Album Notes

It takes 1979 to understand Wheelhorse. Somewhere within the confluence of well-worn Led Zeppelin vinyl and the bluegrass renaissance of the 1970's, the seed of this band and this sound began to germinate. While many of their suburban peers were off somewhere sitting in front of the Atari and listening to KC and the Sunshine Band on top-40 radio, the Litteral brothers of Eastern Kentucky were knee-deep in Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers and Ralph Stanley. From a family of reformed, rock-and-roll-influenced mountain musicians, they were exposed early on to diverse, quality musical influences. Jimmy Page, Duane Allman and Bob Dylan competed for their musical attentions in equal measure with the fiddling of Chubby Wise and the banjo picking of Earl Scruggs. Now, Joseph Litteral and Jason Litteral make up the two-guitar attack of a band that occupies a new and genuine space in an increasingly bland and commercialized musical landscape. This music doesn't sound like it could've been created on any soundstage in America because it wasn't. It's the product of myriad American musical influences, combining a blues power attack with high-lonesome aesthetics. Above all, though, Wheelhorse is a serious rock-and-roll band with a penchant for rich, earthy textures in the studio and white-knuckled jamming on the concert stage. Originally formed as a blues-rock outfit in the early 90's, the band spent its formative years studying the blues from Skip James and Fred McDowell to Muddy Waters and Albert Collins. However, the group soon realized that simply serving a noble genre was no substitute for the staking of original musical territory, and the band eventually fizzled out and went their separate ways. Now they're back and they've mixed up their pitches considerably, their bluegrass and mountain roots having risen back to the surface of their sound. The sound of today's Wheelhorse is the sound of a band that understands that at the heart of American music there is the song. At the service of the song are go-for-broke playing and honest-to-God joyful noise singing. These are traditions they're honored to study and proud to serve. Chris Stewart can sing the blues like a barn on fire. Also a native of Eastern Kentucky's Cumberland Plateau, he can channel the musical spirits of Bill Monroe and Howlin' Wolf with equal facility. You simply don't hear singing with this kind of soulful virtuosity every day. Period. Matt Patterson is an agile and melodic bass player. Never content to simply keep a song together, he invariably moves it forward through creative playing informed by the harmonic possibilities of jazz and the kinetic energy of rock and roll. He is a formidable and fully realized musician. The band's debut album, Victrola for Sale, was completed before the band's newest member, Jamie Eads, joined the group. However, that hasn't stopped him from leaving an indelible mark on the group's live dynamic. This Southern Kentucky native brings a ferocious attack to the kit in the finest tradition of rock-and-roll drumming. His unfailing sense of groove and single-minded obsession with actually driving the pocket help push the band's live sound to frenetic heights. Jason Litteral is at once solid and inventive in his approach to rhythm rock and roll guitar playing. Bringing a bluegrasser's sense of time and drive to bear on a modern rock ensemble, his playing references a lineage stretching from the Lester Flatt G run to the richly overdriven tones of rock and roll's most interesting riffs and chord structures. Joe Litteral is comfortable with the banjo, mandolin and blues harp, but his biggest responsibilities are serving as the band's lead guitarist and songwriter. Whether it be via Allmanesque electric slide riffs or standard rock and roll virtuosity, his playing achieves what so many pickers lack these days-originality of voice. Having the hard-won good sense to value creativity and tone above all else, he's still willing and able to mash the pedal through the floorboard if and when the musical situation dictates. Wheelhorse's debut album Victrola for Sale features intelligent, lyrical songwriting that combines the sensibilities of modern rock and roll with the musical underpinnings of the mountain and delta traditions. Pop it in and hear the mud and the clay, the sandstone and the coal dust. Feel the fierce tension of banjo strings and the righteous release of a gospel choir working in concert. Smell those stack amp tubes burn. Hear the tradition in the rock and the ages in the roll without sacrificing what's important in the here and now. High Lonesome. Blues Power. Wheelhorse . . . Rock On.