NICK CURRAN AND THE LOWLIFES
''REFORM SCHOOL GIRL''
FEBRUARY 16 2010
39:12
1/Tough Lover
Etta James / Joe Josea/2:14
2/Reel Rock Party
Nick Curran/3:09
3/Reform School Girl
Nick Curran/3:53
4/Kill My Baby
Nick Curran/3:07
5/Psycho
Nick Curran/1:56
6/Sheena's Back
Nick Curran/2:58
7/Baby You Crazy
Nick Curran / Billy Horton/2:12
8/Ain't No Good
Nick Curran/2:18
9/The Lowlife
Nick Curran / Billy Horton/2:52
10/Dream Girl
Nick Curran/4:32
11/Flyin' Blind
Phil Alvin / Nick Curran/3:14
12/Lusty L'il Lucy
Nick Curran/2:31
13/Filthy
Nick Curran/2:48
14/Rocker
B. Scott / M. Young/1:28
Phil Alvin /Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Derek Bossanova /Piano, Vocals (Background)
Nick Curran /Guitar, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals
Billy Horton /Bass, Percussion, Producer, Vocals (Background)
Bobby Horton /Vocals (Background)
Jon Doyle /Sax (Tenor)
Nikki K /Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Jason Ricci /Harmonica
Chris Ruest /Guitar (Rhythm)
Dan Torosian /Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Since 2004's Player!, blues-centric guitarist/vocalist Nick Curran left his record label, joined up with Kim Wilson's latest incarnation of the Fabulous T-Birds, performed with his own punk-blues combo Deguello, and basically rumbled and tumbled through a number of sundry side projects, all the while eschewing the solo career that led to him taking home the 2004 W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut. Clearly, this allowed the ever-musically voracious Curran a chance to stretch his chops and imbibe more of the vast array of influences that spark his interests, from '40s jump blues and '50s rock & roll, to '70s punk and '80s hard rock. All of which Curran brings to bear on his fiendishly inspired, 2010 solo comeback Reform School Girl. A fiery, campy, and insanely rockin' album, Reform School Girl sounds like something along the lines of Little Richard backed by the Misfits with Phil Spector recording the proceedings in his garage. Which isn't to say that the album sounds sonically "gross" -- raw, for sure, but ain't that the point?! -- in fact, Curran has hooked up yet-again with his longtime partner in crime Billy Horton who helped deliver the old-school vintage sound that Curran has made his trademark. Further, while Curran can lay blues-pipe as good as any of the other contemporary T-Bone Walker and Jimmie Vaughan freaks, the blues is only one of many connective musical tissues he rips through here. To these ends, the title track finds Curran nodding his Wild One motorcycle cap to the Ronettes as he humorously turns the standard girl-gone-bad story on its head. Elsewhere, burners like "Kill My Baby," "Psycho," and "Baby You Crazy" are fingersnapping rockers with deliciously nasty sentiments that call into question the exact nature of Curran's romantic devotion. Also inspired is the Ritchie Valens-esque rave-up "Filthy" (a Deguello carry-over), and Curran's revelatory head-thumping take on AC/DC's "Rocker."
BIOGRAPHY
by Greg Prato
by Matt Collar Comin' on like a sci-fi hybrid of T-Bone Walker, Little Richard, and Guitar Slim, guitarist/singer Nick Curran is a powerhouse performer who owes a strong debt to blues and rockabilly artists of the '50s. Originally from Portland, ME, Curran began performing in his early teens with his father's band, Mike Curran & the Tremors. At 19, while playing with local rockabilly band King Memphis, Curran met rockabilly legend Ronnie Dawson and ended up touring with him for about six months. Soon after coming off the road, he got a call to do a tour with Texas rockabilly queen Kim Lenz and eventually joined her backup band, the Jaguars.
Subsequently, Curran moved to Dallas where he quickly immersed himself in the city's vibrant blues traditions as well as the roots music scene in Austin. It was during this time that Curran toured with retro-country sensation Wayne Hancock. Citing such influences as Wynonie Harris, Otis West, Roy Brown, and many other postwar blues and rock & roll artists, Curran released his solo album debut, Fixin' Your Head, in 2000. Recording live, single takes on vintage equipment, Curran has cultivated an impressive retro '50s jump blues sound that is only enhanced by his predilection for vintage clothes and Nu Nile pomade. Nitelife Boogie followed in 2001 and further solidified Curran's reputation as one of the most authentic and exciting roots musicians of his generation.
In a move that garnered him a slightly higher profile, Curran signed with legit-blues label Blind Pig Records in 2002 and released his third album the following year. Featuring more of Curran's old-school blues and R&B, Doctor Velvet found the still twenty-something artist branching out into Delta blues, reworking the Sonics' garage rock classic "Shot Down," and performing alongside one of his musical idols, original Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Jimmie Vaughan. Further accolades followed in 2004 as Curran received the W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut and released his fourth album, Player!
Toward the latter stages of the tour promoting Player!, Curran parted ways with his longtime Nitelifes rhythm section of ex-Fabulous Thunderbirds bassist Preston Hubbard and drummer Damien Llanes. Ironically, Curran then joined vocalist Kim Wilson's lastest incarnation of The Fabulous Thunderbirds in time to record the band's 2005 release Painted On.
After leaving the T-Birds, Curran formed the punk-blues combo Deguello with T-Birds' bassist Ronnie James Weber and played in various side-projects before relaunching his solo career. In 2010, Curran released Reformed School Girl on Eclecto Groove Records.
''REFORM SCHOOL GIRL''
FEBRUARY 16 2010
39:12
1/Tough Lover
Etta James / Joe Josea/2:14
2/Reel Rock Party
Nick Curran/3:09
3/Reform School Girl
Nick Curran/3:53
4/Kill My Baby
Nick Curran/3:07
5/Psycho
Nick Curran/1:56
6/Sheena's Back
Nick Curran/2:58
7/Baby You Crazy
Nick Curran / Billy Horton/2:12
8/Ain't No Good
Nick Curran/2:18
9/The Lowlife
Nick Curran / Billy Horton/2:52
10/Dream Girl
Nick Curran/4:32
11/Flyin' Blind
Phil Alvin / Nick Curran/3:14
12/Lusty L'il Lucy
Nick Curran/2:31
13/Filthy
Nick Curran/2:48
14/Rocker
B. Scott / M. Young/1:28
Phil Alvin /Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Derek Bossanova /Piano, Vocals (Background)
Nick Curran /Guitar, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals
Billy Horton /Bass, Percussion, Producer, Vocals (Background)
Bobby Horton /Vocals (Background)
Jon Doyle /Sax (Tenor)
Nikki K /Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Jason Ricci /Harmonica
Chris Ruest /Guitar (Rhythm)
Dan Torosian /Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Since 2004's Player!, blues-centric guitarist/vocalist Nick Curran left his record label, joined up with Kim Wilson's latest incarnation of the Fabulous T-Birds, performed with his own punk-blues combo Deguello, and basically rumbled and tumbled through a number of sundry side projects, all the while eschewing the solo career that led to him taking home the 2004 W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut. Clearly, this allowed the ever-musically voracious Curran a chance to stretch his chops and imbibe more of the vast array of influences that spark his interests, from '40s jump blues and '50s rock & roll, to '70s punk and '80s hard rock. All of which Curran brings to bear on his fiendishly inspired, 2010 solo comeback Reform School Girl. A fiery, campy, and insanely rockin' album, Reform School Girl sounds like something along the lines of Little Richard backed by the Misfits with Phil Spector recording the proceedings in his garage. Which isn't to say that the album sounds sonically "gross" -- raw, for sure, but ain't that the point?! -- in fact, Curran has hooked up yet-again with his longtime partner in crime Billy Horton who helped deliver the old-school vintage sound that Curran has made his trademark. Further, while Curran can lay blues-pipe as good as any of the other contemporary T-Bone Walker and Jimmie Vaughan freaks, the blues is only one of many connective musical tissues he rips through here. To these ends, the title track finds Curran nodding his Wild One motorcycle cap to the Ronettes as he humorously turns the standard girl-gone-bad story on its head. Elsewhere, burners like "Kill My Baby," "Psycho," and "Baby You Crazy" are fingersnapping rockers with deliciously nasty sentiments that call into question the exact nature of Curran's romantic devotion. Also inspired is the Ritchie Valens-esque rave-up "Filthy" (a Deguello carry-over), and Curran's revelatory head-thumping take on AC/DC's "Rocker."
BIOGRAPHY
by Greg Prato
by Matt Collar Comin' on like a sci-fi hybrid of T-Bone Walker, Little Richard, and Guitar Slim, guitarist/singer Nick Curran is a powerhouse performer who owes a strong debt to blues and rockabilly artists of the '50s. Originally from Portland, ME, Curran began performing in his early teens with his father's band, Mike Curran & the Tremors. At 19, while playing with local rockabilly band King Memphis, Curran met rockabilly legend Ronnie Dawson and ended up touring with him for about six months. Soon after coming off the road, he got a call to do a tour with Texas rockabilly queen Kim Lenz and eventually joined her backup band, the Jaguars.
Subsequently, Curran moved to Dallas where he quickly immersed himself in the city's vibrant blues traditions as well as the roots music scene in Austin. It was during this time that Curran toured with retro-country sensation Wayne Hancock. Citing such influences as Wynonie Harris, Otis West, Roy Brown, and many other postwar blues and rock & roll artists, Curran released his solo album debut, Fixin' Your Head, in 2000. Recording live, single takes on vintage equipment, Curran has cultivated an impressive retro '50s jump blues sound that is only enhanced by his predilection for vintage clothes and Nu Nile pomade. Nitelife Boogie followed in 2001 and further solidified Curran's reputation as one of the most authentic and exciting roots musicians of his generation.
In a move that garnered him a slightly higher profile, Curran signed with legit-blues label Blind Pig Records in 2002 and released his third album the following year. Featuring more of Curran's old-school blues and R&B, Doctor Velvet found the still twenty-something artist branching out into Delta blues, reworking the Sonics' garage rock classic "Shot Down," and performing alongside one of his musical idols, original Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Jimmie Vaughan. Further accolades followed in 2004 as Curran received the W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut and released his fourth album, Player!
Toward the latter stages of the tour promoting Player!, Curran parted ways with his longtime Nitelifes rhythm section of ex-Fabulous Thunderbirds bassist Preston Hubbard and drummer Damien Llanes. Ironically, Curran then joined vocalist Kim Wilson's lastest incarnation of The Fabulous Thunderbirds in time to record the band's 2005 release Painted On.
After leaving the T-Birds, Curran formed the punk-blues combo Deguello with T-Birds' bassist Ronnie James Weber and played in various side-projects before relaunching his solo career. In 2010, Curran released Reformed School Girl on Eclecto Groove Records.
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