Album Notes

Personnel:

Peter Neff - Bass Hammered Dulcimer
Erik Grotz - Guitar
Scott Hudgins - Bass Guitar
Jim Thomson - Drums, Percussion


It is our pleasure to present you with the first release by Richmond, Virginia-based instrumental outfit Tulsa Drone. From the harmonies of opener "Chiaroscuro" through the caustic beauty of the title track, No Wake is a dense soundtrack full of wiry guitars, stark percussion, and the consistent clang and murmur of the dulcimer.

Neff and Grotz formed in the band in early 2001 and quickly built up a catalog of material, inviting friend Jim Thomson on board later that year. Scott Hudgins joined in March of 2002 and they quickly gained prominence in the Richmond, VA music and arts community performing live with bands as diverse as Big Lazy, Spokane and the Centimeters. The members of the band have long been skulking about Richmond, playing in various avant-garde projects like The Hard Ride, Aurora Paralysis, Sliang Laos, and the Griefbirds, and Neff's dulcimer has made appearances on Pan*American and Labradford records. Tulsa Drone is their most cinematic contribution to the underground.

"The music is so impressively evocative, so powerfully illustrative, that it leaps directly from your ears to your imagination. It takes you away almost as soon as you begin listening to it. It's been far too long since we've had this kind of music around, and we're glad it's back, hopefully to take us in entirely new directions." - The Morning News (themorningnews.org)

"Tulsa Drone has created a masterful CD of hushed splendor ... A perfect complement to long road trips or through a city's ripped underbelly..."
- Style Weekly

"...Their music could provide the soundtrack for any number of scenarios, driving through the Tennessee hills or lying awake at 4 a.m., unable to sleep. "I suppose our influences are Southern in nature," Grotz muses, "But they take on weird shifts..." Italian folk songs, dirges, Eno loops, ambient scores ... all assume a metallic resonance when performed. "There are some beautiful tones," says Neff, "but there's always that undercurrent of menace."..."
- Kate Bredimus, Richmond.com

"Grotz and Neff leave the riffs and geographical referencing behind and coax swelling chords of discordant sound from their strings. That Tulsa Drone moves so easily between catchy instrumentals and dark soundscapes suggests a flexibility that bodes well for the band's future. In the meantime, "No Wake" has a lot to savor."
- Mark Richardson, C-Ville Weekly





For further information:
Dry County Records
P.O. Box 14592
Richmond, VA 23221 USA
info@drycounty.net