brothers started working on a style that has become their unique trademark, “Outlaw Hillbilly Music”. The Earl Brothers have received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from music-lovers far and wide. In the October, 2010 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited, a feature article named band leader Robert Earl Davis “The Hillbilly Hero”.
In the 1970s, The Ramones tore Rock and Roll down to its primitive components and built it back up again to make a raw, urgent, original music. The Earl Brothers have done the same with Bluegrass. Their gritty, mournful songs recall ancient honky-tonks, and Southern back roads with a unique edgy directness. Their music forgoes the softer contemporary acoustic sound of many modern day Bluegrass bands. The band’s “less is more” approach to songwriting, singing, and musicianship is, direct, simple, and yet somehow different from everything else.
If you have time to leave a comment we'd love to hear from you.
The Buzz...
"THE EARL BROTHERS HAVE GOT THE SOUL AND THE SONGS AND THE ATTITUDE THAT BROUGHT US ALL INTO BLUEGRASS MUSIC IN THE FIRST PLACE.THEIR SONGS CRY OF THE MOUNTAINS, OF THE PEOPLE AND OF THE TRADITIONS DOWN THROUGH THE AGES.
BLUEGRASS IS ALIVE AND WELL."
Chris Hillman
Pioneer of the genre known as “Country Rock”.
Worked with such notable bands as The Byrds,
The Flying Burrito Brothers and the Desert Rose Band.
It's always a big event in my neck of the woods when a new Earl Brothers CD appears.
I usually take the day off from work and stay at home--grilling red meat, drinking beer
and blasting a few rounds through my .45. I think you guys are on to something that's
so primeval, insistent, dark, old-time and thrilling that it just about defies description.
I find myself completely mesmerized by your gothic Stanley Brothers sound.
It just doesn't get anymore tough-edged and raw than tunes like "Going Walking," "Hell on the Highway,"
the title track and "Life Full of Trouble," which, if my ears aren't deceiving me sounds like it stays on just one chord throughout the piece. And what a chord itis!
Congratulations, once again, on another job exceedingly well done.
Dave Higgs
Nashville Public Radio
Bluegrass Breakdown
The Earl Brothers
Moonshine
www.EarlBrothers.com
While overhauled in personnel, Robert Earl Davis’s band retains its unique sound. Deliberately under-annunciated, hard scrabble vocals complement tight instrumentation that is dark, rough,and never fancy- the complete antithesis of the prevalent slick, high-browed bluegrass that is mostly ignored in this space.Original in sound, attitude and material, the Earl Brothers’ third album finds the four-piece moving forward while retaining all the elements — troubles, whiskey, women, and death — fans have come to appreciate. The Earl Brothers’ approach to bluegrass is so fresh and natural and their sound so identifiable that listeners are likely to either love or hate this California-based band.
For me, Moonshine is one of the most notable bluegrass albums of the year.
-Donald Teplyske
Freelance writer
Roots music Columnist
KCBL / Backroads Bluegrass
"First let me thank you very much for keeping me on your mailing list. "I REALLY LOVE YOUR MUSIC" as soon as i received your project i couldn't wait to get it home & play it !! After the first few notes, i heard the distinctive sound that you play so well. I could pick it out anywhere. everything is top notch. your original material has the sound & feel of times past. It has that rough edge gritty feel that many traditional bands lack today. this project has to be played several times in order to get the full impact. I played the whole project & my request line was ringing off the hook. I hope I don't wear it out!!"
thank you for sharing your fine project with us.
Al Shusterman
I really enjoy your music.......it harkens back to Bluegrass when it was really music of the people.....
Tom Henderson
Blgrssprlr@aol.com
Blueridge180@aol.com
"This Is Bluegrass"
Now In It's 38th Year Of Syndication
88.5 WMNF-FM - Tampa, FL
As a promoter of Traditional Bluegrass, I have grown to respect "The Earl Bros" very much. Great songwriting,excellent picking,& a sound all they're own. This is true "Gravel & Grit" Bluegrass. I want them back soon!!
Brad Klabunde
B.K.Prod's Bluegrass Shows
Two Rivers,WI
www.bluegrassbrad.org
Quote from Wikipedia, online encyclopedia, for the definition of Bluegrass Music;
“Fourth generation
It could be argued that a fourth generation of bluegrass musicians is beginning to appear, marked by a high level of technical skill demonstrated. Although it is too soon to see definite trends, the most notable fourth generation musician to emerge so far is probably Chris Thile, who released solo bluegrass albums at age 13 and 16 (Leading Off and Stealing Second), respectively), before reaching wider fame as a member of the bluegrass-influenced acoustic band Nickel Creek. Recently, however, Thile's claim to the throne of bluegrass "prince" has been challenged by Josh Pinkham, a Florida teenager who performed at "Merlefest" only 18 months after picking up a mandolin.
Other notable recent bluegrass bands are The Earl Brothers, who fuse a traditional sound with innovative songwriting and lyrics atypical for bluegrass, and Colorado's Open Road, a traditional-sounding band with strong original material”.
"The only thing to say about traditional bluegrass at it's best is.... THE EARL BROTHERS. Their modern writing style is combined with their traditional vocals and music. They have captured, in my opinion, the best sound bluegrass can offer. As soon as we started playing their music on WDVX, they went straight to #1 on our playlist. With bands like the Earl Brothers in the Bluegrass Circuit, the music that Bill Monroe created years ago will stay in good hands! In my opinion, the Earl Brothers will continue to create traditional bluegrass all over again."
- Alex Leach, WDVX Radio, Knoxville TN.
" A GREAT NEW SOUNDING BAND WITH HIGH-LONESOME QUALITIES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN HEARD SINCE
THE RECORDINGS OF THE RURAL MOUNTAIN BANDS OF THE 40'S. MY AUDIENCE LIT UP ALL FOUR PHONE
LINES IN THE STUDIO UPON HEARING THEIR MUSIC. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
ROSS HARVEY
CKUT 90.3 FM
RADIO MCGILL
MONTREAL, CANADA.
"...Man, every time I hear them I want to grab the closest beer bottle and hurl it into the far wall... They've got the sound, the drive, the feeling we've been missing out here all these years! My HIGHEST recommendation!"
~Ray Edlund
"Pig in a Pen" KPFA-FM / 94.1 FM
Berkeley, CA
"A rickety old steam engine rhythm, rough ole hollerin' pitiful, sad singing,
three layers of what sounds like a bunch of acoustic bluegrass whammy bars,
throw an occasional old metal hubcap down the track, that's the sound of the
Earl Brother's collection of songs called "Whiskey, Women and Death". No
Nashville, slicked-up, cookie cutter Bluegrass here, it's real, and it
hurts!"
Amy Campbell, 89.9 fm WDVX Radio, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Read more...