NICK CURRAN
''FIXIN' YOUR HEAD''
JUNE 6 2000
40:44
1/Women and Cadillacs/2:57
2/Boogie With My Baby
Nick Curran/3:10
3/Just Love Me Baby
Rosco Gordon/3:40
4/I Want to Love You
Nick Curran/3:07
5/Good Rockin' Man
Ray Brown / Roy Brown/4:01
6/Lonely Nights
Nick Curran/3:56
7/Loose Lip Mama
Nick Curran/2:56
8/It's My Life, Baby
Don Robey/2:36
9/She's Mine
Nick Curran/2:39
10/Straighten Up
Nick Curran/3:28
11/Do You Wanna Be My Baby?
Nick Curran/2:57
12/I'm Waiting for Your Call
Oscar Lollie/3:01
13/Get Rich Quick
Leonard Feather/2:16
Nick Curran /Guitar
Eric Matthew /Bass (Upright)
Lisa Pankratz /Drums
Jim Trimmier /Saxophone
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Recorded on vintage equipment in single takes, Nick Curran keeps things simple and swinging on his solo debut. Having played rockabilly with Kim Lenz set Curran's retro-twang cred in stone and the long-time blues aficionado strikes out on his own with the revelatory Fixin' Your Head. With a deep, ringing voice not unlike Amos Milburn or Lloyd Price, and a wide-open T-Bone Walker guitar style, Curran utterly embodies that period of time during the late '40s and early '50s just before the blues became rock & roll. Curran's impressive mix of lesser known cover tunes and originals -- the up-tempo "She's Mine" especially -- oozes with a genuine pomade and chicken wings mentality. More studied than punk, yet grittier than most contemporary blues releases, Curran has achieved an almost unimaginable "take no prisoners" aesthetic of retro-style absoluteness and modern blues urgency.
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.
-----------------------------------------------------
NICK CURRAN AND THE NITELIFES
''NITELIFE BOOGIE''
JULY 10 2001
42:47
1/I'm Glad, Glad
Lloyd Price/2:23
2/Nite Life Boogie
Jimmy Liggins/3:47
3/Let the Daddy Hold You/2:26
4/I Want to Love Somebody
Nick Curran/3:43
5/Low Down Dirty Shame
T-Bone Walker/2:30
6/Close to Midnight
Nick Curran/3:25
7/This Time I'm Out the Door
Nick Curran/2:13
8/Space Guitar
Nick Curran/2:54
9/She's Fifteen
Nick Curran/3:39
10/Juke Box Mama
Nick Curran/3:56
11/You Know My Love
Willie Dixon/3:07
12/Wrong Doin' Woman/2:43
13/Come Back to Me Baby
Nick Curran/3:14
14/Don't Jive Me Baby
Nick Curran/2:47
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
If Fixin' Your Head's grainy, vintage sound turned a lot of heads, Nitelife Boogie will certainly put more than a few blues fiends into neck braces. Utilizing vintage recording equipment and a live performance aesthetic, guitarist/singer Nick Curran reinterprets jump blues classics along with rarities and originals in the exact style of the original recordings. This guy uses Murray's Superior Hair Dressing on his pompadour, wears some snappy vintage threads, and is backed by a tight rhythm section and two tenor saxophones. Scenesters will certainly appreciate his adherence to vintage style, but Curran's chops are no cute trend. Like a mad-blues hungry-scientist's clone hybrid of Little Richard and T-Bone Walker, it's uncanny how much Curran sounds like his post-war blues idols. But rather than coming off as a staid, neo-traditionalist, Curran imbues each track with a fresh urgency lacking in many modern blues releases. In fact, even on his originals like the raunchy and wrong "She's Fifteen," Curran often improves his idols' approach, by distilling and magnifying the catchy and gritty elements that make jump blues so compelling. He takes on Johnny "Guitar" Watson's bizarre instro "Space Guitar," bettering the original with interesting reverb on/reverb off production tweaks. Similarly, there's a rebellious, punk-like exuberance in the way Curran's microphone distorts during the frenzied gospel-shouts of Lloyd Price's raucous "I'm Glad, Glad." If it wasn't a classic before, it is now.
-----------------------------------------------------
NICK CURRAN AND THE NITELIFES
''DOCTOR VELVET''
FEBRUARY 4 2003
42:01
1/Doctor Velvet
Bill Starkes/2:27
2/Lonesome Whistle Blues
A. Moore / Adonna M. Teat / Rudy Toombs/3:53
3/Shot Down
Gerry Roslie / The Sonics/3:09
4/Drivin' Me Crazy
Nick Curran/3:12
5/Don't Be Angry
Nappy Brown / Rose Marie McCoy / Fred Mendelsohn/2:29
6/Please Don't Leave Me
Nick Curran / Fats Domino/4:32
7/Midnite Hour/3:54
8/One More Time/3:20
9/Can't Stop Lovin' You
Nick Curran/3:10
10/She's Gone
Nick Curran/3:40
11/Beautiful Girl
Nick Curran / Robyn Hitchcock/2:33
12/Cold, Cold Heart
Hank Williams/3:07
13/Stompin' at the Fort
Nick Curran/2:35
Mike Barfield Vocals (Background)
Nick Curran Guitar, Vocals
Rachel Fenton /Vocals (Background)
Bobby Horton /Producer, Vocals (Background)
Damien Llanes /Drums
Joe Morales /Sax (Tenor)
Gary Primich /Harmonica
Eric Mathew Przygocki /Bass, String Bass
Jimmie Vaughan /Guest Artist, Guitar
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Fevered anticipation surrounded the recording of roots music phenomenon Nick Curran's third album and debut for Blind Pig Records. Attaching himself to such a pinnacle of mainstream blues as Blind Pig seemed at first a mixed blessing. While it affords the ex-rockabilly twanger greater visibility on a reputable blues label, it nonetheless raised the fear that he may have been attempting some type of ill-advised commercial crossover. One listen to Doctor Velvet, though, and such fears melt away into pure joy. Perhaps "purist" joy would be more apt, as Curran continues on his time-traveling blues odyssey. Having already proven himself as the most worthy heir to the Texas blues throne -- or at least Guitar Slim reincarnate -- Doctor Velvet finds the guitarist/vocalist channeling the spirits of Albert King, Freddy King and Otis Rush in one long, funky burst of late-'50s and early-'60s go-go blues ectoplasm. From the inspired reworking of garage rock icons the Sonics' "Shot Down" to the Louis Prima-meets-Fats Domino vocals on "Don't Be Angry," Curran has deftly expanded his vision. Throw in a cameo appearance by Jimmie Vaughan on two tracks and Doctor Velvet packs some serious blues mojo. The "State of Texas" sunglasses Curran sports on the CD cover are merely an exclamation point.
-----------------------------------------------------
NICK CURRAN AND THE NITELIFES
''PLAYER!''
JUNE 29 2004
44:21
1/Player
Nick Curran/2:38
2/Honey Bee
Don Robey/2:26
3/What About Love/2:17
4/Evenin'
Aaron Walker/3:06
5/She's Evil
Nick Curran/3:34
6/The Groovy Jam
Nick Curran/2:54
7/No Fun
D. Alexander / Ron Asheton / Scott Asheton / Iggy Pop/4:11
8/The Stalker
Nick Curran/3:19
9/Down Boy Down
Henry Glover / Fred Weismantel/2:44
10/Leavin'
Nick Curran/4:25
11/Good Luck
Nick Curran/3:32
12/Come Back
Nick Curran/2:39
13/Crazy Mixed Up World
Willie Dixon/4:04
14/Heeby Jeebies
John Marascalco/2:32
John Abrahamsen /Group Member, Trumpet
Gordon "Sax" Beadle /Group Member, Horn Arrangements, Sax (Tenor)
Dave Biller /String Arrangements
David Leroy Biller /Additional Personnel, Guitar
Nick Curran /Group Member, Guitar, Vocals
John Doyle /Additional Personnel, Sax (Tenor)
Jonathan Doyle /Sax (Tenor)
Preston Hubbard /Double Bass, Group Member, String Bass, Vocals
Doug James /Group Member, Sax (Baritone)
Paul Klemperer /Additional Personnel, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
Damien Llanes /Drums, Group Member, Vocals
Earmon McLauglin /Additional Personnel, Strings
Riley Osbourne /Additional Personnel, Piano
The Providence Horns /Ensemble
Carl Querfurth /Group Member, Trombone
Kim Wilson /Additional Personnel, Harmonica
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Nick Curran's second album for Blind Pig Records features more of the retro-R&B that helped nab him the 2004 W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut. Once again, guitarist/vocalist Curran, drummer Damien Llanes, and bassist Preston Hubbard deliver an impressive old-school blues album that should catch newcomers off guard as well as please longtime fans. Showcasing a slightly harder edge à la Bee Houston, Player! flows nicely between uptempo shouters, slow and dirty ballads, and swing numbers. To these ends, Curran rips into the Little Richard speedball "Heeby Jeebies," does what he did for the Sonics' "Shot Down" to the Stooges' "No Fun," and outshouts Wynonie Harris on "Down Boy Down." It's Curran's originals, though, that usually make the biggest impression, and on that score Player! features some of his best. Notably, the title track is a rambunctious ass-mover that sticks in your ear and "Come Back" features Curran crooning against string backgrounds. Similarly, "Leavin'" is a slow shuffle with a nice twangy melody and "The Groovy Jam" finds Curran delving into Tiny Grimes-style rockin' swing with devastating charm. One of Curran's most diverse albums to date, Player! also features stellar performances by harmonica player Kim Wilson, guitarist David Leroy Biller, saxophonists John Doyle and Paul Klemperer, and Roomful of Blues' Providence Horns.
-----------------------------------------------------
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."
''FIXIN' YOUR HEAD''
JUNE 6 2000
40:44
1/Women and Cadillacs/2:57
2/Boogie With My Baby
Nick Curran/3:10
3/Just Love Me Baby
Rosco Gordon/3:40
4/I Want to Love You
Nick Curran/3:07
5/Good Rockin' Man
Ray Brown / Roy Brown/4:01
6/Lonely Nights
Nick Curran/3:56
7/Loose Lip Mama
Nick Curran/2:56
8/It's My Life, Baby
Don Robey/2:36
9/She's Mine
Nick Curran/2:39
10/Straighten Up
Nick Curran/3:28
11/Do You Wanna Be My Baby?
Nick Curran/2:57
12/I'm Waiting for Your Call
Oscar Lollie/3:01
13/Get Rich Quick
Leonard Feather/2:16
Nick Curran /Guitar
Eric Matthew /Bass (Upright)
Lisa Pankratz /Drums
Jim Trimmier /Saxophone
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Recorded on vintage equipment in single takes, Nick Curran keeps things simple and swinging on his solo debut. Having played rockabilly with Kim Lenz set Curran's retro-twang cred in stone and the long-time blues aficionado strikes out on his own with the revelatory Fixin' Your Head. With a deep, ringing voice not unlike Amos Milburn or Lloyd Price, and a wide-open T-Bone Walker guitar style, Curran utterly embodies that period of time during the late '40s and early '50s just before the blues became rock & roll. Curran's impressive mix of lesser known cover tunes and originals -- the up-tempo "She's Mine" especially -- oozes with a genuine pomade and chicken wings mentality. More studied than punk, yet grittier than most contemporary blues releases, Curran has achieved an almost unimaginable "take no prisoners" aesthetic of retro-style absoluteness and modern blues urgency.
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.
-----------------------------------------------------
NICK CURRAN AND THE NITELIFES
''NITELIFE BOOGIE''
JULY 10 2001
42:47
1/I'm Glad, Glad
Lloyd Price/2:23
2/Nite Life Boogie
Jimmy Liggins/3:47
3/Let the Daddy Hold You/2:26
4/I Want to Love Somebody
Nick Curran/3:43
5/Low Down Dirty Shame
T-Bone Walker/2:30
6/Close to Midnight
Nick Curran/3:25
7/This Time I'm Out the Door
Nick Curran/2:13
8/Space Guitar
Nick Curran/2:54
9/She's Fifteen
Nick Curran/3:39
10/Juke Box Mama
Nick Curran/3:56
11/You Know My Love
Willie Dixon/3:07
12/Wrong Doin' Woman/2:43
13/Come Back to Me Baby
Nick Curran/3:14
14/Don't Jive Me Baby
Nick Curran/2:47
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
If Fixin' Your Head's grainy, vintage sound turned a lot of heads, Nitelife Boogie will certainly put more than a few blues fiends into neck braces. Utilizing vintage recording equipment and a live performance aesthetic, guitarist/singer Nick Curran reinterprets jump blues classics along with rarities and originals in the exact style of the original recordings. This guy uses Murray's Superior Hair Dressing on his pompadour, wears some snappy vintage threads, and is backed by a tight rhythm section and two tenor saxophones. Scenesters will certainly appreciate his adherence to vintage style, but Curran's chops are no cute trend. Like a mad-blues hungry-scientist's clone hybrid of Little Richard and T-Bone Walker, it's uncanny how much Curran sounds like his post-war blues idols. But rather than coming off as a staid, neo-traditionalist, Curran imbues each track with a fresh urgency lacking in many modern blues releases. In fact, even on his originals like the raunchy and wrong "She's Fifteen," Curran often improves his idols' approach, by distilling and magnifying the catchy and gritty elements that make jump blues so compelling. He takes on Johnny "Guitar" Watson's bizarre instro "Space Guitar," bettering the original with interesting reverb on/reverb off production tweaks. Similarly, there's a rebellious, punk-like exuberance in the way Curran's microphone distorts during the frenzied gospel-shouts of Lloyd Price's raucous "I'm Glad, Glad." If it wasn't a classic before, it is now.
-----------------------------------------------------
NICK CURRAN AND THE NITELIFES
''DOCTOR VELVET''
FEBRUARY 4 2003
42:01
1/Doctor Velvet
Bill Starkes/2:27
2/Lonesome Whistle Blues
A. Moore / Adonna M. Teat / Rudy Toombs/3:53
3/Shot Down
Gerry Roslie / The Sonics/3:09
4/Drivin' Me Crazy
Nick Curran/3:12
5/Don't Be Angry
Nappy Brown / Rose Marie McCoy / Fred Mendelsohn/2:29
6/Please Don't Leave Me
Nick Curran / Fats Domino/4:32
7/Midnite Hour/3:54
8/One More Time/3:20
9/Can't Stop Lovin' You
Nick Curran/3:10
10/She's Gone
Nick Curran/3:40
11/Beautiful Girl
Nick Curran / Robyn Hitchcock/2:33
12/Cold, Cold Heart
Hank Williams/3:07
13/Stompin' at the Fort
Nick Curran/2:35
Mike Barfield Vocals (Background)
Nick Curran Guitar, Vocals
Rachel Fenton /Vocals (Background)
Bobby Horton /Producer, Vocals (Background)
Damien Llanes /Drums
Joe Morales /Sax (Tenor)
Gary Primich /Harmonica
Eric Mathew Przygocki /Bass, String Bass
Jimmie Vaughan /Guest Artist, Guitar
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Fevered anticipation surrounded the recording of roots music phenomenon Nick Curran's third album and debut for Blind Pig Records. Attaching himself to such a pinnacle of mainstream blues as Blind Pig seemed at first a mixed blessing. While it affords the ex-rockabilly twanger greater visibility on a reputable blues label, it nonetheless raised the fear that he may have been attempting some type of ill-advised commercial crossover. One listen to Doctor Velvet, though, and such fears melt away into pure joy. Perhaps "purist" joy would be more apt, as Curran continues on his time-traveling blues odyssey. Having already proven himself as the most worthy heir to the Texas blues throne -- or at least Guitar Slim reincarnate -- Doctor Velvet finds the guitarist/vocalist channeling the spirits of Albert King, Freddy King and Otis Rush in one long, funky burst of late-'50s and early-'60s go-go blues ectoplasm. From the inspired reworking of garage rock icons the Sonics' "Shot Down" to the Louis Prima-meets-Fats Domino vocals on "Don't Be Angry," Curran has deftly expanded his vision. Throw in a cameo appearance by Jimmie Vaughan on two tracks and Doctor Velvet packs some serious blues mojo. The "State of Texas" sunglasses Curran sports on the CD cover are merely an exclamation point.
-----------------------------------------------------
NICK CURRAN AND THE NITELIFES
''PLAYER!''
JUNE 29 2004
44:21
1/Player
Nick Curran/2:38
2/Honey Bee
Don Robey/2:26
3/What About Love/2:17
4/Evenin'
Aaron Walker/3:06
5/She's Evil
Nick Curran/3:34
6/The Groovy Jam
Nick Curran/2:54
7/No Fun
D. Alexander / Ron Asheton / Scott Asheton / Iggy Pop/4:11
8/The Stalker
Nick Curran/3:19
9/Down Boy Down
Henry Glover / Fred Weismantel/2:44
10/Leavin'
Nick Curran/4:25
11/Good Luck
Nick Curran/3:32
12/Come Back
Nick Curran/2:39
13/Crazy Mixed Up World
Willie Dixon/4:04
14/Heeby Jeebies
John Marascalco/2:32
John Abrahamsen /Group Member, Trumpet
Gordon "Sax" Beadle /Group Member, Horn Arrangements, Sax (Tenor)
Dave Biller /String Arrangements
David Leroy Biller /Additional Personnel, Guitar
Nick Curran /Group Member, Guitar, Vocals
John Doyle /Additional Personnel, Sax (Tenor)
Jonathan Doyle /Sax (Tenor)
Preston Hubbard /Double Bass, Group Member, String Bass, Vocals
Doug James /Group Member, Sax (Baritone)
Paul Klemperer /Additional Personnel, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
Damien Llanes /Drums, Group Member, Vocals
Earmon McLauglin /Additional Personnel, Strings
Riley Osbourne /Additional Personnel, Piano
The Providence Horns /Ensemble
Carl Querfurth /Group Member, Trombone
Kim Wilson /Additional Personnel, Harmonica
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
Nick Curran's second album for Blind Pig Records features more of the retro-R&B that helped nab him the 2004 W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut. Once again, guitarist/vocalist Curran, drummer Damien Llanes, and bassist Preston Hubbard deliver an impressive old-school blues album that should catch newcomers off guard as well as please longtime fans. Showcasing a slightly harder edge à la Bee Houston, Player! flows nicely between uptempo shouters, slow and dirty ballads, and swing numbers. To these ends, Curran rips into the Little Richard speedball "Heeby Jeebies," does what he did for the Sonics' "Shot Down" to the Stooges' "No Fun," and outshouts Wynonie Harris on "Down Boy Down." It's Curran's originals, though, that usually make the biggest impression, and on that score Player! features some of his best. Notably, the title track is a rambunctious ass-mover that sticks in your ear and "Come Back" features Curran crooning against string backgrounds. Similarly, "Leavin'" is a slow shuffle with a nice twangy melody and "The Groovy Jam" finds Curran delving into Tiny Grimes-style rockin' swing with devastating charm. One of Curran's most diverse albums to date, Player! also features stellar performances by harmonica player Kim Wilson, guitarist David Leroy Biller, saxophonists John Doyle and Paul Klemperer, and Roomful of Blues' Providence Horns.
-----------------------------------------------------
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."
