Session Americana

Session Americana
Origin Cambridge, Massachusetts
Genres Americana, folk, roots music, rock, blues
Years active 2005–present
Labels Hi-n-Dry
Associated acts Treat Her Right, Resophonics, Morphine (band), Funky White Honkies, Face to Face (new wave band), Chauncey, Maybe Baby
Website www.sessionamericana.com
Members Dinty Child
Jim Fitting
Jefferson Hamer
Ry Cavanaugh
Jon Bistline
Billy Beard
Laura Cortese

Session Americana (Boston) is a rock band in a tea cup, or possibly a folk band in a whiskey bottle. This band/collective of talented musicians craft an musical experience unlike any other. On stage is a collapsible bar table wired with microphones, a vintage suitcase recast as a kick drum, an old Estey field organ, a pre-war parlor guitar, a mandocello and all of its smaller siblings, a harmonica case fire damaged when Jack's bar went up in flames and graffitied by Depeche Mode roadies, and an assortment of other instruments that get passed around in this freewheeling modern hootenanny. The anything-could-happen feel of a Session show depends on craft that's not accidental or easilywon; they bring a kind of ease and genuineness to this timeless music, sometimes presenting the latest batch of original songs, sometimes reaching back into depths of the American "song bag".[1]

History

This six member group of experienced musicians came together in 2004, for informal shows at Toad (a pub in Cambridge) on Sunday nights, with Sean Staples (mandolin, guitar, vocals),[2] Jim Fitting (harmonica, vocals), Ry Cavanaugh (multi instruments, vocals), Billy Beard (drums, vocals), and Dinty Child (multi instruments, vocals). Kirk moved to Los Angeles in early 2009 to play with, among others, Aimee Mann and Grant Lee Phillips, and was replaced by Jon Bistline. Kirk continued to be the primary touring bass player and eventually returned to the band full time when Bistline decided to devote more time to his day job. Session Americana had a Sunday night residency at Toad for two years, moving to the larger Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA when their popularity outgrew Toad’s small capacity. The name Session Americana (the bartenders wrote it on the sandwich board outside of Toad on Sunday nights) went with them even though by this point they were evolving into more of a "band". Even though they have steadily played larger stages to more people, they've tried to hold onto the things that make them unique and their shows continue to involve the band facing each other around a table with a single mic in the middle, passing instruments around as needed, harmonizing on old blues tunes, classic Americana songs, oddball covers, and primarily original numbers written by the group members and their friends. A hallmark of Session Americana is their frequent collaboration on-stage with musical guests, including Rose Polenzani (with whom SA recorded “When the River Meets the Sea” in 2008), Jennifer Kimball (who is married to Cavanaugh), Dennis Brennan, Peter Wolf, Patty Griffin, Rachael Price, Aoife O'Donovan, and many more.

The band released four albums and continued their Lizard Lounge residency until slowing down concert appearances in late 2009 following Cavanaugh and Kimball’s move to Ireland for 2009-2010.[3] They reunited for a concert in October 2009 at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA, alongside Buffalo Tom’s Bill Janovitz, and again for a tour in Ireland in May 2010. On Kimball and Cavanaugh's return to Boston, the band started playing again regularly and have been back to Europe every year since, spending a total of seven weeks there in 2015. In 2015 they also outgrew the Lizard Lounge and started selling out venues like the Oberon Theater in Harvard Square as well as doing more extensive touring nationwide and playing festivals all over the country and in Europe.

From the fall of 2010 the band worked without Sean Staples, who suffered a voice injury, and for five years evolved into more of a collective. Jefferson Hamer, Laura Cortese, Duke Levine, Jimmy Ryan (musician), Adam Moss (musician), Alec Spiegelman, and Jason Anick have all been in "seat 6" since then, with Laura, Adam, and Jefferson doing the bulk of the gigs. January 2016 marked another turning point when Jefferson and the band wrote and recorded a new album Great Shakes in Kimon's house using Jefferson's engineering skills and extensive collection of gear. It was the first SA album completely conceived as a six piece band and Jefferson has been playing almost all the shows since then.

The band

Discography

Awards/Nominations

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Session Americana Official Website - Bio page http://www.sessionamericana.com/bio/. Retrieved 11 July 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ "He Keeps Toad Hopping" by J.Perry, Boston Globe. June 20, 2008.
  3. ↑ http://www.jenniferkimball.com. Accessed November 2, 2009
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