Finally! Piker Ryan live! Videotaped in Oslo, Norway during their European tour in the fall of 2006!
New mugshots of Piker and the lads (Babbo, Butcher, Pick-pocket Pete, as well as a couple of Texan New Yorkers) taken by photojournalist John Hughes, recently released by Norwegian authorities after a bar brawl in a place in Oslo formerly known as "The Round Barrel"!
Also: new photos from PIKER RYAN live at La Fleche D'Or, Paris!
Here are some new photos online taken by Maho, live at La Fleche D'Or, Paris, Monday 25. september 2006, featuring special guest musicians Dimi Dero (of Dimi Dero Inc), Sophie Perez, and Delphine Ellis (of Delphine Thirteen)!
THE RETURN OF PIKER RYAN - PIKER IN EUROPE!!!
Emerging from deep within the bowels of nineteenth century Manhattan's historic Lower East Side came Piker Ryan's Folly, a gang of debaucherous vagrants who exploded onto the "lounge-noir" music scene of the New York area in the late 1990's. Combining elements of dark lounge with punk, jazz and swing, Piker Ryan's Folly earned quite a reputation amongst the mayhem specialists of the city's most notorious pubs and saloons, with their fame reaching as far as New England and Pennsylvania, and even across the Atlantic to the far reaches of Scandinavia.
On vocals was Norwegian-American Mark Steiner, aka "Piker," whose strong background in avant-garde film is evident in his cinematic lyrics - powerful lamentations which paint beautifully seedy pictures of his innermost sorrow and frustration, released through the deep vocals, growls and wails of a mischievous drunk. At his side was the Belgian-born Phil "The Tremelo King" Vanderyken, recognized for his unique Ennio Morriconne-meets-Dick Dale-with-a-twist style of guitar After the release of the now out-of-print "Lowlife" CD-EP, the two struggled long and hard to find a rhythm section that could prove the perfect compliment to their incredible dynamic, and finally found their match: Chris "The Butcher" Mele and "Pick-Pocket Pete" aka Peter Mele, Jr. With their edgy, swinging drums and bass guitar, the Italian Mele brothers seemed to provide the ultimate foundation, completing the initiation period of this wild bunch of New York musicians called PIKER RYAN'S FOLLY.
Named after a "take-out menu," or list of services, found in the pocket of Piker Ryan, a nineteenth century thug arrested by NYC police in Manhattan's Lower East Side, Piker Ryan's Folly asserted their presence in the Bowery ganglands with the release of the long-anticipated "Bowery Blues" CD, now out of print...
It was then reported that a Hessian derelict was sworn in as a new member. After his ex-communication from the local church for helping himself to the blood of Christ, Eric "The Heretic" Wolter was found slumped over a piano in the dank cellar of McGurk's Suicide Hall. Already known to Piker through some shared wild drunken evenings playing music in various establishments, he and the boys decided to drag him onto the stage and into the ranks of Piker Ryan's Folly debauchery.
After the infamous, chaotic (yet successful) ballum-rancum, known as "An Evening at McGurk's Suicide Hall," Piker Ryan's Folly retreated into the shadows of the dark tenements from which the gangmembers came... Rumor has it that Phil "The Tremelo King" Vanderyken was forced to flee after swiping a sharkskin suit from his former landlord, and is now serving a lifetime sentence in Austin, Texas...
But now, PIKER RYAN has regrouped some of his troups, and recently returned to the streets with a vengeance, including new recordings in the works, and a European tour of debauchery with fellow "noir" New Yorkers, ALICE TEXAS ... featuring the diva of country-noir, Alice Schneider, who almost by coincidence proves to be the actual sister of legendary street-fightin' vixen Hell-Cat Maggie herself!
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