"Swallowed A Pill" on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic 11/8/07:Buy the debut Album: "Old Joy, New Joy":S&S's debut album (each copy is one-of-a-kind) comes in a hand-screened package with a 16-page illustrated hymnal of sheet music & lyrics accompanying the songs. Buy it here for $10.Salt & Samovar is intent on writing the next great American songbook. Uniting classic rhythm & blues, “foot-stomping psyche-garage†intensity (fiddlewhileyouburn.com) and a talent for enduring, archetypal melodies, their repertoire gathers together the musical heirlooms of a cherished American past. The band’s revival-like performances gain their momentum from the legacy of 19th century spirituals. Onstage this energy resonates clearly across historical timelines to the forefront of the 21st century. Salt & Samovar’s first shows were on a tour of France in September of '06, supporting singer D.S.’s album, ‘Salt & Samovar’. They spent the cold winter of '06-'07 recording their debut, ‘Old Joy, New Joy’ (2007). That September the band launched its first US tour, delivering the sounds of ‘Old Joy, New Joy’ and their 15-foot American flag to 19 cities from coast to coast. On November 8 S&S had its live radio debut when they appeared on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclecticâ€, a performance that solidified the band’s place at 3 on Music Director & host Nic Harcourt’s Top 10 Albums of 2007. In March '08 the band played for the first time at Austin’s SXSW festival, featured at KCRW's showcase. On May 16 they had their 2nd appearance on "Morning Becomes Eclectic". S&S is made up of past & present members of Moonraker, FEAST & The Shivers.One-of-a-kind hard copies of 'Old Joy, New Joy' are available at cdbaby.com and from the band directly (see link above). The album is available digitally on itunes.Purchase a very fine handmade shirt from the band.
i Read the Village Voice review of "Old Joy, New Joy": "...S&S very much yank their tunes from the topsoil of Walt Whitman's dreams..."Listen to Salt & Samovar on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" archived 11/8/07 and 5/16/08 .From KCRW music news & events blog (11/07): "This was Salt & Samovar's first radio performance and they pretty much blew our minds. This band is just SO good, I'm not sure I have the words to do them justice. Ariana and I threw a few genres around – country (they covered a Hank William's tune, "Ramblin' Man"), gospel, rock and just about anything else that makes you feel invigorated. Our engineer Mario said he was happy to hear some shredding in our studio this morning and if you listened live, I suggest going back and hearing the end of the final song – we had to pop out of the session and go to NPR news at noon, at which point singer D.S. Moltz was just launching into some serious guitar action on a new track called "Anniversary." I've been corresponding with these guys for months since Nic first plucked their CD out of a huge pile for its handcrafted look. (They literally make each individually wax-sealed CD cover and t-shirt themselves, assembly line style). Their music makes me feel alive, especially with all the layers of vocals and an incredibly energetic live performance. Yes, I'm gushing, but they deserve it.