About Me
Formed in 1991, the band has evolved through many incarnations, five cds, trips around the world and mostly the joys of playing a lot of music on Martha's Vineyard where most of them live.Johnny juggles a full life where he takes advantage of his many skills including stone masonry, fishing, antique dealing, farming. Somehow he manages to do all the gigs as well. He came to the Island in 1978, and has been there since.Jeremy has been with the band for most of its life - since the summer of '93. The band started out as a four piece with no piano, became a five piece for several years, and then returned to a four piece configuration, this time with no bass, and it's been that way for almost 10 years. Jeremy's connection with the Island started before he was born and he's been there on and off ever since.Paul arrived from Texas in 1997 after a famous stint with The Red Devils in LA. He had gone back to Denton and Austin to form his own band with his friend and fellow guitar master Johnny Moeller, and Johnny Hoy found him at the right moment and asked him to come up and play with us. With a couple of breaks, he's been with the band since he got here.Chris came aboard in 2000 and he and Jeremy have been the rhythm section all along. He
stays around Boston - we can't make him move down here. A real city boy. We call him Baby Dynamite.Here's a review of our cd, Film Noir Angel' from Blues Revue, March 2007:The first release in five years from this Martha's Vineyard-based band is a self-produced, self-released affair featuring four originals and 10 diverse covers that reveal an affinity for rockabilly, country and traditional blues.
The album's blues tracks - Little Walter's "High Temperature", J.B. Hutto's "Hip-Shakin," Lightnin' Slim's "Nothin' But but the Devil," and Bo Diddley's "Cadillac" - are solid. It's the other covers that are the most surprising, and despite their sources, they don't stray far from the blues. The most anomalous tune is a "Sloop John B" cover that features wistful harp and Tom Waits-like vocals. Hoy channels Jerry Lee Lewis on Stephen Foster's "Old Black Joe," which starts lugubriously before bursting into pants-on-fire boogie typical of the Killer. For the great Charlie Rich Blues, "Don't Put No Headstone on My Grave," Hoy sings with the requisite blend of resignation and weary defiance. Hank Williams' "You Win Again" is transformed into a West Side shuffle, and Arthur Alexander's "Sally Sue Brown" receives an Excello-style swamp blues treatment. The Mavericks' "All you Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" is straight honky-tonk.
Three Hoy originals ("Shack in the Back," "Throw Down Your Hammer," and the title track) are Southern rockers remiscent of Little Feat, while "Big Stacka Darlin'" evokes the twangy bayou rockabilly of Dale Hawkins. Hoy is a consumate harpist whose brawny tone owes much to Little Walter, and his vocals recall Waits' world-weary grittiness and garbled enunciation. But it's Jeremy Berlin's scintillating, two-fisted piano work that steals the show. Fans of the Nighthawks, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and the Blasters will find much to enjoy on 'Film Noir Angel.'Though we would take issue with some of the characterizations, we're happy with the good review!
