Tone and Niche brew a refined, light-jangled, warm toned folk with those pensive-setting-sun piano accompaniments and shimmering, beautiful violin/viola swinging saws that lull your heart into a teary-eyed smile, while steady strummed acoustics and driving rhythms carry foggy, world weary lyrics; the perfect soundtrack to the inevitable warming of the winds as winter turns to spring.
In 2007 they recorded their masterwork, "Rust," a strong front-to-back rhythm-rocking indie-folk tour de force; pop melodies, rolling rhythms and the beautiful brooding wail of Niche's strings under Tone's warm, pleasant ringing vocals. Truly a gem in the rough and rocky milieu of an already healthily crowded Detroit scene, bringing a rock sensibility to country twang and spilling earnest, heartfelt singer/songwriter meditations grounded in a personable wisdom, in earthy tones feeling so attuned to the setting sun over the wheat fields on an immaculate summer's day.
-J. Milo, Real Detroit Weekly
Every bit Do It Yourself troubadours, this guitar-and-violin duo take chops (thankfully) as seriously as they do performance and are anti-scenesters in the very best sense. They're a guy/girl ensemble who whip out everything from slick originals to classic covers. The whole "local singer-songwriter" ethos has some new life courtesy of these musically endowed love birds.
-Eve Doster, METRO TIMES - Detroit, MI.
There's a truism among the devoted, those who spend a good portion of their scratch and large chunks of spare time haunting hole-in-the-wall music venues. And it's that the city of Detroit has a very real scene behind the superficial "scene." In it, conversation is secondary. People listen. Don't bother looking for the emotionally genuflecting 21-year-old who read about the joint or band in her greasy copy of Mojo. She can't even find this other scene, and even if she did, she wouldn't understand a collective of musically inclined people as unabashed about their love for John Lennon as they are about having played in high school marching bands. And thick inside this familial environment is a group called Tone & Niche. They are Anthony Retka on guitar and Nicole Varga on (yes!) violin and — though they're adept enough to play just about anything — they are rock 'n' roll singer-songwriters.
"Music's the only thing we know," Niche says. "He'll call me on his lunch hour and sing new melodies into my voice mail so I can write them down before he forgets." Tone's songwriting has a so-cool-I'm-not-cool Harry Nilsson quality to it, and, with the accompaniment of Niche's gorgeous violin, the duo gives off an aura similar to 1980s college radio. (Think R.E.M., Marshall Crenshaw). When overproduced, overthought and image-driven can feel like the name of the game, the music of Tone & Niche is built for listening. And an appreciation for great violin licks, of course.
-Eve Doster, METRO TIMES - Detroit, MI.
Tone and Niche , an original pop/rock band based out of Detroit, entices their audiences with energy, talent and passion. The band consists of singer/songwriter Anthony Retka, violinist Nicole Varga, bass guitarist Nick White and drummer Scottie Stone. Tone and Niche’s eclectic mix of pop/rock and singer/songwriter styles stem from influences of performers such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Radiohead and Mike Viola. Tone and Niche frequently perform in cities such as Nashville, Chicago, Cleveland, and have become a driving force in the Detroit music scene. The band has shared the bill with several national recording artists including: Martha Wainwright, Mike Errico, and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. Over the last five years Tone and Niche have released three albums and a single. These recordings emit a mysterious brilliance of creative song structure, lyrical depth and polished performance.
*If you like what you hear, you can click HERE to buy a Tone & Niche disc or view other T&N stuff!
T&N Albums :
*Tone & Niche (Self Titled CD) - 2003 --- Out Of Print
*Anthony Retka (solo acoustic disc) - 2003
*On The Streets Of - 2004
*Song One EP - 2005
*From Your Hands EP - 2006 --- Out Of Print
*FROM YOUR HANDS Single - 2006
*Rust - 2007
*Lemonade - 2007
Tone and Niche music in films:
Song One can be heard on the Song One EP and was also used in an indie film in Florida called "Long-Time-sun-shine" (www.myspace.com/longtimesunshine)
From Her To Me is a new T&N song that is still being tracked for the 2007 Tone & Niche Full-Length release "Brand New World". A demo of this tune can be heard in Detroit's "Inzero" Episode 4.
Set in the near future in a post-apocalyptic world, InZer0 is the story of an ambitious courier weaving his way through a dangerous city. The future of the human race is at stake as the population has been decimated and can no longer reproduce. Thames, a simple courier, finds himself in the middle of this struggle and encounters many enemies and allies along the way. (www.myspace.com/inzero)
-- TONE RECORDED A RAP? --
READ ALL ABOUT THE AMISH LUNATICS AND CO.
Featuring Tone aka "Vicious" and Niche aka "Kotton Kandy"!
Give "Rap no. 1" a listen at our website: www.toneandniche.com OR at www.myspace.com/anthonyretka
ASCAP Member
