"She can really sing, tell a story, and take you right along with her through the mountains,
valleys, rails, tribulations and triumphs of both the present and past." - Dale Ann Bradley
"Melody Walker has produced an album of exceptional tunes" - No Depression
"Finally a folk record with teeth. Keen, talented teeth." - Mike Dronkers, KHUM
"She kicked it out of the park on this album... a fabulous CD!" - Mary Tilson, 'America's Back Forty' KPFA
"Melody Walker writes songs that are bold and provocative in forms that are familiar and infectious. Her powerful voice - something like honey crackling with gold dust, laid over a smoldering campfire - sings of a new kind of American dream - more pragmatic, more individualistic, more here-and-now. With one foot in the gold rush past and the other in the present, she sends up southern rock, old-time banjo tunes, and saloon ballads into another dimension. " - Beth Newman
"...Where the transcendent and the traditional shake hands and stomp their feet..." - JDS Voice.com
About Gold Rush Goddess:
Gold Rush Goddess is a beast of a debut record from an unsung new talent. Co-produced and performed by Walker and her musical partner Jacob Groopman, the album reels through folk, pop, rock and bluegrass with an abandon straight out of the soul of this multi-genre songwriter. Equally irrepressible is the talent of multi-instrumentalist Groopman who creates lush textures and solid grooves throughout on mandolin, guitar, bass and drums.
Recorded in a historic general store on a remote sea-cliff in Mendocino County, California, the sounds of brick, rafters, swallows and waves waft in the background of Gold Rush Goddess, imbuing it with an organic realness. Walker and Groopman tour as an acoustic duo, so many of the tracks began with just four mics and a single live performance, letting the song lead the production from there on, with the help of engineer Calvin Turnbull. Other tracks bring in collborating musicians, including bluegrass band the Bucky Walters on "Do What you Love Blues" and "Family Band", producer Jim Greer (Rondo Brothers, Foster the People) on "Gotta Write Love Songs", and fiddler Alisa Rose (Real Vocal String Quartet, 49 Special) on the title track.
About the Duo:
What do they do? Melody's soulful songwriting and Jacob's picking prowess join together in a duo that is creating it's own genre: "Americali". Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, respectively, Melody and Jacob represent a real fusion of ideas and sounds, with the literacy and musicianship to pull it off. Their voices harmonize earnestly over intricate textures of banjo, guitar and mandolin, as they sing of ancient truths and futuristic myths, bringing their eclectic influences to life in traditional forms.
What is the "Americali" sound? It's basically Americana with a California twist. Both Jacob and Melody have extensively studied and performed not only bluegrass and American folk music, but also rock, jazz, classical, afrobeat, samba, and balkan styles. Despite such diverse tastes, their arrangements tend toward simplicity and stay close to their well-studied American folk roots, striving to usher them into a new age of relevance.
About Melody:
Melody Walker is a multi-talented multi-instrumentalist and virtuosic vocalist from Northern California. Starting with piano at age 6 and then guitar at 13, Melody’s classical ear grew alongside the myriad musical tastes of her parents, which ranged from the Beatles to Bill Monroe to Bossa Nova and back again. Soon, she was writing original songs and forming bands with her friends in middle and high school. Melody went on to study piano, voice and world percussion at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California and holds a B.A. in Music.
A musical thrill-seeker of sorts, Melody’s curious ear has led her around the world to study music, most notably in India and Brazil. This travel revealed a greater appreciation for the American traditional music she was raised around and gave her a singular perspective on it’s idiosyncratic beauty.
Melody’s songwriting is strongly rooted in Western folk and pop forms, while her content and delivery draws on more global sounds and themes. Combined with a holistic understanding of music theory and competence on several instruments, she is bringing a new unique voice to the American song. Her songs cut to the crux of the matter and make you remember you came. Melody wont lie and tell you she’s not trying to change the world through music, but she’s taking her time getting there, coating each word with honey so you want to sing along.
Melody has been performing as a professional and semi-professional musician with several bands since 2005. She has released one solo album of original music and four in collaboration. Her dream is to one day have music chase her all around the world for a change.
About Jacob:
Jacob Groopman is also a multi-talented string player that started off on piano as a child. He played in rock bands as a teenager in Virginia but went on to earn a degree in Jazz Guitar from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and then delved right into Bluegrass and Jug Band music, touring Europe with Jug Free America. Shortly after graduating and moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, Jacob joined nationally touring afrobeat group Albino! and traditional Bluegrass band Donner Mountain. These eclectic influences have served to make him a formidable force on several instruments and an in-demand player in the Bay Area music scene.
|
