Category: Darryl Holter, West Bank Gone
Darryl Holter West Bank Gone and More CD News
West Bank Gone: CD Review Sing Out Magazine
By Gvon T., Sing Out Magazine, Jan 5, 2011
Darryl Holter, West Bank Gone (213 Music)
Combining the adroit touch of both a lyricist and a musical historian, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter
Darryl Holter recreates, in both words and music, the fascinating saga of the storied "West Bank" folk and roots music scene in 1960s Minneapolis, Minn., which inspired a kid from Hibbing named Zimmerman, as well as the bluesy trio of John Koerner, Dave Ray and Tony Glover, among others, and was also where Bonnie Raitt recorded her first album.
Darryl Holter, West Bank Gone
Drawing from his own youthful North Country roots experiences, Darryl Holter paints .an eloquent tableau of those halcyon days, with image-loaded songs, such as the perfectly modulated title composition (a heartfelt homage to a local bar and its bohemian patrons - including the esteemed, ill-fated poet John Berryman - some of whom also proved performers with a future) along with a cleverly written revisiting of Johnny Cash's 1950s hit "Ballad of a Teenage Queen," here called "Last Chorus of the Last Song," and a rousing (Holter is ably aided and abetted throughout by the likes of keyboardist Benmont Tench, lap and steel guitar legend Greg Leisz and percussionist Nate Wood) and an oddly spirited reflection titled "5 AM," a song about a chance meeting at an all-night coffee house. It is, oddly enough, followed by Holter's desultory version of "Girl from the North Country," one of Dylan's finest early efforts.
Darryl Holter and crew also cover three other, less well-known songs - channeling Gram Parsons' Flying Burrito Brothers staple "One Hundred Years from Today" in fine fashion as well as the soulfulness of Jay Farrar on his revelatory plea "Back into Your World" and it's back to the future with a chilly-wind blues, co-composed by the aforementioned Koerner, called "Friends and Lovers." Other formidable Hotter originals include the love anthem "Two for Each Other" and the nostalgic "Breakfast in Beertown."
- GvonT , Sing Out Magazine
Darryl Holter West Bank Gone: CD Review Blurt-Online.com
By Lee Zimmerman
www.Blurt-Online.com December 13, 2010
Darryl Holter, West Bank Gone
Darryl Holter, West Bank Gone (213 Music)
Being from Minnesota, the land of Bob Dylan's early origins, might make music some sort of birthright, because for
Darryl Holter, that roostsy, narrative style seems to come quite naturally. On this, his second album, this northern plains native son plows deeply into his homegrown environs and comes up with a winning set of reflective story songs that borrow heavily from formative encounters with early musical heroes. Indeed, the spirits of Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Spider John Koerner, and other rugged troubadours are invested heavily in this material, both in the descriptive style and in its attachment to middle America. Perhaps that's why Holter sounds so assured; in recalling his early admiration of the people and places that birthed his most precious musical memories, he offers an autobiographical glimpse into the dimly-lit clubs and coffee bars where friends would gather, musicians would bond, and relationships were spawned from the same fused experiences.
As a result, songs like "Two For Each Other," "The Mixers" and "Birthday in Beertown" take on an added resilience in both their assertive stance and the tender connection. Freely mixing folk, blues and country, he surveys traditional templates throughout, from the freewheeling stomp of "The Trouble Is" to the brassy surge of "5 AM." Telling too, is his choice of covers, as expressed in a beautifully evocative take on Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" and the celebratory surge of Gram Parson's ringing "One Hundred Years From Now." Having that kinship to his forebears etched in each of these tracks makes
West Bank Gone a vital travelogue intrinsically clasped to the heartland. - Lee Zimmerman
Darryl Holter West Bank Gone: CD Review VintageGuitar.com
By John Heidt
www.VintageGuitar.com December 2010
Darryl Holter, West Bank Gone (213 Music)
A journey through the Minneapolis that spawned the likes of Bob Dylan and Koerner, Ray and Glover, Holter's gruff voice and the contributions of musicians like Ben Tech and Greg Leisz make this a solid effort from Holter, who writes a lyric like someone who has lived what he's writing about. - JH
DARRYL HOLTER Girl From The North Country (WEST BANK GONE)
Singer Darryl Holter celebrates Minneapolis' West Bank
by Euan Kerr, Minnesota Public Radio
October 12, 2010
St. Paul, Minn. The West Bank of Minneapolis hosts a homecoming of sorts on Thursday. Singer Darryl Holter will stage a CD release concert at Palmer's Bar for his new recording "West Bank Gone."
It's a tribute to when Darryl Holter lived in the neighborhood in the late 1960's. At the time it was a musical hotspot attracting international attention, and Holter played a bit himself.
Holter now is a developer living in Los Angeles. Yet as he told Euan Kerr, he could never forget those West Bank Days, and that's what led to the album.
Darryl Holter will play music from his album "West Bank Gone" on Thursday evening at Palmers Bar in the West Bank area of Minneapolis.
Listen to the interview with Euan Kerr on
Minnesota Public Radio
DARRYL HOLTER/West Bank Gone
213 MUSIC, Midwest Record Chicago, IL
August 20, 2010
We dug his self released debut last year, but this time around, in addition to Darryl Holter's compelling originals, he covers John Koerner in a tip of the hat to his Twin City folk/blues roots. Very much in the spirit of the scene that spawned Dylan, Koerner and others you never heard of but would have enjoyed, this crack singer/songwriter makes you wonder why he flew under the radar for so long. An accomplished set that will reassure you mature songwriting is alive and well, this is first class adult, contemporary pop that raises the bar and changes the game. A winner throughout."
- Chris Spector
Singer/songwriter
Darryl Holter returns to his North Country roots
on new CD, "West Bank Gone", out September 21 on 213 Music
July, 2010
"213 Music announces a September 21 release date for West Bank Gone, the second album from L.A.-based singer/songwriter Darryl Holter, featuring special guest musicians Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) on keyboards, pedal and lap steel guitar master Greg Leisz and renowned percussionist Nate Wood. West Bank Gone was produced by Grammy nominee Ben Wendel, recorded at Conway Studios and will be distributed nationally by Burnside Distribution.
Darryl Holter will celebrate the release of West Bank Gone with a series of September dates in both Los Angeles (including a show at Hotel Café) and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Combining the deft touch of both a lyricist and a musical historian, Darryl Holter recreates the fabled West Bank folk and roots music scene in Minneapolis of the 1960s, which spawned a young Bob Dylan and where Bonnie Raitt recorded her first album. Drawing from his own North Country roots experiences, Holter paints a vivid tableau of what it was like back then, with songs such as The Mixers, a sad but engaging ballad set in a popular West Bank bar; 5 am, a spirited song about a chance encounter in a dreary all-night coffee shop; or the title track, which chronicles some of the West Bank personalities who are no longer with us.
Download:
Darryl-Holter-North-Country.pdf
Darryl Holter Country Stars Online
April 24, 2009
This is a reflective and thoughtful debut...
Delve and delve deeply into the life and lyrics of Minneapolis born Darryl Holter, and you ll find a storyteller, one who has lived richly against the backdrop of his folksy tunes. From his liner notes, we learn his musical hero is Bob Dylan. We also learn Holter played on picket lines with Pete Seeger. These two influences shine out, and brightly, on an album, that by contrast, is truthfully moody. "
>> read article
Download:
Darryl Holter Debut PDF
Darryl Holter Vintage Guitar Magazine
April, 2009
Though this is Darryl Holter's first CD, he is no novice. This collection of of 13 originals displays a dark view of the American landscape that can only come from an experienced songwriter."
Darryl Holter Rootstime, Belgium
Reviewed by Ron Bervoerts
Darryl Holter's music is hard to pigeon-hole. It brings together portions of rock with country, folk, and blues tones and adds bit of pop. He grew up in Minneapolis with the music of Bob Dylan and music scene on the West Bank of the Mississippi, and then Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Arlo Guthrie, and other folk pioneers. But apart from playing the guitar, Holter never really made a career in music. It was only when he moved to Los Angeles that he began to write songs that moved away from the politically charged protest songs of his idols. Over the course of several years, Holter wrote more than 40 songs dealing with everyday, but important things, like love and lost loved ones, memories and imagination, sometimes with humor, sometimes dark. He stopped writing new songs for a few years. Then he decided to select about twelve of his favorite songs and make a CD.
This debut album can be best described as incredible, all the more surprising since Holter has no professional music experience, stage experience, or performances to his credit. Sometimes it's the rocking sound of "Don t Touch My Chevy" that we hear. Sometimes it's an atmosphere of reflection, as in "Time and Space" with its wonderful pedal steel guitar work. "Living on the Edge" creates an atmosphere of loneliness in the big city. "Should Have Seen It Coming" benefits from the great, Knofler-like slide guitar work of Tim Young and Greg Leisz.
Darryl Holter spared no effort to make this a great album. He brought together a group of excellent musicians and recorded at Capitol Records in Hollywood. Even the album cover is nicely done and the overall production, the total sound, is handled with care. All in all, it is a convincing debut, timeless and full of diversity.
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Darryl Holter Rootstime
Darryl Holter's New Album Rocks Hotel Café
Feb 20, 2009
"He s seen a lot of life and knows how to make songs out of it. He does vocals and guitar on these folk-rock originals, all built up with strong country currents and blues underpinning. At their best, the songs bring to mind a sort of Dylan meets Springsteen meets Gram Parsons. This is Holter s first CD, but his musicians are all top-shelf professionals and the large, partisan crowd enjoyed a tightly-scripted set of songs."
Darryl Holter Campus Circle
Feb 4, 2009
"Darryl Holter sure knows
the lay of the land... Holter tells endearing stories throughout the album...
These are stories from my life, says Holter. It s my personal musical journey from country
music to folk, protest songs to blues and finally to
whatever it is that I do today.
213 MUSIC - DARRYL HOLTER:
MIDWEST RECORD, CHICAGO, IL
FEBRUARY 3, 2009
"Darryl Holter goes back to his roots with a populist set of trunk songs that have been lingering for years."
Chris Spector
Mark Pucci
November 21, 2008
These songs are stories from my life, says Holter about the album. It s my personal musical journey from country music to folk, protest songs to blues, and finally, to whatever it is that I do today. The result is an intriguing stew of rock-based originals, spiced with country sounds, folk feelings and blues undercurrents."
Joe Nick Patoski
Austin, Texas, 2008
"Darryl Holter had already been through his Singing TV Cowboy phase, his country and western phase, and his folkie Dylan/Spider John Koerner/ Dave Snaker Ray phase by the time I caught up with him in 1970, briefly sharing a funky, broken-down house on Cedar Avenue by the Mississippi River and the University of Minnesota, next door to a gas station where a case of Leinenkugel longnecks could be had for $3, not too far from the Scholar Coffeehouse and Dinkytown where Dylan once lived, and just a block from a strip of storied music joints and bars where there was music in the air, and plentiful dope and free love if your bullshit was half decent. It was a heady time of all possibilities, doubly informed by the first Allman Brothers Band album, Dylan s odd Self Portrait, the Band s Music from Big Pink, Van Morrison s Astral Weeks and Moondance, Leon Russell s debut LP, and Willie and the Bees buzzing around.
Darryl was the one guy in the house who just didn t listen to music, but actually played music. He did it with such passion that you could understand why he commanded such a presence (especially when his girlfriend or other women were around) singing lyrics worth listening to, and playing with chops that required no further accompaniment.
He told story songs about people and places that seemed exotic to a green-around-the-ears kid like me, singing them like he meant every word. Most of the material, it turned out, was his.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. I moved back to Texas to write about music, which has pretty much defined my life. Darryl never stopped either. He became a radical academic and ultimately the face of Felix Chevrolet in downtown LA, singing, playing guitar, and writing about his adventures along the way. His word portraits of street people, gamblers, and Parisian alleys ring true because they are true - real people and real places, sung and strummed by a real cool guy who sounds just as cool today as he did all those years ago. Listen close and see what I mean."
Crooked Hearts: The New Album by Darryl Holter
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