DEEP WATER
by ELOUISE
SOUND SAMPLES from the release of ELOUISE debut album DEEP WATER:
A COLLECTION OF SONGS AND RECITATIONS.
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TRANSMIGRATION out now!
AVAILABLE ON CDBABY NOW!
Transmigration is a 5 song collaborative and continued deconstruction of historical American standards and original pieces created by the band Elouise and American Horror Story theme song composer César Dávila-Irizarry. An intersection of primitive American Folk, Industrial and Cinematic soundscapes. Sound weaving through the space and time continuum with apparitions of Americana standards and visitations of original songs haunted by ghosts in the machine.
"Davila-Irizarry's remixing of Elouise deepens the non reality aspect and adds significantly to the already surreal universe they have created." - Dave Bianco (Tom Petty, Lucinda Williams)
"Elouise's music is already other worldly, but Davila-Irizarry takes it out of the stratosphere. It is due out next week, and I can't wait for you to hear it. The remix of their version of "I'll Fly Away" will melt your faces." - Ear To The Ground
News & REVIEWS
"Elouise plays a primitive, angsty, menacing form of folk that uses vintage Appalachian string instruments and gear to squeeze the raw pain out of the psyche through song. - And yes, it’s as good as that makes it sound."
-COVER LAY DOWN
The boldness and the daring never lets up; from the compositions, to the instrumentation, to the vocal performances. It’s a kaleidoscopic trip through the American musical experience, with fragments and reflections of classics splitting with the most primitive of musical impulses. Every note of it is necessary and every rest in between the notes is full of profundity. “Art,” that taken for granted American birthright of so many generations past, gets a momentary resuscitation in the inspired hands of Elouise.
-PARCBENCH LIVE
If you want to pigeonhole Elouise, as most music fans and writers need to do – Imagine if Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams had a baby and that baby was raised by Mother Maybelle Carter – then you’d have Elouise.
-INNOCENT WORDS
"Deep Water is one of the most brilliant albums conceived and recorded in recent years. If you can't open your ears to the concept and appreciate the time and effort it took to pull this off, that's your problem. Truth be told, I can see this album being not only accepted but passionately embraced by a large percentage of Americana fans worldwide. Fans of any genre. Listen with headphones. In a dark room. With the volume turned up."
-NO DEPRESSION: THE JOURNAL OF ROOTS MUSIC
"It is the sound of sin and salvation mixed in a dark cocktail with a taste of Bluegrass, a black symphonic sound and weary emotional vocals that tell original tales of struggle and re-imagine songs from our collective Americana consciousness."
-AMERICANA DAILY
Elouise redefines what it means to be an Americana/Bluegrass band. it should be part of every serious music lover’s collection. It is gritty, provocative and real, and for that reason alone, we highly recommend it.
-INDIE VOICE
"The album is something of an epic journey into a genre of music they identify as Blackgrass... If the vocals don't get you, the surreal collection of instruments and the incredible songs most certainly will...It is an alternative work of art, file under excellent."
-BEEHIVE CANDY
"This incredible album takes deep dark old time hillbilly, gospel and blues (race music) to a depth of sinister unearthliness that has not been heard or even imagined for many decades and yet running counter to that it is also a recording of dark beauty. A case in point is album opener, I'll fly away, a gospel song written originally the best part of a hundred years ago by Albert Brumley, although he probably wouldn't have recognized this version but would undoubtedly have appreciated it."
-AMERICANA ROOTS UK
"If you’ve ever understood lyrics like ‘got Sunday meeting in the morning, gonna do my sinning tonight”, you’ve already got a leg up on this set. An utterly original set that you have to listen to at least twice...there hasn’t been a record with this kind of striking, damaged beauty in way too long. Killer stuff throughout..."
-MIDWEST RECORD
"I fucking love these lyrics: “Oh lord, you’re just too hard to please/And you ask too much of me/And I ain’t gonna get on my knees/I ain’t get gonna get on my knees and pray/’Til you and I get a few things straight.” How’s that for a fresh take on gospel?....
....If you like Holly Golightly And The Brokeoffs, check this out. I’m pretty sure you’ll love it.
-MICHAEL DOHERTY MUSIC LOG
".... The music is dense and intense and downright orchestral at times (if demons play in orchestras). One of my favorites so far this year, the album is titled Deep Water."
-FRANK GUTCH JR.
"Elouise deconstructs and reimagines classic songs like Amazing Grace, I’ll Fly Away and the sweaty revival tent of Fire and Brimstone (which sounds like an old Alan Lomax field recording) shaking these old chestnuts to their bones, revealing an underbelly of the darkness of Americana standards and turning them into a booze-sodden cry from America’s trailer park soul. These are haunting and beautifully dark sonic explorations." "Deep Water is the debut album from Elouise. A bold, unsettling collection of Blackgrass music...The thirteen tracks on Deep Water showcase the range and expression of Elouise’s depression and madness -- there is some fucked up and exquisite music in here. Give it a listen."
-MARK HASKELL SMITH
[SILENT NIGHT] The haunted, halting strings swirl around Elouise Walker’s cracked, broken voice, making a holiday hymn into a drawn-out, pained work of anguished beauty which reshapes the song and brings back fond memories of Chapel Hill grim realists Trailer Bride.
- BLURT / JASON GROSS
There may be a literal funeral pyre burning within the works Los Angeles-based Elouise, but that hardly slows down the macabre folk collective from entrancingly dark work on their debut record. Elouise certainly succeeds in creating an antiquated and surreal experience with the record, exemplified on “Fire and Brimstone.” What makes Elouise succeed is crafting the song with a sensibility of vagabonds – the simple authenticity speaks for itself. With all of the bombastic summer tracks dropping at any given minute, here’s one that defies the unnecessary glee.
-ELMORE MAGAZINE / JAKE TULLY
"Elouise releases her new album Deep Water in 2016 which, whilst steeped in the American Gothic, calls upon a rich and diverse mix of backgrounds from classical, rock, bluegrass and folk music. With a band made up of musicians who have played in symphonies, dabbled in theatre production and composed for television shows you can expect a strong cinematic leaning although it also maintains that feel of a music from an older world, one which was burdened by everyday hardships, something Elouise enhances with her wonderful weary drawl.
FOLK RADIO UK : The UK's Leading Folk & Roots Music Website and Radio Station
"Well, here’s a thing we’ve been waiting for: a subdivision of the Americana genre, with Elouise Walker and her band declaring their sound to be Blackgrass. Elouise Walker sings with the voice of one who should be kept away from small children."
- AMERICANA UK / JONATHON AIRD
Elouise Deep Water voted "Best Americana / Country Band 2016!"
-L.A. MUSIC CRITIC AWARDS
"...not the kind of gal you'd bring home to mama. Elouise has the kind of voice that's all jailhouse Mallory from "Natural Born Killers" with a distinct drawl and the creakiness of an old porch rocking chair. Backed with banjo, guitars, cello, fiddle, and sometimes drums, harmonium, horns, double bass, accordion, bandoneon and marxophone, this band plays morose into magnificent. It's the kind of outfit you'd expect to be from New Orleans (Nawlins), Baton Rouge, the Mississippi Delta, or somewhere just outside of Mobile, Alabama, but certainly not LA."
-CHAIN D.L.A. / STEVE MECCA
Their debut album Deep Water is a voyage of discovery, a trip into the fantastical and the damned and it is an expedition into the unknown in which to travel light and with great fondness of what you are about to experience.
-UNKNOWN
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‘OUT of the woods radio’ plays elouise cover of ‘angel of montgomery’
May 2, 2020
Thank you Jon! This is a well curated playlist featuring JOHN PRINE, ELOUISE, AMERICAN AQUARIUM, WATKINS FAMILY HOUR, ELIZA GILKYSON and many other amazing artists. CLICK ON 5/2/20 PLAYLIST.
CJMP 90.1 FM, British Columbia, KALH 90.5 FM, New Mexico, KBOG 97.9 FM, Oregon, KCHW 102.7 FM, Washington, KGIG 104.9 FM, California, KHOI 89.1 FM, Iowa, KPHD 93.3 FM, California, KXCR 90.7 FM, Oregon, KVRZ 88.9 FM, Montana, WEJP 107.1 FM, West Virginia, WGXC 90.7 FM, New York, WHPW 97.3 FM, Maine, WLSL 92.7 FM, Florida, WMNB 107.1 Massachusetts, WNEC 91.7 FM New Hampshire, WNHN, 94.7 FM, New Hampshire, WOTR 96.3 FM, West Virginia, WNPA 102.5 FM, Ohio, WRAQ 92.7 FM, New York, WRST Wisconsin, WSCS 90.9 FM, New Hampshire, WXDR 98.9 FM, Louisiana, WXHR 103.5 FM, Michigan, WYAP 101.7 FM, West Virginia, The Global Community Radio (stream service for radio stations), Boston Free Radio, Bumps Radio, The Global Voice, Homelands Radio, Radio Djerdan, Shout Radio, Sugar Country Radio, Sword Radio UK, WSSE Online, 920 WON The Apple
A big thank you to Wono Magazine for the kind review of our John Prine cover, Angel Of Montgomery!
May 4, 2020
We wrote a little about the inspiration below. Here is a link to the song:
https://soundcloud.com/user-481899170/angel-from-montgomery
"I have been watching the sun rise and fall from my window each day as the world turns inside out. Witnessing, from my tiny screen, the heroism of our first responders who risk it all each day, putting everything on the line for people they have never met. I feel that I have not been productive nor heroic, but am told I am saving lives by staying home. This will all be over one day. The struggle and losses of people we know and do not know are gut wrenching and real. The uncertainty is only quelled by the knowledge that we are all in this together. The death of the American treasure, John Prine, was a punch to the gut. With the help of my family and a friend in a remote location, we offer this humble tribute to Mr. Prine as we work towards collective healing. This song was recorded on day 30 of quarantine. Sometimes we all need something to hold on to in order to get through these difficult days. Here is a picture of Darragh O’Carroll MD (@dardager) apprehensively trying to protect himself and his team before he intubates a patient with CoVid 19. Hold on to that image. Remember his face when you get stir crazy. Put on a mask when you are outside to protect yourself and others. Do it for the health care workers who have to live this nightmare every damn day. It’s time to circle the wagons folks. Take care of each other, stay safe, and most of all....hold on." -Elouise
Produced and engineered in the living room by John Chamberlin. Elouise: Vocals, John Chamberlin: Guitar and Bass, Gillian Chamberlin: Piano and background vocals, Dan Ames: Pedal Steel. Written by: John Prine
“(It’s) as if everything's going too fast for Elouise while in the end she does keep up with the whole. In fact at the finish line she beats all competition with ‘Angel Of Montgomery’… it turns out the song is recorded in memory of recently deceased singer-songwriter John Prine, who died of Covid-19. What a way to honour someone!”
elouise receives 2018 award from ear to the ground
December 11, 2018
"When I heard, Transmigration, I was completely blown away. It was everything a collaboration should be...One of my top picks for the year.
.... when I first heard about Transmigration - the remix EP featuring California blackgrass group Elouise - remixed by composer Cesar Davilla-Irizarry (best known for his theme song to American Horror Story), I was intrigued. Elouise's music has an otherworldly quality to it, and the theme to American Horror Story - often starting up after a terrifying and shocking first scene is enough to scare me without the rest of the show.
-Joe Wolfe Mazeres
ELOUISE COLLABORATES WITH PHOTOGRAPHER KEN SCHLES on ‘Boots” video
November 4, 2018
A last minute public service announcement from Elouise. Featuring photos from Ken Schles. This video self destructs Nov. 7. Please share the hell out of this and VOTE! -Elouise
BRUTAL RESONANCE
Elouise and César Dávila-Irizarry Team Up for an industrial, folk infused cinematic EP "Transmigration"
April 22 2018
Altadena, California-based Americana/Folk band Elouise has teamed up with American Horror Story theme producer César Dávila-Irizarry to create and release a five track, cinematic and industrial influenced folk EP titled "Transmigration". "Transmigration" focuses on the definition of the word: the passage of a soul after death into another body; metempsychosis. You can purchase the album HERE.
We had no idea what to expect when we first met with César about a possible collaboration. Our musical worlds are polar opposites. We use old instrumentation and are influenced by historic music from the Anthology of American Folk Music. A good portion of the old Bluegrass songs that inspired us are actual field recordings. We are deconstructing. -Elouise
When I finished the first remix of "Oh Lord" I received a really nice reaction from Elouise Walker and John Chamberlin. That’s when I decided to push the envelope in a different direction; into a glitchy and more rock aesthetic. -César Dávila-Irizarry
TRANSMIGRATION ep AVAILABLE TODAY ON CD BABY!
April 20 2018
transmigration: FEELING LIKE ELVIS IN 1953.
April 19 2018
Dear Ms. Grant
Though I enjoy listening to contemporary music such as bluegrass, roots, blues, and blues-rock, my main musical interest is in Medieval & Renaissance, Baroque, and other pre-Modern classical music.
To the limited extent I have been able to force myself to listen to Elouise, I find it highly distressful, corrosive, and emblematic of post-Modernist decay. I cannot say a good word about that kind of creativity. Rather than wish them well, I wish them reformation and renewal.
Let me know of your release of bluegrass, roots, blues, and blues-rock, but let me learn no more of industrial sludge, praytell. -Jerry Jewett
Sonidos Laterales
April 16 2018
Thank you for sharing our new release with César Dávila-Irizarry Transmigration due out on 4.20.18
Voilanoir announces transmigration release
April 16 2018
"In the context of California, it would be superfluous to mention another interesting group in the region. It's about Elouise Music and their upcoming collaboration with César Dávila-Irizarry - the author of the soundtrack for the series "American Horror Story." The fruit of their collaboration will be an EP called Transmigration, which will be released on April 20 and will combine elements of dark-country and gothic-American with cinematic industrial soundscapes."
"oh Lord" from Transmigration on Ear To The Ground with Joe Wolfe-Mazeres
APRIL 12 2018
Oh man, I have been so excited to talk about this forthcoming EP - it's called Transmigration and it teams our favorite blackgrass band - Elouise from California with composer Cesar Davila-Irizarry best known for composing the score to the show American Horror Story on some remixes of tracks from Elouise's debut album Deep Water. Elouise's music is already other worldly, but Davila-Irizarry takes it out of the stratosphere. It is due out next week, and I can't wait for you to hear it. The remix of their version of "I'll Fly Away" will melt your faces. Since there are no videos yet of the remixes - I have included a clip of the original song and a clip of the AHS theme.
REGEN MAGAZINE: Elouise teams up with American Horror Story theme composer for new EP
APRIL 11 2018
Based in Altadena, CA, Blackgrass band Elouise will be releasing a new EP, titled Transmigration, on April 20. Bridging together elements of gothic Americana with cinematic industrial soundscapes, Transmigration features five tracks on which the band collaborates with composer and sound designer César Dávila-Irizarry, best known for co-writing the theme song to the hit AMC series American Horror Story. “I had wanted to get my hands on a good band’s raw material so I could dissect it and recreate it in my own musical language where I blur the line between music and sound design,” Irizarry states, having dissected essentially remixed three of the original tracks from Elouise’s Deep Water debut, released in July of 2016. Of the merger of the band’s primitive folk deconstructionist style with Irizarry’s more electronically minded approach, the band states, “We had no idea what to expect when we first met with César about a possible collaboration,” further commenting, “The big commonality we have is that we both have the tendency to deconstruct and go off the rails. We gravitate to a musical world that gets pretty dark. Variations on Black.” A five-time BMI Award winner, the Los Angeles based Irizarry elaborates also that he mined from his early influences of the WaxTrax! era and the midwest industrial aesthetic along with his experiences living in his native Puerto Rico and his studies in experimental art and music in Chicago. “I wanted to continue the exploration of Afro-Caribbean rhythms in more experimental music like many of my Puerto Rican avant-garde colleagues have done. It’s something that has been in the minds of many of us since we were kids in the ’90s.” Transmigration also features a new rendition of the June Carter classic “Ring of Fire,” along with “Eyes of Duque,” an original composition by Irizarry. The EP will be a digital-only release available via CDBaby and iTunes. A music video for the album track “I’ll Fly Away” was released earlier this year, with Irizarry making a guest appearance.
TRANSMIGRATION 'I'll fly away' REMIX ON KPFK los angeles HEADROOM WITH BARRY SMOLIN
APRIL 1 2018
Hear the new remix of 'I'll Fly Away' by Elouise and American Horror Story theme song composer Cesar Davila-Irizarry off our new EP Transmigration. It doesn't officially release until 4.20.18. The song originally written in the 1920's by Albert E. Brumley.
TRANSMIGRATION HURRICANE REMIX ON KPFK HEADROOM WITH BARRY SMOLIN
MARCH 25 2018
Hear the new remix of Hurricane by Elouise and American Horror Story theme song composer Cesar Davila-Irizarry. It doesn't officially release until 4.20.18. Playing alongside Led Zeppelin Live Concert 1/9/70 Royal Albert Hall London. Another killer radio show from Mr. Smolin.
‘I’LL Fly away’ makes folkworld video list
March 2018
The Elouise version of “I’ll Fly Away” from the recently released album "Deep Water"[61] is a Blackgrass rendition of the 1927 Bluegrass standard written by Albert E. Brumley, refering to death and the afterlife as the ultimate freedom from this life and it’s struggles. Elouise backdrops the video with black & white images to match the sombre mood. Watch "I'll Fly Away" @ Vimeo!
Elouise on new episode of Tribes on Ditty TV
February 9th 2018
An All New Episode Of Tribes Airs Friday @ 6PM
CURRENT COVERS EDITION:
Feufollet – Baby’s On Fire (Brian Eno)
Old Crow Medicine Show – Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Live) (Bob Dylan)
The Wood Brothers – Ophelia (The Band)
ELOUISE – I’ll Fly Away (Albert E. Brumley)
Amy Helm – Good News (Sam Cooke)
I'm With Her – Send My Love (To Your New Lover) (Adele)
Madeleine Peyroux – Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On) (Allen Toussaint)
The Bones of J.R. Jones – Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Live) (Skip James)
Billy Bragg & Joe Henry – The L And N Don’t Stop Here Anymore (Live) (Jean Ritchie)
Charley Crockett – The Jamestown Ferry (Tanya Tucker)
Cyndi Lauper – Funnel Of Love (Wanda Jackson)
Elouise Honors MLK with "Moral Code video"
JAN 15, 2018
In an emergency, Morse code can be sent by improvised methods that can be easily “keyed” on and off, making it one of the simplest and most versatile methods of telecommunication. The most common distress signal is SOS or three dots, three dashes, and three dots, internationally recognized by treaty. Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. It is a stripped down communication system that does not have the targeted bias of social media, television and other forms of modern communication. Compared to voice, Morse code is less sensitive to poor signal conditions, yet still comprehensible to humans without a decoding device. Morse is, therefore, a useful alternative to synthesized speech for sending automated data to skilled listeners on voice channels. It is a communication method used for messages of immediacy and necessity. It is used as last resort.
In this film, Morse code translates significant speech that has defined the moral code of our country for the last half of this century. Sound waves and signals of varying degrees of clarity and decay pass over our time continuum that spans past, present and future. The message reverberates over open skies and dilapidated man made structures and desolate landscapes reaching to the edges of the electronic urban grid. A desperate attempt to continue to communicate simple ideologies of decency and human equality with immediacy and intent. By acknowledging the abandon and neglect of ideas that have defined the social progress and evolution of our nation and the failings of modern modes of communication, a state of ethical emergency has been declared.
“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” -Martin Luther King Jr. August 28, 1963
The film was exhibited at SOUNDPEDRO 2017. See video above on this site to view.
'i'll fly away' video of the week on dittytv
OCT 16, 2017
AMERICANA DAILY FEATURES 'i'll fly away'
OCT 14, 2017
elouise on the curve ditty tv! wednesday oct 18th 8pm pacific!
OCT 11, 2017
I'LL FLY AWAY ViDEO on BOB SEGARINI
OCT 4, 2017
Elouise is one of the damndest bands I have come across the past few years. They call their music blackgrass or darkgrass or something but I think it’s just plain demented… in varying degrees, of course. Closest band I can think of to them would be one of my all-time favorites— Sinking Creek. Here is the latest vid from Elouise. bobsegarini
I'LL FLY AWAY ViDEO pREMIERE ON ALTERNATE ROOT
SEPT 26, 2017
The Premiere of The New Elouise Video "I'll Fly Away"--Their Blackgrass Take on The Traditional Song--is up at The Alternate Root Magazine! http://www.thealternateroot.com/elouise.html
ELOUISE DEEP WATER video on fun facts at DITTY TV 6/22/17
JUNE 20, 2017
Excited to announce that this Thursday 6/22 Ditty TV will have new episode of "Fun Facts" that will have-not one-but FIVE (!!) KG Music Press artists on the roster! Speed Buggy, Ben Bostick Music, Joe Goodkin, AJ Hobbs and Elouise Music11am PST (1pm CST, 2pm EST) Many thanks Robin Bender and Sam Shansky!!
http://dittytv.com/ You can watch DittyTV in the comfort of your own living room on Cable TV using your Tivo equipped cable box. But the music doesn’t stop there – you can enjoy DittyTV on any connected device including SmartTVs, Roku, AppleTV, FireTV, ChromeCast, Mobiles, Computers and Tablets – you get the idea.
ELOUISE DEEP WATER ALBUM REVIEW BY CHAIN D.L.A.
JUNE 19, 2017
Well, this is certainly different! You've undoubtedly heard of Bluegrass music; you know - banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle, etc., country style finger-picken, toe-tappin' good-timey stuff. Well, this ain't that. This is Blackgrass music, the antithesis of Bluegrass. From the band's one-sheet: "Fueled by a sordid real-life backdrop of good old-fashioned suicides, murders, and alcoholic depravity followed by church on Sunday, Elouise is an eccentric collaboration of Los Angeles-based musicians who came together to create an ominous, raw and cinematic genre of music they identify as Blackgrass. It is the sound of sin and salvation mixed in a dark cocktail with a taste of Bluegrass, a black symphonic sound and weary emotional vocals that tell original tales of struggle and re-imagine songs from our collective American consciousness." And that's the doggone truth, so help me Gawd. The CD cover ought to give some sort of clue- five ne'er-do-wells in stark black & white standing in front of a decrepit barn. That's got to be Elouise Walker (whom the band was named after) in front with them dead eyes (actually, too much eye shadow), not the kind of gal you'd bring home to mama. Elouise has the kind of voice that's all jailhouse Mallory from "Natural Born Killers" with a distinct drawl and the creakiness of an old porch rocking chair. Backed with banjo, guitars, cello, fiddle, and sometimes drums, harmonium, horns, double bass, accordion, bandoneon and marxophone, this band plays morose into magnificent. It's the kind of outfit you'd expect to be from New Orleans (Nawlins), Baton Rouge, the Mississippi Delta, or somewhere just outside of Mobile, Alabama, but certainly not LA.
The album is a mix of inspired originals and deconstucted and re-imagined classics such as "I'll Fly Away," "Amazing Grace," the Carter Family's "Shadow of the Pines" and Link Wray's "Fire and Brimstone." These ain't yo daddy's versions of these chestnuts; this is pure Elouise Country Gothic, slowed and simmered, steeped in the blood of the lamb, and kissed by the devil. One of the best tracks on the album is the booze-fueled "Saturn Bar," a Dixieland style funerary march to that famed New Orleans watering hole where danger lurks at every turn. It's a flavor Elouise capture perfectly, the sour taste, the smoky ambiance, the surrealness of the moment. They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Elouise proves it in "Hurricane" with her witchy warble over over pounding toms. (Best not go on any dates with a girl named Katrina.) For a brief respite from Ms. Walker, one of the guys in the band, Rich Dembowski takes over vocal duties on a couple of numbers, the best of which is "Oh Lord." Vocally he comes across like a combination of Ray Davies and Leon Russell, with the song more the latter than the former. Gotta love a line that goes, "...I ain't gonna get on my knees, I ain't gonna get on my knees and pray, til you and I get a few things straight.." There's also an amazingly sad gypsy cello and double bass solo by Michelle Beauchesne and William Bongiovanni titled "Evil." Any one of these songs would have been excellent to play over the end credits for the HBO "True Blood" series, but too bad that's long gone now.
This kind of music isn't going to be everybody's cup 'o mud, and to be perfectly honest, country, western and bluegrass is some of my least favorite music. (The only thing worse in my world is rap and hip hop.) But I have to say for me, Elouise holds some kind of fatal attraction. -Steve Mecca
ELOUISE "I'LL FLY AWAY" ON WXNA NASHVILLE. THX DOUBLE SHOT WITH JOE AND SUE
JUNE 18, 2017
'I'll Fly Away' still spinning in the triple digits on wrrw williamsburg Virgina
Elouise Blackgrass cover of Albert E. Brumley's 1929 hymn 'I'll Fly Away' still spinning on Revolutionary Radio. 275+ spins and counting!
June 18, 2017
ELOUISE AT SOUNDPEDRO.ORG
A short film by Elouise screens on Saturday June 3 from 5-9pm at Soundpedro in Angels Gate Cultural Center San Pedro CA. Bring a jacket and a flashlight. See website for all artists participating. It's FREE! Update: It's in the main gallery upstairs until the end of June.
May 31, 2017
Elouise 'Saturn Bar' on the VINYL DISTRICT
APRIL 19, 2017
https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/201
Ear To The Ground gets 'Evil'
MARCH 16, 2017
"Evil" by Elouise -And we close with an ominous sounding instrumental by California blackgrass band - Elouise from their incredible debut album Deep Water.
A Spoon Full of Estrogen Helps the Music Go Down (Easier)— A Glance at The 81s with Luella, Elouise, and Goldie Wilson; Plus Notes…
MARCH 15, 2017
Are These Guys Famous Yet?
Elouise is not the first band to drag me through swampwater. A few years ago, a little known band out of Roanoke VA planted eggs in my ears which hatched and slowly ate their way from the left ear to the right— or was it right to left— and worked their way back again. Sinking Creek, they were called, and they were an amalgamation of swampgas and rancid water put to music. Don’t get me wrong. I loved them, but I thought I would never hear anything quite as eerie unless alligators began mating with Swamp People and escaped the sludge for a chance to lay down their weary tunes. Then Elouise oozed out of SoCal with their formulated swampgas and I was stuck in quicksand again.
Deep Water, as emanated through the video above, was the first thing I heard and I was thinking, wow, Sinking Creek, but I was wrong. There was a whole album of unearthly sounds I would work my way through before the end of the album. I listened to that album a lot for awhile and every time was a new experience. In the daytime it was uplifting but unnerving. On rainy days, depressing but in a very mellow way. At night, anywhere from disturbing to downright frightening.
The voice is the key— sometimes apathetic and droning, sometimes musically incoherent, sometimes anathema to the music itself. Very dramatic, it changed not just with the song but the phrase. I had to write about it, whether I could understand it or not, and here is my review as published in No Depression. -Frank Gutch Jr.
CATCH ELOUISE ON OUT OF THE WOODS RADIO THIS SATURDAY 3/18!
elouise: the interview on 50thirdand3rd
Music Made In The Shadow Of The Pines , Meet – Elouise
MARCH 5, 2017
50thirdand3rd Elouise Interview
'I'll Fly Away' spinning in the triple digits on wrrw williamsburg Virgina
MARCH 5, 2017
AMERICANA ROOTS UK GIVES ELOUISE 'DEEP WATER' EPIC ALBUM REVIEW
MARCH 2, 2017
HERE ARE SOME EXCERPTS. CLICK LINK FOR THE ENTIRE REVIEW BY MIKE MORRISON
First c.d review of the month is one of the longest I've written and certainly longer than anything I'm likely to write in the future! It is called 'Deep Water'...
....This incredible album takes deep dark old time hillbilly, gospel and blues (race music) to a depth of sinister unearthliness that has not been heard or even imagined for many decades and yet running counter to that it is also a recording of dark beauty. A case in point is album opener, I'll fly away, a gospel song written originally the best part of a hundred years ago by Albert Brumley, although he probably wouldn't have recognized this version but would undoubtedly have appreciated it.
...Elouise's feminine but character laden deep bluesy vocal adds to the scary atmosphere that evokes the old 'flood' songs that were written and performed by artists such as Charlie Patton when singing about the great Mississippi floods of the early 20th century.....in many ways [ELOUISE] has the feel of a deep dark blues that echoes the eerie atmosphere of old timers such as Dock Boggs.
....This is without doubt one of the highlights of the year for me. I've mentioned just a few of the songs above but there is so much that has great originality and uniqueness that despite the ridiculous length of this review I could go on for even more pages, but don't worry, I won't! Suffice to say that you have never before heard a recording of Amazing grace that even gets close to Elouise's version and as for Silent night ..........! Buy a copy of the album and listen through headphones on a dark gloomy winter night when you're on your own if you must.
50thirdand3rd record of the day: 'Saturn Bar'!
FEBRUARY 28, 2017
"...On this Fat Tuesday, join me and dig on this track from Elouise . After all of the serious amount of fun I’ve had over these last few days, this is about as close as I can get to perfection in music. Give a listen to this track and get lost in these blues laden , jazzy undertones from Elouise." -50Thirdand3rd
BEEHIVE CANDY FEATURES 'SATURN BAR'
FEBRUARY 27, 2017
Elouise 'Saturn Bar' : An original booze-sodden cry from America’s trailer park soul.
I have spoken highly of Elouise before and the chance to feature another track from their incredible album is an absolute pleasure. Put simply the band are unique, exceptional and should be heard!
'hurricane' on "deep breakfast with chris" KDNK colorado
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
SATURN BAR on www.WLUW.org 88.7 FM Chicago
FEBRUARY 25, 2017
Spinning on MARDI GRAS WEEKEND "New Orleans Music Hour" . Thanks Tom Jackson!
BOOZE AND BLACKGRASS. FREE DOWNLOAD OF SATURN BAR. READ THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG.
FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Americana uk album review of deep water
FEBRUARY 20, 2017
Well, here’s a thing we’ve been waiting for: another subdivision of the Americana genre, with Elouise Walker and her band declaring their sound to be Blackgrass. It’s distinctive from the already familiar Southern Gothic by (for the most part) eschewing the overtly “spooky” overtones and concentrating more on dissipation, disassociation and a generally downtrodden and bleak outlook on life – and then coupling that with reworked Bluegrass and Old Timey standards. Amazing Grace, to just take one such, swings back and forth like a drunken addict mumbling to herself in a cracked and wheezing vocal which carries little conviction of the reality of the salvation that’s being claimed. The same trick applied to Silent Night makes for a seasonal warning – Elouise Walker sings with the voice of one who should be kept away from small children, whilst the interplay between six string banjo and slide guitar on the one hand and a deeply mournful cello and double bass on the other just add to the ominous feeling that something bad is about to happen. That same cello and bass combine on Evil to produce a darkly brooding instrumental that would grace any rural based slasher movie that was looking for a soundtrack for the stalking the terrified teens through the long grass scenes.
As well as the imaginative conjunction of bluegrass and classical instruments making for a series of menacing vignettes when combined with Elouise Walker’s voice there are other dark avenues that the band explore. I’ll be good to you paints a scene of an uncommitted romantic user – Rich Dembowski sounds smoothly convincing over a simple guitar line and subtle pedal steel, but he’s not crooning endless fidelity, rather the opposite: “I’ll be there for you not through sleet and snow / I’ll be there for you until I have to go”. Elsewhere there’s Fire & Brimstone which stomps along like the zombie Carter Family, singing about an apocalyptic judgement day “I saw a fire, fire and brimstone, coming down on my head / I was all alone” and Saturn Bar which brings in a New Orleans voodoo vibe on a tale of low down living and the achievement of bar crawling redemption as “liquor hits my lips like it’s communion”. Deep Water is an album of Americana for the Walking Dead generation, taking what we think we know and then not hiding the harshness of life with a pretty tune.
Summary
What do you get if you mix Bluegrass with classical instruments, a touch of the blues, a New Orleans funeral procession brass section and tales of bad things happening to people with terrible problems? According to Elousie Walker and her band: Blackgrass, and who are we to argue? 7/10
ELOUISE NAMED BEST REVISITED CD AT KDNK CARBONDALE COLORADO
FEBRUARY 10, 2017
KDNK Acoustic Renegade GOES DARK WITH BLACK HORSES & EVIL
FEBRUARY 6, 2017
WYCE 88.1 Grand Rapids MICHIGAN spins evil & black horses
FEBRUARY 4, 2017
weru 88.9 blue hill & 99.9 bangor Maine playing deep water!
FEBRUARY 2, 2017
ELOUISE ON ROTATION AT 'RADIO FREE AMERICA'!
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
DEEP WATER SPINNING ON 'RADIO VAGABOND'
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
Feels good to be snuggled up on a playlist between Dwight Yokum and the Drive By Truckers! Good listening!
RADIOVAGABOND
HURRICANE ON WYCE 88.1 Grand Rapids MICHIGAN
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
Thanks KDNK Carbondale Colorado for spinning a handful of our songs!
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
Big thanks to KDNK for spinning Elouise: Shadow of the Pines, Deep Water, Hurricane and Silent Night!
KXCI 91.3FM TUSCON PLAYS 'I'LL FLY AWAY ' OFF OUR DEBUT ALBUM DEEP WATER!
JANUARY 29, 2017
ELOUISE NAMED BIGGEST SURPRISE CD AT KDNK CARBONDALE COLORADO
JANUARY 27, 2017
ELOUISE DEEP WATER MAKES THE BEST OF 2016 ON AMERICAN ROOTS UK RADIO!
JANUARY 17, 2017
Elouise (deep Water) awarded best Country/Americana Band by LA MUSIC CRITIC awards!
JANUARY 15, 2017
Thanks to all of our fans that voted and thanks to LA MUSIC CRITIC for supporting independent artists!
'I'LL FLY AWAY" IN ROTATION ON REVOLUTIONARY RADIO WRRW 102.5 WILLIAMSBURG VIRGINIA PUBLIC RADIO
JANUARY 15, 2017
ELOUISE CLOSES DOWN 2016 WITH SILENT NIGHT IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
DECEMBER 31, 2016
South Australian Blues closes down 2016 with Elouise 'Deep Water' and 'Silent Night'!
ELOUISE A 2016 FAV OF MICHAEL DOHERTy'S MUSIC LOG
DECEMBER 31, 2016
Thanks for listing Elouise as a musical highlight of 2016! We are in great company! See full article:
Elouise wins earie award for silent night!
DECEMBER 29. 2016
"Silent Night" by Elouise :"EARIE ALERT": Award goes to Elouise. Self-described "Blackgrass" music - Bluegrass noir. Deep Water - their debut album - is definitely one of my favorites of 2016. Yes, this is a Christmas song, but it is also a track from the album, and it is undeniably one of the best/most original versions of the song that I have ever heard. Haunting music and vocals. - EAR TO THE GROUND
Elouise nominated for Best Country/Americana Band of 2016. we need your vote! click below and leave comment to vote
December 27, 2016
OR EMAIL: lamusiccritic@gmail.com
KPFK 90.7 FM HEAD ROOM KICKS OF XMAS NIGHT W ELOUISE & the best of 2016!
Elouise kicks off Barry Smolin's Christmas broadcast on Head Room. Highlight Reel for the Best of 2016 along with Nick Cave, Robert Rex Waller Jr. and more. Elouise 'Saturn Bar' and 'Silent Night' close down 2016. LISTEN NOW...
HEADROOM BEST OF 2016
TUNE IN CHRISTMAS EVE FOR ELOUISE ON 'OUT OF THE WOODS RADIO'
LISTEN NOW TO THE HOLIDAY SHOW WITH ELOUISE, LORETTA LYNN, DALE WATSON, GILLIAN WELCH, THE WAILIN' JENNYS & MORE.
http://www.outofthewoodsradio.com/
CJMP 90.1 FM British Columbia, WMNB 107.1 Massachusetts, WRAQ 92.7 FM New York, WSCS 90.9 FM New Hampshire, WXHR 103.5 FM Michigan, WYAP 101.7 FM West Virginia, KGIG 104.9 California, KONR 106.1 FM Alaska, KXCR 90.7 FM Oregon, KVRZ88.9 FM Montana, Boston Free Radio, Bumps Radio, The Global Voice,
ELOUISE DEEP WATER AND SILENT NIGHT ON THE GREATEST HITS OF 2016 LIST
NO MATTER WHAT YOUR TASTES IN MUSIC THIS LIST IS VERY THOUGHTFUL AND A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE BEST OF 2016! See Jason Gross, editor of music magazine Perfect Sound Forever's picks!
Americana Daily features silent night
DECEMBER 23, 2016
THE CHRISTMAS EDITION OF ALTERNATIVE ROOTS
DECEMBER 18, 2016
ELOUISE, LEONARD COHEN, DRIVE BY TRUCKERS, MASSY FERGUSON, THE KILLERS AND MORE! LISTEN NOW! ALTERNATE ROOTS CHRISTMAS EDITION 2016
WATCH elouise on ditty tv!
TUNE IN THIS SUNDAY DEC 11TH at http://dittytv.com Video Debut: Elouise “Deep Water” Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM CST on Campfire. (3pm PST, 6pm EST) VIA iPHONE OR ROKU. It is a free Americana Music video channel!
ELOUISE WANTS FANS TO HAVE A FREE SILENT NIGHT!
DECEMBER 2016
GET YOUR BLACKGRASS ON DURING THE HOLIDAYS. FREE DOWNLOAD OF SILENT NIGHT ON SOUNDCLOUD FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER.
https://soundcloud.com/user-481899170/silent-nightlisten TO elouise on 'out of the woods radio' Show #348 - 12-10-16
ELOUISE, NEIL YOUNG, GILLIAN WELCH, LORETTA LYNN, JOHN PRINE AND MORE! LISTEN NOW!
http://www.outofthewoodsradio.com/
BEEHIVE CANDY: Move aside seasonal slush, ELOUISE IS HERE!
DECEMBER 9 2016
Elouise is back with their menacing Blackgrass rendition of the Holiday classic “Silent Night” and are offering a free download for the month of December.
Move aside seasonal slush, no room for sentimental songs here today. This is how you do 'Silent Night', followed by a large measure of Bourbon and ice (I'm guessing that's an acceptable brew for alcoholic depravity)...
CHRISTMAS IS COMING...HERE IS ELOUISE!
DECEMBER 6 2016
GIVE BLACKGRASS INSTEAD OF COAL (COAL IS EXPENSIVE)
DECEMBER 5, 2016
Damn! I was just linked to Elouise's "Silent Night," a track from the band's last album. I forgot how good that album is! Swear to God, if you want something beyond the pale, this might well be it! Got a husband who thinks he knows everything? Stuff this in his stocking! Tired of hearing the same old classics? Put on Elouise's "Deep Water" album! Here is what I had to say when the album was released, complete with video to convince you how really cool music can be when it is stretched to a limit. -Frank Gutch Jr. http://nodepression.com/album-review/elouise-deep-water
DEEP WATER ON South australian roots and blues
DECEMBER 1, 2016
ELOUISE ON SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ROOTS AND BLUES
FOLK WORLD
NOVEMBER 16, 2016
Elouise "Deep Water" (2016). Suicides, murders and alcoholic depravity followed by church on Sunday make up the musical world of Los Angeles-based Elouise Walker and William Bongiovanni. Drones combined with traditional Bluegrass is the signature sound they call Blackgrass. The Bluegrass Situation premieres the Carter Family song "Shadow of the Pines"! Check out the Link Wray song "Fire and Brimstone" @ Vimeo!
innocent words spins Elouise "deep Water" AS ELECTION RESULTS SINK IN
NOVEMBER 9, 2016
100.1FM KRUU THE VOICE OF FAIRFIELD iowa SPINS I'LL BE GOOD TO YOU
OCTOBER 15, 2016
AMERICANA ROOTS UK CALLS ELOUISE DEEP WATER A TREMENDOUS RECORD!
SEPTEMBER 2016
THANKS FOR PLAYING DEEP WATER AND I'LL BE GOOD TO YOU! http://www.americanrootsuk.com/2016-archive.html
INDIE VOICE REVIEWS ELOUISE DEEP WATER
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
Deep Water is the debut album from alt country/Americana band Elouise, based in the small Los Angeles community of Altadena. With a sound the band calls “Blackgrass” and which sounds eerily like something out of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, Elouise redefines what it means to be an Americana/bluegrass band. Composed of Elouise Walker, John Chamberlin, Rich Dembowski, Michelle Beauchesne and William Bongiovanni, the band adds some amazing guest musicians to the mix, including Dave Aron on clarinet, Sam Prevost on trombone and Colin Nairne on mandolin.
Among the high points of this album are the original arrangements they have given to such stalwart and traditional hymns as “I’ll Fly Away” and “Amazing Grace.” This music would be perfect for placement in television and film, especially on a show like NCIS: New Orleans.
This is an album that needs to be experienced from start to finish, as each track builds on the previous one to create a soundtrack of life in the deep south.
Recommendation: We would be remiss if we did not give this debut album a rating of Get It. While no one could possibly say that the album is pretty or vocally stunning, it should be part of every serious music lover’s collection. It is gritty, provocative and real, and for that reason alone, we highly recommend it.
ELOUISE FEATURED ARTIST ON SABLUES: BLUES AND ROOTS MUSIC IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA #260
SEPTEMBER 2016
ELOUISE ON SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ROOTS AND BLUES
LONESOME HIGHWAY REVIEWS ELOUISE DEEP WATER
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
Although this is under singer Elouise Walker’s name, it is a group effort with the other four featured on the album cover who play a major part in making the music. Deep Water was produced by Walker and John Chamberlin and the production technique was to keep it as raw and field recording-like as possible. Most of the songs are original, but fit neatly with those from other sources such as the opening I’ll Fly Away (written by Albert E. Brumley) and a sombre version of Amazing Grace which has new music by band member Richard Dembowski. Takes on Silent Night and Link Wray’s Fire and Brimstone follow a similar route, a path that can be imagined as wandering through creaking twisted trees, abandoned graveyards, dark moonlight shadows and perhaps even a crossroads at midnight.
Walker and Dembowski, along with John Chamberlin, Michelle Beauchense and Willam Bongiovanni share the majority of the composing credits in different combinations. All, however, understand this pre-electric vision and no matter which is the composer, they have a similar feeling for the patina of times gone by. Walker’s vocals are delivered as if through a cracked radio speaker or carnival style megaphone. This is not music designed to cheer the soul or get you in the party mood. Once in the musical deep water it is easy to surrender to the atmosphere and sink down into a world of death, murder and decay which is actually grist to the mill for a music rooted in bygone times where morbidity and murder ballads were common. Both Walker and the band are gifted exponents of this musical eeriness and use all the instruments at their disposal to bring these songs and recitations to life. Trombone, cello, tuba, banjo, harmonium, lap steel, double bass and percussion all feature, giving a distinctive texture to the music, as do the occasional lead vocals from Dembowski.
It is music that might scare some away, but will equally attract those drawn to its rich, heart of darkness. There are, naturally, 13 tracks which may appeal to those who enjoyed the song and ballads recorded at the dawn of technology as well as those who have been drawn to the music of the likes of 16 Horsepower and Th’ Legendary ShackShakers in their non-electric moments. Although the album is credited to Elouise in fairness it would seem to be more of an Alice Cooper set-up with all participants contributing to a fairly unique take on a potent musical soundscape, one self-described as “Blackgrass”. Stephen Rapid
EAR2THEGROUND: Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Jump Back Down Mix
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
EAR TO THE GROUND FEATURES 3 ELOUISE SONGS ON ONE PLAYLIST! SHADOW OF THE PINES, FIRE AND BRIMESTONE AND EVIL! TGIF!!!!!! E2TG
EAR2THEGROUND:Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Wicked Turns Mix
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
EPIC MIX PUTS ELOUISE SONG HURRICANE BACK TO BACK WITH VAN HALEN! E2TG
EAR2THEGROUND:Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Imitation Soul Mix
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
EAR TO THE GROUND FEATURES OH LORD! ET2G
KPFK 90.7 FM : HEAD ROOM
SEPTEMBER 11, 2016
KPFK SPINNING SATURN BAR! LOVE BEING PLAYED ALONGSIDE NICK CAVE. THANKS TO BARRY SMOLIN / HEADROOM FOR SUPPORTING LOCAL MUSIC!
the rocking magpie: ELOUISE DEEP WATER: ALBUM REVIEW
AUGUST 17, 2016
Elouise are a loose collaboration of LA musicians who have come together because of their love of ‘Blackgrass’ and a better name I couldn’t have invented myself.
The atmospheric intro to I’ll Fly Away could come from a Peckinpah Western and when Elouise Walker’s world weary voice crawls from the speakers I was instantly hooked. The melody somehow blends Delta Blues with a Scottish Presbyterian Dirge and is quite wonderful!
If you are still with us by track #3 Saturn Bar, you are in for another rare treat. It opens with the sound of beer being poured then a funereal New Orleans style Jazz band slowly caress Elouise’s sultry voice on a gorgeously brooding tale of a seedy bar in the 9th Ward.
It’s a similar ‘feeling’ on Oh Lord! with Rich Dembowski joining her on lead vocals as the band pump it up like a church organ on a hot Sunday morning.
Oh my, oh my oh my……the track Evil is just a cello and double bass so low on the register your teeth will shake and a more fitting title there isn’t.
There are two cover versions here and Elouise’s dirty reconstruction of Amazing Grace will stay with you for a long, long time….I know it has me; and who the Hell would ever expect a low down Delta interpretation of Silent Night that will make this Christmas Carol never sound the same for you…ever? I absolutely love both songs btw.
This isn’t really the type of album that will transfer to the radio or the mainstream but Rich Dembowski’s crooning on the misogynistic love story I’ll Be Good To You could scrape into one of those cool late at night shows that only the cool kids know about.
I genuinely love this album; especially the dark Blues of Black Horses; with Elouise recounting her father’s terminal illness over another funereal tune that harks back to the days when Bessie Smith was the Queen of the Blues.
This album certainly isn’t for everyone, as Mother Magpie will testify; but if you spotted the monochrome cover in a record store and picked it up; you certainly wouldn’t be disappointed by the contents. -Alan Harrison
elouise 'Deep Water' on out of the woods radio
AUGUST 13, 2016
Thanks Jon Colcord for playin us along with Dylan, Gillian Welch and The Watkins family Hour.
CJMP 90.1 FM British Columbia, WMNB 107.1 Massachusetts, WRAQ 92.7 FM New York, WSCS 90.9 FM New Hampshire, WXHR 103.5 FM Michigan, WYAP 101.7 FM West Virginia, KGIG 104.9 California, KONR 106.1 FM Alaska, KXCR 90.7 FM Oregon, KVRZ88.9 FM Montana, Boston Free Radio, Bumps Radio, The Global Voice, Homelands Radio, Neopa Community Radio Ohio, PineKONE Radio, California, Sword Radio UK, Shout Radio
madmackerel features shadow of the pines and I'll Fly away by Elouise
AUGUST 11, 2013
Good old fashioned suicides, murders, and alcoholic depravity followed by church on Sunday—Welcome to Elouise— an eccentric collaboration of Los Angeles-based musicians who came together to create an ominous, raw and cinematic genre of music they identify as Blackgrass.
Debut album Deep Water is a mix of low end drone and virtuosic strings combined with sounds from traditional Bluegrass instrumentation.
DOUBLE SHOT WITH SUE AND JOE WXNA FM NASHVILLE PLAYS BLACK HORSES BY ELOUISE!
AUGUST 6, 2016
THANKS JOE WOLFE-MAZERES!
Elouise East Jesus is Song of the Week on Omstreifere!
JULY 28, 2016
Check out Omstreifere facebook page. See translation to read in English!
Elouise Saturn Bar featured on Little lighthouse
JULY 28, 2016
Today we introduce two new names from the London scene. The Excellos, who inherit traditions of the fruitful pub rock scene, and loud rockers The Fireworks. Stonefield are three ladies from Victoria in Australia. Elouise Walker from Los Angeles fronts the new band named after her first name, Elouise. We wrap things out with two singer songwriters, Steve Dawson from Canada and Graham Winchester from Memphis TN.
http://www.littlelighthouse.net/?tag=elouise-walker
'amazing grace' ON out of the woods radio
JULY 23, 2016
CJMP 90.1 FM British Columbia, Saturday 1pm p.s.t.
WMNB 107.1 Massachusetts, Saturday 7pm e.s.t.
WRAQ 92.7 FM New York (check schedule)
WSCS 90.9 FM New Hampshire, Saturday 7pm e.s.t.
WXHR 103.5 FM Michigan (Sunday 1 pm)
WYAP 101.7 FM West Virginia (check schedule)
KGIG 104.9 California (check schedule)
KONR 106.1 FM Alaska, Tuesday 1 pm ak.s.t.
KXCR 90.7 FM Oregon, Tuesday 10 pm, Thursday, 7 am p.s.t.
Boston Free Radio, Sundays 7 am e.s.t.
Bumps Radio, Wednesday, 3 pm e.s.t.
The Global Voice, Sundays 4 pm e.s.t., and
Monday>Tuesday 12 am e.s.t.
Homelands Radio, Tuesday 8 pm e.s.t.
Neopa Community Radio Ohio (check schedule)
PineKONE Radio, California (check schedule)
Sword Radio UK, Thursday, 11 am e.s.t.
Shout Radio (check schedule)
50THIRDANDTHIRD: VIDEO OF THE DAY: ELOUISE FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
JULY 22, 2016
This video is straight out of my childhood, with a little church and the harmonies of everyone singing loud and driven in the background. Which may be why I can’t get enough of this traditional bluegrass met with a mix of dark and dramatic classical instruments in which they call their signature sound of Blackgrass, a sound that Elouise so shamelessly and boldly creates. Elouise Walker and William Bongiovanni have nailed every aspect of this Link Wray classic, from the dark clothes they wear to the dark expressions on their face, singing of purgatory, sin and the darkness that surrounds our weary souls. The eccentricity of this music is brought to the front, for us to wrap our minds and hearts around the sound. This song along with many others can be found on their debut album, Deep Water out now.
http://www.50thirdand3rd.com/video-day-fire-brimstone-elouise/
DEATH COUNTRY VK.COM putting the 'Dick' in dixie and the 'cunt' in country
JULY 19, 2016
Thanks for featuring 3 Elouise songs and our videos, Deep Water gets a five heart rating! Love the site!
radio americana
JULY 18, 2016
Radio Americana plays Elouise Shadow of the Pines . In good company with Colin James and our friends The High Bar Gang.
KPFK 90.7 FM : HEAD ROOM
JULY 17, 2016
BARRY SMOLIN KICKS OFF HEAD ROOM WITH "DEEP WATER" BY ELOUISE! THANKS FOR SUPPORTING LOCAL MUSIC!
freight train boogie #350 by bill frater
JULY 16, 2016
BILL FRATER SPINS ELOUISE 'BLACK HORSES' FOR IT'S PODCAST DEBUT ON FREIGHT TRAIN BOOGIE!
FREIGHT TRAIN BOOGIE PODCAST #350
AMERICANA DAILY: FEATURING ELOUISE FIRE AND BRIMESTONE VIDEO AND ALBUM RELEASE
JUNE 15, 2015
http://www.americanadaily.com/2016/07/elouise-fire-and-brimstone.html
red dirt report: Elouise debut album "Deep Water" goes over swimmingly with RDR
http://www.reddirtreport.com/rustys-music/elouise-debut-album-deep-water-goes-over-swimmingly-rdr
JULY 14, 2016
ALBUM REVIEW: Elouise - Deep Water: A Collection of Songs and Recitations (ElouiseMusic.com) 2016
I gently put the black and gold CD into my car CD player. I hear the first beat; I’m hooked. A tune so familiar to me but I cannot yet place it. The sultry, soulful voice of Elouise (who is the singer of the band that is named after her) comes on and I immediately remember the tune, “I’ll Fly Away” from my childhood at small town musical revivals.
The dark lyrics, I recall, from a normally upbeat tempo has been reimagined with a darker tune to match.
Elouise does a phenomenal job of combining bluegrass with bluesy and darker undertones, on their debut album Deep Water, with a music style which they are calling “blackgrass.”
Blackgrass, as stated in the accompanying press release, is “the sound of sin and salvation mixed in a dark cocktail with a taste of bluegrass.”
I ponder to myself, where has the blackgrass genre been my whole life?
Recorded in a living room in Altadena, California, this quintet - which includes Elouise Walker, Rich Dembowski, John Chamberlin, Michelle Beauchesne, and William Bongiovanni - have renewed my love of true vocalists and real, talented musicians.
The group has utilized classical instruments mixed with a plethora of worn-down instruments, which has given new life to run down old accordions and pianos holding on to its last few notes. As a musically educated person, they have also introduced new instrument sounds to my ears, including the bandoneon and harmonium.
Bluegrass and a mixture of old hymns have been reintroduced and made new, and I am loving every beat of it! When I close my eyes with the album on, I am instantly taken to a place where the road ends, dancing in the bayou, underneath the stars surrounded by lightening bugs. The sound is hauntingly beautiful.
Elouise has instantly became one of my favorite bands, which is saying a lot, my favorites are all legends.
With the highest regard, I will add Elouise to my list.
I am so very ecstatic for the release of the album on July 15, 2016 so I can share this band with the world.
-ALLISON N. EVANS
PARCBENCH LIVE: New Americana: Elouise — ‘Deep Water’
JULY 12, 2016
https://parcbench.live/2016/07/12/new-americana-elouise-deep-water/
It is a swampy, nearly kinetic experience. The songs on Elouise’s new album, Deep Water, are enough to send you to swimming lessons, as futile as that may be, considering the murky depths the songs take you. The soundscape presented on the entirety of the album is overwhelming (in a good way) in its specificity and authenticity. Listening to it, you find yourself playing all parts: protagonist, antagonist, witness, crime reporter, and strictly observing angel. If it’s any help, since words don’t usually suffice when it comes to highly original music, Elouise calls their trademark sound “Blackgrass.” I couldn’t agree more.
The boldness and the daring never lets up; from the compositions, to the instrumentation, to the vocal performances. It’s a kaleidoscopic trip through the American musical experience, with fragments and reflections of classics splitting with the most primitive of musical impulses. Every note of it is necessary and every rest in between the notes is full of profundity. “Art,” that taken for granted American birthright of so many generations past, gets a momentary resuscitation in the inspired hands of Elouise.
Essential Downloads: Let’s face it, this is one of those old fashioned albums, where every track depends on and is supported by the others. If you are going to take the ‘Deep Water’ voyage, the only way to do it is to listen to the whole event. Try it and see if you disagree. You won’t.
ELMORE MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE: Watch Elouise’s peculiar Brand Of Bluegrass on Their Track “Fire and Brimstone”
JULY 10, 2016
There may be a literal funeral pyre burning within the works Los Angeles-based Elouise, but that hardly slows down the macabre folk collective from entrancingly dark work on their debut record.
In the video for “Fire and Brimstone,” Elouise brings some gloomy fascination to form with a lo-fi surrender to the Link Wray classic. Elouise Walker and William Bongiovanni are playfully wry with their purgatory-like setting rife with percussive jawbones and furtive outfits that hearken back to a ditch digger’s wardrobe. In what the band defines as “blackgrass,” the group’s latest embodies the jaunty nature of bluegrass while diving deep into the black waters that surround the themes associated with pickin’.
“Our blackgrass version of “Fire and Brimstone” was inspired by early foot-stomping tent revivals and is comprised of primitive percussion and untethered harmonies,” the band shared with us. “We captured it live in the living room in just one take, using only a couple of mics. We wanted it to be spontaneous, raw and unproduced, like an old Alan Lomax field recording from the 1930s. The song was originally written in 1971 by father of the power chord, Link Wray, and, although our sound is a departure from the original, the lyrics were a perfect fit for our debut album Deep Water. The album captures the sounds of sin and salvation, mixing in a darker taste of bluegrass, a black symphonic sound and weary emotional vocals that tell original tales of struggle and re-imagine songs from our collective Americana consciousness. We approached the making of the video with the same raw immediacy of the song. We did not want it overproduced, and filmed and edited it in one day at the house.”
Elouise certainly succeeds in creating an antiquated and surreal experience with the record, exemplified on “Fire and Brimstone.” What makes Elouise succeed is crafting the song with a sensibility of vagabonds – the simple authenticity speaks for itself. With all of the bombastic summer tracks dropping at any given minute, here’s one that defies the unnecessary glee.
-JAKE TULLY
Liverpool Sound and Vision : Elouise, Deep Water. Album Review.
JULY 10, 2016
There is a whisper in the air, the sound of something exciting and eccentric, the electricity of a corrupted heart nestling in the ambience of a decadent groove and it is a wickedness that is amongst the very best of albums that will stick in the listener’s minds; the whisper of the unique and powerful always has that effect.
For Elouise, a collaboration of Los Angeles based musicians which include Rich Dembowski, John Chamberlin, Michelle Beauchesne, William Bongiovanni and Elouise Walker, their debut album Deep Water is a voyage of discovery, a trip into the fantastical and the damned and it is an expedition into the unknown in which to travel light and with great fondness of what you are about to experience.
The mixture of harmony, of deliberate fascination with the world of cinema and the trek in to the world of darkness is an alluring mix, a tantalising reminder of the art that is often missed when music tries to keep the portentous at bay.
The heady combination of multi layered instruments, the banjo that cradles the warmth of the Bluegrass effect is one that creates the symphony that unfolds around the listener as if they are marking time in the back row of the movie playhouse, the enjoyment of the spectacle all coming together as celluloid and the first pangs of love collide.
It is as baring witnessing the long steady line of cinematic classics all being played day in day out, the ability to step inside the realm of the cutting room and adding the effect of music in which can only enhance the film and take it to a new height. Cinema may be the art that all seem to flock to but it is nothing without the interpretation of music giving it a guiding hand.
In tracks such as Saturn Bar, Shadow of The Pines, Hurricane and I’ll Be Good To You, Elouise rise above the expected and give expression the freedom it requires to breathe, to spread out beyond the confines imposed by natural music law and become something different, something sinister and captivating; glamorous and femme fatale noir dangerously evocative.
Deep Water is not for the shallow or the small minded, it is for those who can see beyond the profound and enjoy the physical reality of excellent, well driven thoughtful lyrics. Intense and pleasurable, Deep Water is a true reflection of humanity’s darker side. - Ian D. Hall
'SHADOW OF THE PINES' ON out of the woods radio
JULY 9, 2016
CJMP 90.1 FM British Columbia, Saturday 1pm p.s.t.
WMNB 107.1 Massachusetts, Saturday 7pm e.s.t.
WRAQ 92.7 FM New York (check schedule)
WSCS 90.9 FM New Hampshire, Saturday 7pm e.s.t.
WXHR 103.5 FM Michigan (Sunday 1 pm)
WYAP 101.7 FM West Virginia (check schedule)
KGIG 104.9 California (check schedule)
KONR 106.1 FM Alaska, Tuesday 1 pm ak.s.t.
KXCR 90.7 FM Oregon, Tuesday 10 pm, Thursday, 7 am p.s.t.
Boston Free Radio, Sundays 7 am e.s.t.
Bumps Radio, Wednesday, 3 pm e.s.t.
The Global Voice, Sundays 4 pm e.s.t., and
Monday>Tuesday 12 am e.s.t.
Homelands Radio, Tuesday 8 pm e.s.t.
Neopa Community Radio Ohio (check schedule)
PineKONE Radio, California (check schedule)
Sword Radio UK, Thursday, 11 am e.s.t.
Shout Radio (check schedule)
ELMORE MAGAZINE : ELOUISE DEEP WATER ALBUM REVIEW
http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/07/reviews/albums/elouise
JUNE 15, 2015
These here are some murky waters, folks. In what positions itself as the most Flannery O’Connor release of 2016, Elouise’s Deep Water takes us down the garden path of delirium, decay, and macabre imagery – all the while sounding remarkably optimistic. There’s remarkably little fatalism despite the onslaught of gloom and doom Elouise is proselytizing, even in the refreshingly grim cover of the classic “I’ll Fly Away.”
There’s a looming shadow that Elouise threads along ever so carefully, even down to the found photography in the record’s gatefold that makes a fiddle look as menacing as the adjacent photo of a jawbone. It’s never superfluous – the race to her sound of ruination is a slowed mosey. However, Deep Water is markedly vintage – something that inexplicably comes with the territory of instrumentation that leads to ruination.
Deep Water positions Elouise in a way that makes her seem as though she’s been in our musical vernacular since, say, the origins of The Handsome Family. What separates her from the gruesome-obsessed troubadours of the 90’s isn’t just being forced to exist out of a zeitgeist within a zeitgeist. Rather it’s Elouise’s ability to seem as though she loathes the monotony of recording a glum record fixated with antiquated noise. Make no bones about it, she does a fine job in releasing a record that fits the aforementioned criteria – it’s just that she doesn’t seem unnecessarily obsessive in its execution. Kudos to perfectionists with borders.
– Jake Tully
KPFK 90.7 FM : HEAD ROOM
JULY 3, 2016
CHECK OUT THESE SHOWS! WE ARE IN GOOD COMPANY! THANK YOU BARRY SMOLIN FOR PLAYING "HURRICANE" ON HEAD ROOM AND "I'LL FLY AWAY" ON FOLK SCENE!
THE GRATEFUL WEB
JULY 1, 2016
Deep Water: A Collection of Songs and Recitations, creates an eccentric musical junket through alternate realities, sonically blurring the lines between what we know as Americana standards and original stories that feel like they are somehow part of a historical musical archive.
http://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/elouise-set-release-deep-water-july-15
the bluegrass situation
SONG PREMIERE: SHADOW OF THE PINES BY ELOUISE
JUNE 6, 2016
http://www.thebluegrasssituation.com/read/listen-elouise-shadows-pines
In Their Words: "‘Shadow of the Pines’ was recorded as an homage to bluegrass royalty, the Carter Family. The Carter Family version, 'In the Shadow of the Pines,' was recorded in 1936. It is filled with lyrical loneliness, heartache, and despair recalling the overwhelming sorrow of a lost love that is so intense, the landscape acts as a witness and grieves with lines like 'the moon looked down on you and me' and 'the pine trees sobbed in pity o’ er my head.'
Our interpretation of 'Shadow of the Pines' -- with its raw, lonely vocal and weeping cello -- is the closest musical utterance to actual bluegrass on our debut album, Deep Water. In a project that has been called blackgrass (raw, primitive, angsty folk), it is the most beautiful and fragile musical expression on the record and a reminder that darkness and beauty often go hand in hand. When we stumbled upon the lyrics, we were so moved that we did not listen to the original until after we had recorded our version. We wanted it to be an honest and heartfelt translation.” -- Elouise Walker
baby sue
JUNE 2, 2016
We're not even certain that there is a 'dark bluegrass' genre but it seemed like the most appropriate way to classify what the folks in this band are up to. After typing that sentence, we read the press release that accompanied this album and found that the band had already come up with a term to describe their music, and we were at least getting kinda close. The folks in Elouise refer to their music as blackgrass. Both terms fit. This Los Angeles, California-based band uses traditional instruments to create some slightly moody and provocative music. Deep Water is the band's debut, but you'd never know it from the mature sound of these tracks. The overall sound here reminds us of a mixture of underground bands from the 1990s with the bluegrass tinged flavor of modern Americana. Strange combination, and probably the first band we've heard teetering into this kind of territory. The band is comprised of Elouise Walker, John Chamberlin, Rich Dembowski, Michelle Beauchesne, and William Bongiovanni. Thirteen smoky tracks here including "I'll Fly Away," "Deep Water," "Oh Lord," "Black Horses," and "Fire and Brimstone."
INNOCENT WORDS
JUNE 1, 2016 Troy Michael
In music, the murder ballad is an art form. To make a memorable murder ballad, not only do you need to have a compelling story, but the music must fit that story. No one did the murder ballad better than the blues men of the early 1900s and Johnny Cash who, in my opinion, is the king of the murder ballad.
Usually these types of songs would roll out of the south or Appalachian country, but don’t tell that to the band Elouise. This Los Angeles-based band is taking the art of the murder ballad to a whole new level.
The five-piece band (Elouise Walker; John Chamberlin; Rich Dembowski; William Bongiovanni; Michelle Beauchesne) has unleashed their debut album and it is one of the most unique debuts I have heard in sometime.
Forgoing modern instruments, the band uses an upright bass, the marxophone, six-string banjo, bandoneon and harmonium, and just about anything to keep a drum beat. The vocals of Walker range from nasally to a guttural cry all being sung through, what sounds like a vintage ribbon microphone to give her voice that classic reverb from the early 1900s.
All 13 songs are slow in pace, sometimes menacing, sometimes cinematic, but always engaging. At times it feels like you are listening to the soundtrack to a horror movie, at other’s, it sounds like a sit down around the campfire with family singing traditional music – they do cover “Amazing Grace” and Silent Night,” like you have never heard before.
‘Deep Water’ is a poetic album, full of stories, full of life, even though they are usually singing about death. It’s not a “happy album” as you might have guessed, but you do not want to turn it off once the first lines of “I’ll Fly Away” come on.
If you want to pigeonhole Elouise, as most music fans and writers need to do – imagine if Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams had a baby and that baby was raised by Mother Maybelle Carter – then you’d have Elouise.
music morsels review
MAY 31, 2016
This L.A. based songstress/vocalist has something dark going on inside her. She lets it loose with her cohorts to intoxicating effect. Kisses of Bluegrass, carnival music, folk and even a waft of punk fuel her tortured but poignant vocals as she weaves tales of her twisted gospel. This is not merely soul-snaring music. The music is eccentric with horn ejaculations, piano, a variety of stringed instruments and stoic rhythm section, but the talent here is obvious. You know you have to strap in for this journey with the wicked take of the revival classic “I’ll Fly Away” that launches the CD. On “Saturn Bar” you can actually smell Bourbon Street after bar time while “Hurricane” feels like a fight with demons in some overgrown forest. “Shadow Of The Pines” is an amazing light of beauty shining through the gloom. Well the music tends to be undeniable dark (even the takes on “Amazing Grace” and “Silent Night”…yes, THAT “Silent Night”) there is so much depth here that you can’t help but be enthralled by it. It may take a couple listens…it did with me, but I was then hooked. If you give it a chance you will be, too. – MW
KPFK 90.7 FM : HEAD ROOM
MAY 29, 2016
THANK YOU BARRY SMOLIN FOR PLAYING "DEEP WATER" ON HEAD ROOM!
CROSSROADS RADIO
MAY 29, 2016
THANK YOU PLAYING "I'LL BE GOOD TO YOU" FROM ELOUISE ALONGSIDE HARD WORKING AMERICANS, TONY JOE WHITE AND THE FELICE BROTHERS!
KPFK 90.7 FM : HEAD ROOM
MAY 15, 2016
THANK YOU BARRY SMOLIN FOR PLAYING "HURRICANE" FROM ELOUISE DEEP WATER ON HEAD ROOM!
INSURGENT COUNTRY
MAY 13, 2016
THANKS FOR INCLUDING ELOUISE DEEP WATER ON NEW RELEASES TO WATCH PAGE!
EAR2THEGROUND MUSIC
MAY 11, 2016
That "Amazing Grace" done up right by Elouise... whom I recommend highly! The album is called Deep Water and is due out in July. People are starting to notice as they should.
KPFK 90.7 FM : HEAD ROOM
MAY 8, 2016
THANK YOU BARRY SMOLIN FOR PLAYING THE TRACK "SATURN BAR" FROM ELOUISE DEEP WATER ON HEAD ROOM AND CALLING IT ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE RECORDS!
AMERICANA DAILY
ELOUISE RELEASE THEIR NEW ALBUM "DEEP WATER” FILLED WITH RAW AND CINEMATIC BLACKGRASS
MAY 2, 2016
Fueled by a sordid real-life backdrop of good old fashioned suicides, murders, and alcoholic depravity followed by church on Sunday, Elouise is an eccentric collaboration of Los Angeles-based musicians who came together to create an ominous, raw and cinematic genre of music they identify as Blackgrass. It is the sound of sin and salvation mixed in a dark cocktail with a taste of Bluegrass, a black symphonic sound and weary emotional vocals that tell original tales of struggle and re-imagine songs from our collective Americana consciousness.
Using a mix of Classical and Bluegrass instrumentation combined with an array of eclectic instruments including the marxophone, six-string banjo, bandoneon and harmonium, Elouise layers their sound with dark and beautifully dramatic European strings like the cello and double bass. This idea of low end drone and virtuosic strings combined with sounds from traditional Bluegrass instrumentation is the signature sound of Elouise and Blackgrass. Add in world-weary and guttural vocals paired with instruments like the bandoneon (which produces one of the saddest sounds imaginable) and you get a musical experience that captures a distinctly original, emotionally fraught and unforgettable sound.
KPFK 90.7 FM : HEAD ROOM
MAY 1, 2016
THANK YOU BARRY SMOLIN FOR KICKING OFF HEAD ROOM WITH "I'LL FLY AWAY" BY ELOUISE!
https://soundcloud.com/head-room-480440229
MIDWEST RECORDS
APRIL 28, 2016
Really putting the Goth in southern gothic, this set is what would have resulted if Nico and Siouxsie Sioux met the devil at the crossroads. In what would other wise be punk country, this crew starts out playing it sort of straight, realizes it’s not possible and calls their version of bluegrass blackgrass. Very apt. If you’ve ever understood lyrics like ‘got Sunday meeting in the morning, gonna do my sinning tonight”, you’ve already got a leg up on this set. An utterly original set that you have to listen to at least twice because the first pass will leave you feeling like this is a soundtrack for a suicide, there hasn’t been a record with this kind of striking, damaged beauty in way too long. Killer stuff throughout that’s sure to abort your preconceived notions.
Michael Doherty's music log
APRIL 26, 2016
Elouise is a fairly new band dipping into the darker side of folk, bluegrass and gospel. The album opens with one of those covers, the oddest rendition of “I’ll Fly Away” I’ve ever heard. It begins with a kind of slow, mean sound, very different from the positive tones I normally associate with this song. It’s a really interesting take on this gospel tune written by Albert E. Brumley.
“Deep Water,” the CD’s title track, is an original tune, written by Elouise Walker. The harmonium and cello create an interesting texture at the start of this one. And then the simple, repeated strumming has such a sad, defeated sound, perfectly setting the mood before the vocals come in nearly two minutes in, asking for help: “I’m sinking fast/It’s murky and cold/Someone rescue me/I need a hand to hold.” But at the same time she sounds resigned to her fate, not desperate or overly eager for the help that likely won’t come. “I’m in deep water/I’m going down alone/In over my head/I’m sinking like a stone.”
That’s followed by “Saturn Bar,” a fun, mean tune written by Elouise Walker and Richard Dembowski. If you like Holly Golightly And The Brokeoffs, check this out. I’m pretty sure you’ll love it. It’s a seriously cool song. And the horns give it a dark New Orleans feel (Saturn Bar is a venue on St. Claude Ave. in New Orleans, and the song’s lyrics mention Louisiana: “Along worn down edges of Louisiana streets we ride/Straight to an atmosphere where heaven and hell collide”). The horn arrangement is by David Stout. It sounds like voodoo jazz. This is one of my favorite tracks on this CD. “I’m lost in purgatory well after closing time.” I am also incredibly fond of “Black Horses,” which was also written by Elouise Walker and Richard Dembowski, featuring some wonderful stuff by John Chamberlin on Marxophone.
Richard Dembowski takes lead vocal duties on “Oh Lord,” a song that he also wrote. I fucking love these lyrics: “Oh lord, you’re just too hard to please/And you ask too much of me/And I ain’t gonna get on my knees/I ain’t get gonna get on my knees and pray/’Til you and I’ve got a few things straight.” How’s that for a fresh take on gospel?
The CD concludes with two more covers. The first is an unsettling, haunting, creepy rendition of “Silent Night.” Man, if it had sounded like this when I was a kid, it would have scared me. But it also might have kept me interested in religion and all that. I will certainly be adding this to my personal Christmas play list.
AXS
ELOUISE IS IN DEEP WATER by Will Pheonix
APRIL 24, 2016
....Imagine the late Snakefinger as a gal with a(n acoustic) guitar with a fondness for bluegrass. If that doesn’t work for you then think of Cat Power with a taste for dark, 1920s material. Truth to tell, all you really might need to do is keep listening.... this album offers a unique blend of old school bluegrass and traditional tunes with new, dark offerings...The themes are familiar but the band seems to have abandoned the friendly song structures....“Amazing Grace” ...is a tuneful teardown of a traditional spiritual song. This would no doubt fly well with the college radio crowd.There is a musical mix of light and dark (more dark than light), conventional and unconventional instruments and uninhibited often simple vocals. So check out Elouise’s Deep Water. You just might acquire a peculiar taste for their own brand of “Fire And Brimstone”.
NO DEPRESSION: the journal of roots music
ALBUM REVIEW: ELOUISE DEEP WATER by Frank Gutch Jr.
APRIL 21, 2016
Note: While one might think this is a negative review, think again. Deep Water is one of the most brilliant albums conceived and recorded in recent years. If you can't open your ears to the concept and appreciate the time and effort it took to pull this off, that's your problem. Truth be told, I can see this album being not only accepted but passionately embraced by a large percentage of Americana fans worldwide. Fans of any genre. Listen with headphones. In a dark room. With the volume turned up. Now, to the task at hand.
I'm driving down the road at two in the morning, tired, an albums length away from home. Of the three CDs I have with me, only one has remained unheard. I slip it into the player and turn up the sound, hoping to ward off the sleep demons and some of the most godawful music I've ever heard starts to ooze out of the speakers--- the vocals vampish, dark--- the stringed instruments sounding waterlogged or warped or maybe strung with actual catgut. There doesn't seem to be more than two chords and it drones on in a sort of apathy and I'm thinking about tossing it out the window (okay, that's just a euphemism, whatever a euphemism is) but something prevents it. Track two--- two different chords and a voice that does not sound like it has been phoned in. Is this about death? Track three--- New Orleans jazz? Trumpet, trombone? What the hell? I get it. The album is soundtrack from the Twenties. Old black-and-white cartoons flash before my eyes. But it has a hook, if hook you can call it. Track four--- a bizarre take on “Amazing Grace?” Is it actually “Amazing Grace?” It is so far out there I can't tell. Track five--- something straight out of border radio--- so backwoods and immediate it sounds like it was recorded at the radio station those clowns visited in O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
All thoughts of tossing the CD are gone now. I'm beginning to understand and the more I understand the more I like it only now it is beyond like. I am falling in love with this album. Shades of The Beige's El Angel Exterminador it is, stretching and pushing and pulling in terms of creativity with just enough musical cache to hold it together.
Track seven--- “Evil.” A study in bass viol... or is it vitriol? Deep, deep texture. Short but not sweet. My mind thuds. Again, what the hell?
Track eight--- “Hurricane.” Voice slightly distorted, shades of Alice Texas. Not talking blues but it is talk, of sorts. Rhythm and chaos. Pounding drums, orchestral dissonance. Film music a la The Last Rites of Ransom Pride. Desert on the duster.
Track ten--- More music for black-and-white cartoons. Deep, dark and yet somehow uplifting.
“Silent Night?” Are you kidding me? Not anything like the Christmas song outside of the lyrics. Again, what the hell? But it is good! Really good! It just isn't for Christmas anymore.
Kim Grant, the publicist who sent me the CD, could have warned me. Rich Dembowski is part of this band. He was the force behind Old Californio, a band everyone should research and a band I love(d). Kim knows this. His old buddy, pedal steel player Woody Aplanalp, who was also with Old Californio, plays on a track also. This isn't anything like Old Californio. It is quite unlike the vast majority of things I've heard.
They call it blackgrass. I suppose there is a reason. I didn't read the promotion sheet which came with the CD. I didn't want it to cloud my judgment. I'm almost afraid to read it now. I could easily have gotten everything wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
There is one final what-the hell. Here it is April 21st and the album is scheduled for release July 15th. That's too long to wait. Petition the band. Hound them. Stalk them. This is an album some of you need to hear, if only to regain your faith in music again. They can be reached at elouisemusic.com.
Oh, and before I forget. This is the first album I have come across in some time which sounds like its album jacket. Ponder that, if you will.
BEEHIVE CANDY
ELOUISE: BLACK HORSES
APRIL 18, 2016
'Black Horses' is just a small flavour of the album 'Deep Water'. The album is something of an epic journey into a genre of music they identify as Blackgrass. The album cover somehow hints at what's in store across thirteen songs. If the vocals don't get you, the surreal collection of instruments and the incredible songs most certainly will. It is at times dark, ominous and intriguing. It is also an alternative work of art, file under excellent.
EAR2THEGROUND MUSIC
ELOUISE DEEP WATER
APRIL 18, 2016
This is the brilliant title track from their new album due out in the summer. This was my first listen and I am hooked.
album REVIEW BY MARK HASKELL SMITH
Acclaimed author Naked At Lunch, Raw, Salty, Baked, Delicious, Moist and Heart of Darkness
MARCH 25, 2016
Fueled by a sordid real-life backdrop of good old fashioned suicides, murders, and alcoholic depravity followed by church on Sunday, Elouise is an eccentric collaboration of Los Angeles-based musicians who came together to create an ominous, raw and cinematic genre of music they identify as Blackgrass. It is the sound of sin and salvation mixed in a dark cocktail with a taste of bluegrass, a black symphonic sound and weary emotional vocals that tell original tales of struggle and reimagine songs from our collective Americana consciousness.
Elouise deconstructs and reimagines classic songs like Amazing Grace, I’ll Fly Away and the sweaty revival tent of Fire and Brimstone (which sounds like an old Alan Lomax field recording) shaking these old chestnuts to their bones, revealing an underbelly of the darkness of Americana standards and turning them into a booze-sodden cry from America’s trailer park soul. These are haunting and beautifully dark sonic explorations. They also create original songs: the funereal Dixie-land march to the nearest Sazerac in Saturn Bar; the gypsy-cello slow burn of Evil; the vengeful chant of the world’s most disturbed ex-lover in Hurricane, and the title track Deep Water, a fragile suicide ballad, proclaiming “Kiss me goodnight forgive me my sins. I’m goin’ to the bottom, not comin up again.”
Deep Water is the debut album from Elouise. A bold, unsettling collection of Blackgrass music recorded in the living room of a 1920’s ramshackle hacienda tucked away in the California foothills. The thirteen tracks on Deep Water showcase the range and expression of Elouise’s depression and madness -- there is some fucked up and exquisite music in here. Give it a listen.
cover lay down
NEW ARTISTS, OLD SONGS: 2016 RISING STARS (THE OH HELLOS, ELLE KING, ELOUISE & MORE!)
January 10, 2016
Formed complete with a soundtrack-composers-turned-album-makers mythos, new “blackgrass” collective Elouise plays a primitive, angsty, menacing form of folk that uses vintage Appalachian string instruments and gear to squeeze the raw pain out of the psyche through song.
And yes, it’s as good as that makes it sound.
Tipped off by a tense, scratchy Christmas cover of Silent Night that was anything but calm and bright, we had to go looking for more. Their forthcoming debut, the aptly-named Deep Water, drops in 2016, and we’re eager for it: check out this beautiful whole-cloth deconstruction of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition, and a pair of traditionals reborn as stunning gothic hymns, to hear why, and then click through for originals of equal delight on their website.
50THIRDANDTHIRD: WRITTEN BY MUSIC JUNKIES FOR MUSIC JUNKIES
RECORD OF THE DAY IS "I'LL FLY AWAY" BY ELOUISE
DECEMBER 18, 2015
So I grew up in the South where hymns flow through my head without me realizing what exactly it is that I am humming, which brings me to our record of the day, “I’ll Fly Away” by Elouise. Sounds of blackgrass, a sub-genre of bluegrass, mixing the influence of storytelling and strong, raw emotion. Elouise brings dark images to my mind as the thick, drowning vocals surrounded by the scratchy acoustics surround my thoughts, both intriguing and beautiful in a deviant and desperate way. Sounds of pain and struggle accompanied with a menacing tempo give me chills and I want to dive deeper.
folk radio uk: The UK's Leading Folk & Roots Music Website and Radio Station
DECEMBER 16, 2015
Elouise releases her new album Deep Water in 2016 which, whilst steeped in the American Gothic, calls upon a rich and diverse mix of backgrounds from classical, rock, bluegrass and folk music. With a band made up of musicians who have played in symphonies, dabbled in theatre production and composed for television shows you can expect a strong cinematic leaning although it also maintains that feel of a music from an older world, one which was burdened by everyday hardships, something Elouise enhances with her wonderful weary drawl. For a taste of what’s to come Watch the video for the albums title track, Deep Water,
...We’re guessing that most of you certainly won’t have heard a version of ‘Silent Night’ like this before.
blurt
ANNUAL BLURT CHRISTMAS ALBUM GUIDE
DECEMBER 22, 2015
Admittedly, you have every right to be suspicious of any music that calls itself “Blackgrass”- a goth take on bluegrass- but the settings here are so graphic that they’re moving, pushing aside any question of kitsch. The haunted, halting strings swirl around Elouise Walker’s cracked, broken voice, making a holiday hymn into a drawn-out, pained work of anguished beauty which reshapes the song and brings back fond memories of Chapel Hill grim realists Trailer Bride. Not a carol anymore but emotional and stirring nevertheless. And wouldn’t you want to see a black-clad chorus reenacting this? Get your gloom at https://soundcloud.com/user-481899170/silent-night.
no depression: THE ROOTS MUSIC AUTHORITY
DECEMBER 22, 2015
[Elouise] creates an ominous cinematic soundscape that blends instrumental and storytelling influences from bluegrass traditions with virtuosic strings, alternative old world instrumentation and raw gritty vocalizations seeped in desperation and pain. Deconstructing traditional song material within a languid tempo and menacing, dusty and often times rickety musical foundation wrought with emotional turmoil, human struggle and themes of the afterlife.
AMERICANA DAILY
INTRODUCING ELOUISE AND THE BIRTH OF BLACKGRASS
DECEMBER 17, 2015
..."calling upon raw emotion and a seasoned stable of musicians whose experience ranges from classical, rock, bluegrass and folk, to create songs that sometimes depart from traditional song structure leading to deviant musical inroads."
TIMBER AND STEEL: AUSTRALIA'S HOME OF NU-FOLK,TRAD, ROOTS, ACOUSTIC, INDIE AND MORE
THE BEST FOLKY CHRISTMAS SONGS OF 2015
DECEMBER 22, 2015
Thank You Timber and Steel for Putting the Elouise version of Silent Night on the list of the best Christmas songs for 2015. Other Artists on the list were Allison Krauss and Robert Plant, The Felice Brothers, Sufjan Stevens
50THIRDANDTHIRD: WRITTEN BY MUSIC JUNKIES FOR MUSIC JUNKIES
RECORD OF THE DAY IS "SILENT NIGHT" BY ELOUISE
DECEMBER 22, 2015
More Music by Elouise...A dark and deviant version of blackgrass "Silent Night"
axs
ELOUISE WANTS FANS TO HAVE A FREE "SILENT NIGHT"
DECEMBER 18, 2015
"The song is performed in their signature music genre of blackgrass. ...a genre that decontstructs traditional song material within a languid tempo and menacing, dusty and often times rickety foundation wrought with emotional turmoil, human struggle and themes of the afterlife."
Blabber n’ Smoke glasgow
December 17, 2015
north carolina WNCW radio spins silent night
December 2015
PHOTOGRAPHS
ELOUISE IS:
JOHN CHAMBERLIN, ELOUISE WALKER, RICH DEMBOWSKI, MICHELLE BEAUCHESNE, WILLIAM BONGIOVANNI
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