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Absolute Punk
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Carl Creighton - Minnesota
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: April 2008
Singer, songwriter a...Carl Creighton - Minnesota
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: April 2008
Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Carl Creighton seems like a one-man team on his latest recording Minnesota, but in fact the man relies on a handful of musicians who all read from the same page as him, which is quite a feat. Creighton and his crew created an album that makes you feel like you are in the middle of Montana's Great Plains watching the sun go down and the night sky go up as the evening stars begin to turn on giving you the open air to ruminate over changes that are going on in your life. For Creighton, the general theme of the album is dealing with a break up, which suffuses the tracks in shades of melancholy and feeling wounded, but not all is dark and gloomy. There is an underlying spirit that is reticent about finding the strength to bounce back. Though most of the album is frocked in mellow folksy tones, the music produces an aura which allows listeners to take in the lyrics and reflect over them and relating Creighton’s words to their own lives.
The gentle embers of Creighton’s piano keys in “Smoking is Ugly,” “Baby’s Breath” and the title track are wardrobe in calmly moving harmonies as vocalist Mimi Lavalley sings backup verses in “Baby’s Breath” and vocalist Erin Regan sings backup on the title track. Many songs such as “Erin” and “El Paso” have a country folk primer wrapped in lacy drum rolls played by Brant Benefield and cottony plush bass lines from Charles Barthelemy, but there are a few numbers which are propelled by upswings in the guitar strokes from Creighton like in “Detrius” and “Live Tonight” as Debe Dalton injects some jubilant banjo bowings. Dalton gives melodies a cozy country folk hue, while violinist Jeffrey Young plants pacifying silhouettes moving across “Be My Best Friend” and “Erin” as the rocking chair sway of the rhythms enhances the subdued state of the song.
Creighton’s lyrics gravitate to feeling wounded and working to bounce back. He makes a connection between a broken light bulb and a broken heart in the track “Light Bulb” as the chorus part resounds, “Wishing I knew the light bulb’s secret ’cause when my heart brings bloods to the lungs / And the lungs bring air to the brain / Well the brain just keeps thinking about dying.” The organ dirge that he plays through “Light Bulb” brandishes a sorrowful mist through the tune, and the soft swirling harmonica notes that his brother Craig plays in the opening of the title track clings to a cloud of hope over the solemn piano keys.
Though much of the album brings the listener to the brink of falling into Creighton’s tears, there is also a sense of confidence in the songs that give the melodies a sturdy backbone and good stature. The music seems uncomplicated and accessible for any high school student to pick up a guitar and start playing. As much as these songs represent Carl Creighton, they also avail themselves to other people’s lives and make it an album that describes conditions which are universally felt.
Recommended if you like: Daniel Powter, Ray Montagne, Dar Williams, Amos Lee
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Minnesota Review
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Like an insightful child picking daddy out of a Santa Claus lineup with a shrug and a sigh at how ob...Like an insightful child picking daddy out of a Santa Claus lineup with a shrug and a sigh at how obviously sad and ironic the whole thing is, Carl Creighton offers up Minnesota, a matter-of-fact collection of 11 humble and patient songs.
Creighton's entreaties are unblinking and his emotions, though sometimes worn on the sleeve, have the kind of distance and insight plenty of sad sack coffee shop guitar slingers wished they had. Folky (and perhaps even lumped in with that nebulous genre known as anti-folk), Creighton seems a slightly more lucid and very nearly radio-friendly alternative to the likes of Iron and Wine, Grizzly Bear, or even Kimya Dawson. And though the album is named for a state, it certainly holds less pretension than those by Sufjan Stevens.
Minnesota opens with "Smoking Is Ugly," which sets the tone for most of the album. It's pensive and conflicted and puts us square with the narrator; drinking coffee in New York City, thinking about home, and unsure of whether or not he wants to even be in New York City. In "Be My Best Friend" it seems the NYC cynicism has already started to creep in on our great hero from the north woods. Creighton shrugs, "It's not that I'm homeless I just don't really live here/ I could easily stay or I could disappear/ the friends that I'm makin' will probably be takin'/ the next Greyhound taken back to their homeland."
Simply put, Minnesota is a really pleasant blend of quiet conflict, reflection, and, of course, the expected dose of melancholy. But it's also varied, which can be hard to come by. "El Paso" builds and ends with some force, a noticeable change of mood from the first few tracks. "Minnesota" breaks the album half way, nice and whispery and heavy-hearted. "Live Tonight" has the same 90s alt-rock feel of something off of Cake's Fashion Nugget. A small cast of characters lend a hand, and Jeffrey Young's unobtrusive violin compliments Creighton well, as do the subtle vocal contributions of Erin Regan and Mimi LaValley.
He plays the piano, has a penchant for Coke Zero and coffee, and really, really misses the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But with at least a few shows planned in Manhattan and Brooklyn this month and next, maybe Creighton will stick around long enough to establish himself as something more than a woebegone Midwesterner. And although he hasn't quite made it with this collection of songs, it seems very possible that he someday will.
Reviewed by Patrick Sullivan
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A Transplanted Minnesotan in New York
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Carl Creighton's set was a very pleasant surprise. He started off on piano and switched to guitar fo...Carl Creighton's set was a very pleasant surprise. He started off on piano and switched to guitar for the majority of the set with a brief visit back to the piano. He had a bassist and a drummer playing with him, and a couple of guest harmony vocalists graced the stage over the course of the night (Erin Regan and also Mimi Lavalley, who herself has recently appeared on the Moonshine Show with the band Hogzilla). The sound of the band was straight ahead, and they played together well. The best part was that Carl's vocals stayed very clear and out front of the band -- dynamically speaking, not rhythmically speaking -- this was great because this guy has some clever lyrics up his sleeve.
As far as I can remember, Carl played exclusively songs from the new CD Minnesota -- this being a CD release party and all. The two main themes of the CD are that of boy from Minnesota making his way in the big city and the family that Carl has left behind, including a sister who died.
The first song on the CD, "Smoking is Ugly," jumps right into the first theme with its chorus of "If money's an issue in New York, / You can go back to where you're from. / Mother's holding down the fort, / Sending you props so you will come back home." The second verse nicely describes paying too much for coffee, tipping the waitress for being pretty and giving her a gig flyer in the hopes that she'll come.
Similarly, both the title track, "Minnesota," and a song called "El Paso," look outward to those places from New York.
"Minnesota" is sung with a haunting Great Plains pace and a beautifully sparse piano accompaniment. A verse that comes around twice is
"'Cause my home is in Minnesota --
You can't compete with 10,000 lakes.
And I won't regret one iota;
I've already made my fair share of mistakes."
But the real kicker is the chorus that gets altered a little bit each time:
"If I ever do come back to you sometime,
Momma's going to worry herself sick.
If I ever do come back to you sometime,
You're going to have to be less of a prick,"
and then
"If I ever do come back to you sometime,
It'll be to visit, not to stay."
"El Paso" similarly is about trying to figure out where you belong. Over the course of the song, the lines, "We weren't meant for this town; / You were meant for me," evolve into the repeated demand at the end of the song, "We weren't meant for this town; / We were meant for us."
In a more whimsical song, Carl pontificates on the existence and extinction of lightbulbs:
"There's a lightbulb in the garbage
Waiting to be taken out
To meet all its fallen brothers
That it left back in aisle nine
When some sucker came and bought it
For to burn bright and die a sudden death."
The chorus on "Never Gave You My Guitar" has a few clever turns of phrase and seems like one that many of us can identify with:
"Sure I could play 'Sweet Jane' or 'Heart and Soul,'
But the quarter notes don't make me whole.
I need a left hand to play to my right.
Sure I could play 'Sweet Jane' or 'Heart and Soul,'
Before the liquor finally takes its toll.
I think I'll cover Leonard Cohen and call it a night."
(Leonard Cohen also gets name checked in the song "Live Tonight" on the CD.)
One of the nicest things about Carl's compositional style is his wise use of rhythm. On different songs, he arranges the words in such a way that you don't get what your ear is expecting. This is never done in a jarring way; rather, Carl is able to add emphasis to his lyrics through his vocal phrasing in a way that many more established musicians should find themselves envious of.
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Williamsburg Live Songwriter Contest
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But let's talk about the "beta performers" for a second—the shy ones, the awkward, vulnerable, on-my...But let's talk about the "beta performers" for a second—the shy ones, the awkward, vulnerable, on-my-bed-with-my-guitar-on-a-Saturday night heartbreakers. I'm thinking of Carl Creighton, for one. It's no secret throughout the Antifolk scene that Creighton is one of the strongest sweethearts to play the Sidewalk in a long time... The voice was undeniable, always on the verge of breaking but ultimately kept in check.
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Minnesota
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New York singer/songwriter Carl Creighton has delivered a pleasant enough debut. The water treaded i...New York singer/songwriter Carl Creighton has delivered a pleasant enough debut. The water treaded is safe and Creighton does a respectable enough job of allowing his tender tenor to shine through on many of the songs.
Songs like “Minnesota” and “Erin” are tender songs dealing with true life emotions. And the music paired with them is equally enjoyable and even great in sparse moments. The harmonica and the way Creighton softly sings in the former are terrific, as are the smart choice in strings. The closer, “Baby’s Breath” is a sad, somber song but the piano-driven ballad is affecting and moving.
Easily the best song on the debut is the painstaking ballad about losing a love, “El Paso.” The song is remarkable because Creighton is able to hone in all of his strengths into this one gem. The lyrics are built around an eventful and fateful night that leads to an ultimate loss. Creighton sings about how the only thing that should matter is the couple’s mutual love. So check one, the lyrics are good. Also, the music is somber and crafted in a manner that it simply adds to the lyrical content, rather than hindering it. The electric guitar particularly shines with a memorable melodic line. So check two, the music is good. Finally, what makes this song so enjoyable is the way Creighton arranges the music so that it builds to an intense and emotive climax. The music expands to a bittersweet exaltation as Creighton belts out, “We weren’t meant for this town but we were meant for us.”
Creighton does have a solid voice and his music breaths with his soft and peaceful arrangements.
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Class by day, the spotlight by night
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Carl Creighton seems just like an average student. He is a sophomore at Hunter College and is not su...Carl Creighton seems just like an average student. He is a sophomore at Hunter College and is not sure what he wants his major to be. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, or possibly English since math is starting to bother him.
But there is something that separates him from the rest of his peers: He is coming out with a debut full-length studio album entitled "Minnesota," which will be released on April 22.
The 24-year-old Minnesota native calls his music Americana pop, though he is often considered part of the anti-folk scene. He says that is just because he usually plays at the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village, "home of anti-folk, like Kimya Dawson." Creighton says that if anti-folk means acoustic punk music, then he is just regular folk.
Creighton grew up listening to the Beatles and Bob Dylan, who he describes as his main musical idol both in his songwriting and character.
"I've always wanted to be a traveling musician playing [in] coffee shops like he did, although this isn't really possible nowadays," he said. "I used to try and sound like him, but then I gave up because nobody sounds like Bob Dylan."
The main theme of the album is the distinction between home and where he is living now.
"I wrote the title song about three years ago after my first attempt to move to New York," he said. "There was all this build-up about me moving, and I was only here for a week before my sister was in a car accident back in Minnesota, and I had to move back. I still have mixed feelings about whether my home is in Minnesota or in New York, and the album is mainly about that."
Creighton has copies of a live album available for purchase at www.anti-folk.net. But other than those, "Minnesota" will be his only album available for purchase. He recorded it in four days in January 2008.
"I loved recording. It felt like I was in a musical laboratory, and I could just fool around with all the equipment," he said.
Creighton was initially concerned that his songs would lose some of their personal quality with a whole band behind them, but he still managed to preserve the intimate aspects that make his work his own.
One of the biggest influences on his music comes in the form of tragedy. Four years ago, his older sister Amanda died in a car accident at the age of 22.
"We were really close," he said. "It gets easier everyday, but it will always be hard."
His music has been affected by her passing as well.
"It's hard to think of a song I've written since her death that doesn't have something to do with her," he explained. "For a time I thought all I was going to write were songs about her passing, but I'm finally starting to focus on other things."
His other family members play an important part in his musical process, and he states that he owes much of his musical ability to his mother.
"My dad is completely tone deaf and didn't listen to much music," he said. But his parents bought him his first keyboard at 13 when he really started playing.
He misses his family back home a lot, as well as "the nature and simplicity of life" in Minnesota. But he said even that's not perfect.
"I do tend to get bored pretty quickly when I go home to visit," he said. "And I don't miss driving because I hate driving."
That does not mean that New York is flawless to him either.
"The thing I hate and love about New York simultaneously is that something is always going on," he said. "This is great if you don't have plans and need something to do but horrible if you're a musician trying to get people to come out to a show. There are so many things competing for everyone's attention. Nothing is ever an event because it just gets lost with all the other activity of the city."
Before moving to New York, Creighton used to write whenever he felt like it, but now he goes to school full time and works for 32 hours a week, so there is less time for him to be creative.
"Now I usually stay up late and write, or I write a song in my head while I'm walking around the city and write the guitar part later," he explained. "It's a much more regimented process now."
Creighton will be showing off his hard work at an album release party at The Living Room next Friday with a full band and free admission. So far, he has played about 40 shows in New York, two with the band. Before that he played a lot of shows at the Sidewalk Cafe, opening up for people such as Suzanne Vega and The Moldy Peaches' Adam Green.
"I also got to play in front of Ryan Adams once at the open mic," he said. "I didn't see him myself, but people told me he was rocking his head to the music, which is pretty cool."
Creighton hopes to continue writing songs and make another album next January. He is thinking about doing a tour from New York to Minnesota and back.
"I love traveling, which is one of the reasons I want to be a successful touring musician someday," he said.
He has already built a fan base and has even had strangers approach him late at night on the Long Island Rail Road.
"He said he was learning my 'Light Bulb' song to play to his girlfriend when she came home from her trip to Japan. I thought that was really sweet," he remembers. "But I think they might have broken up or something because he doesn't come to my shows anymore."
Speaking of romance, listen up ladies: Creighton is single and looking. Sort of.
"I don't really have time between music, school and work," he said. "But if anybody's interested in being completely neglected, give me a call."
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Carl Creighton's Minnesota
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It has a refreshing sound reminiscent of the band, Iron and Wine. The lyrics are clever and poignant...It has a refreshing sound reminiscent of the band, Iron and Wine. The lyrics are clever and poignant, sung through a soulful voice. “I try to write stuff that really happens and is personal. It’s about what memories you have, like a photo album but with songs,” said Carl Creighton about Minnesota, his first studio album. “I prefer performing. It’s hard in the studio because there, it is what it is; in a show, it changes every time.”
Creighton, who was wearing a black shirt and jeans at the time of the interview, recorded his album at The Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn. The band usually rehearses on weekends but more frequently when it has an upcoming show.
Creighton, 24, moved to New York City three years ago from Minnesota to pursue his dream. He is currently a part of the Anti-Folk scene, and regularly plays sets at The Sidewalk Café on 6th street and Avenue A. Creighton, who comes from a musical family, was playing the piano at age 13 and at 15 learned the guitar.
“If money is an issue in New York, you can go back to where you’re from … come to your senses,” croons Creighton in his song “Smoking Is Ugly.” Creighton, a biology major, said the inspiration for these lyrics came to him while he was walking around the city. “Now, that I think of it, it’s about being nagged by a mother. Like ‘smoking is ugly and you should come home.’” He also said, “It is hard in New York.”
Charles Barthelemy, 27, who plays bass guitar in Creighton’s band, said in an interview conducted via e-mail, “His songs are well structured and catchy, (his) music is fun and creative, the lyrics are witty and anecdotal to situations of anyone’s life. The Music/Song/Lyrics are something I can relate to.”
Barthelemy, Creighton’s roommate, has been playing with him for almost three years. Favorite songs on the album include: El Paso, Erin, and Big Arms. “I enjoy listening and playing them all,” he said.
Barthelemy, a University of Hartford graduate, said, “The arrangement of this album is distinctive of Carl’s songwriting capability. You can expect this show to be a fun experience that’ll leave you with melodies and lyrics that will be stuck in your head … look for more material from Carl in the near future.”
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Student Plays Set At Sidewalk
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Creighton has a stunning baritone voice capable of hitting sweet highs and mournful lows. His folk s...Creighton has a stunning baritone voice capable of hitting sweet highs and mournful lows. His folk style and heartfelt songs are very reminiscent of an early Bob Dylan and a solo Ben Gibbard.
Creighton's songs revolve around a wide range of topics. Upbeat songs such as "Live Tonight" advocate living life to the fullest by saying, "You may not live to see the rising sun but it doesn't really matter because you're having fun."
"Light bulb," performed on the piano instead of with a guitar, is much more low key with allusions to longing and death. A song with a clear political message tells the audience, "Freedom is a buzzword the government uses to boost recruitment,"and, "One in ten of the children we went to school with are in the army...."
Creighton's beautiful voice and talented playing make this a show unaffordable to miss.... With continued effort, he will be performing at Radio City Music Hall soon enough.
