ALBUM:
Drive
TAYLOR USED:
K12
422k
SONG CLIPS:
Drive
28K | 56K | MP3
Lost Dog
28K | 56K | MP3
CONTACT INFO:
Found Dog Productions
2503 East Oltorf Street,
Suite 1831
Austin, TX 78741
Tel: (512) 374-4416
E-mail:
The Nonchal @aol .com
Web:
www. the nonchalants .com
|
The Nonchalants are anything but. The spirited Austin-based duo of Jean Synodinos and Steve Uhler effortlessly mix the
rootsy, eclectic musical elements have long made Austin a fertile musical outpost, with an edgy, Greenwich Village folk
bent. Their latest CD, Drive, delivers plenty of acoustic horsepower, as their guitars twine together elements of folk,
pop, rock, country, blues, gospel and zydecko with equal measures of grit and sensitivity. Synodinos's versatile voice
resonates powerfully with emotion, whether she's slicing into lyrics with unflinching, soulful sass on the bluesy "Best Not
Call Me Ma'am"; adding a beautifully bittersweet bite to the folk-pop ballad "Home"; issuing a dancefloor ultimatum over the
spritely 'lectric twang of "Let's Get Gone"; or inciting spontaneous dancefloor hip-swiveling with the gospel-inflected blues
grooves of "Close At Hand". Uhler's protean guitar work can evoke a roadhouse swagger one minute, and cast a soft folk glow
the next. Both are first-rate songwriters and dab from a broad palette of styles to express a full range of feelings, with
pull-no-punches lyrics and the soulful authority of experience.
Synodinos and Uhler first charmed critics and listeners with the release of 1995's Live at Sun Mountain, recorded at a
Greenwich Village gig. The dressed-down recording captured the pair's robust live chemistry and prompted music mags like
Acoustic Guitar to acknowledge, "Vibrant… energetic vocals and twin guitars make sharp, savvy acoustic music that would be
at home in any room."
Drive yields a nice balance of humor and heartache, sweet and sardonic touches, and shows that the pair knows when to jump
on the gas. Veteran road dogs (Uhler: "I can make my way through any Holiday Inn blindfolded"), the duo's musical energy
makes their live act a must-see. Synodinos was the 1996 Kerrville New Folk winner and a 1995 finalist (as Jean Ganias);
Uhler has played with Joan Baez, Mason Williams and Mimi Farina, and his 1997 solo effort, Crossed My Heart, earned four
stars from Musician's Exchange magazine. As The Nonchalants, the pair took home several awards from the Austin Songwriters
Group Awards in 1998.
Of recording with Taylors, Synodinos says: "We love the balance of crisp, bright tones and a rich mid-range in the studio.
Plus, they're so easy to play, they actually reduce stress in the studio!"
"Laced with biting humor and bouncy elements of power pop, country and zydeco, Drive is a bittersweet but inspiring album about escape and the pursuit of happiness…"
— David Okamoto, Dallas Morning News
"Jean Synodinos and Steve Uhler tramp down the folk-pop terrain with a satchel of songs that are greatly aided by the pristine vocals of Synodinos and economical guitar-playing of Uhler. The breezy title track opens the album with great promise, and throughout the next ten songs are flashes of greatness…"
— Michael Corcoran, XL/Austin American Statesman
"It starts with a bang and takes you round the block with a tasty gallop. There's a familiarity to the songs - a sort of Dusty Springfield meets Cat Stevens - with R&B and a twinge of country/folk. Just right for a summer's road trip."
— Sara Hickman, singer-songwriter
|
