Rebecca Pronsky

Artist Information

Biography

Rebecca Pronsky is a born and raised Brooklynite whose twangy urban alt-country sound is "not afraid to be sophisticated" (Maverick UK). Her style "sounds more retro than redneck" (Creative Loafing) and she's an "allusive, poetic lyricist" (All Music Guide) with live performances that are "passionate and wry." (Time Out NY)

NPR recently featured Rebecca's tune "Hard Times" on it's 'Song of the Day' program saying "her voice conveys the wisdom of experience [and] she addresses the struggles of a generation attempting to get by."

Rebecca tours heavily on both sides of the Atlantic with lead guitarist Rich Bennett who "puts the trimmings on the music with a battery of echo drenched, twangy leads" (Blurt) and often includes rhythm section of Dan Shuman on bass and Russ Meissner on drums.

Some highlights of 2011:
- Two UK tours including 'Celtic Connections' in Glasgow
- Played NJ Folk Festival mainstage (voted best of songwriter showcase in 2010)
- Featured on NPR 'Song of the Day'
- Released 'Viewfinder' (studio album) and 'Live at Eddie's Attic (live album)
- Twice supporting Shawn Colvin

Rebecca has shared the stage with Loudon Wainwright III, Steve Forbert, Shawn Colvin, Josh Ritter, Eilen Jewell, Patty Larkin, Peter Case, The Bowerbirds, and Carrie Rodriguez among others.

'Viewfinder' is Rebecca's most recent album, released in April 2011 on Nine Mile Records. Pronsky spent two weeks holed up with her band at Great North Sound Society in Maine with engineer Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, John Prince, Langhorne Slim) creating the sweeping soundscapes that dominate the album. Her next album is set to be recorded this August in North Carolina with Scott Solter (Mountain Goats, Spoon, John Vanderslice, Superchunk).

Instrumentation

Rich Bennett - Guitar
Dan Shuman - upright and electric bass
Russ Meissner - Drums

Discography

"Viewfinder" (2011 - full length - Nine Mile Records)
"The Best Game in Town" (2009 - EP - Nine Mile Records)
"Departures & Arrivals" (2007 - full length - Nine Mile Records)
"The Early Hours" (2004 - EP - self released)

Links

• Last.fm
• Twitter
• Facebook

Audio

• Hard Times
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• Mercury News
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• Day Of The Dead
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• The Wheel
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Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• NPR Song of the Day [+ Show ]
  

  "In 'Hard Times,' the opening track from her fine new album Viewfinder, Brooklyn-based singer-songwr..."In 'Hard Times,' the opening track from her fine new album Viewfinder, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Rebecca Pronsky addresses the struggles of a generation attempting to get by. Over a propulsive beat and a wash of noirishly twangy guitars, Pronsky echoes sentiments familiar to many: "Numbers used to be so small: pennies, nickels, dimes / Now, the same collectors call, fallen on hard times." As is frequently the case with the best topical music, "Hard Times" feels personal, anecdotal and emotional rather than devolving into a didactic indictment of the institutions at fault. A commanding, low-register warble, Pronsky's voice conveys the wisdom of experience without crossing the line into defeatist world-weariness. To the contrary, Pronsky's song is more rallying cry than lament: "Get yourself together," she implores, "'cause it's hard times."

• Maverick Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  (4 STARS) This is 'proper' country music, not the sort that harks back to the past, but the sort tha...(4 STARS) This is 'proper' country music, not the sort that harks back to the past, but the sort that's urban as it is rural, not afraid to be sophisticated. This is a light and airy album that comes out of the speaker like the first spring breeze, blowing away the cobwebs and breathing new life into everything it touches. Pronsky is the complete package: interpreter, writer, singer and (together with guitarist Rich Bennett, whose licks and leads are a critical part of the music) producer. A great way to start the year.

• Americana Roots UK [+ Show ]
  

  4 STARS. Her clear strong expressive vocals also have an appealing languorous feel that only seems t...4 STARS. Her clear strong expressive vocals also have an appealing languorous feel that only seems to enhance the strength of these beautifully written songs. If not totally dark many of the songs are at least marked down with an air of gloom, although a beautiful gloom, fighting back against lifes kicks but with a realisation that all this is doing is just stemming the tide! Overall they almost give a nicely balanced down to earth view of life that seems quite realistic but without any great optimism, more in hope than anything else. Despite hailing from Brooklyn she seems to have come naturally to her rural earthy feeling music with it’s emotional flow and fluidity that seems, just as you think a little optimism might be about to be revealed, to hold back! People often describe particular artists music as being ‘real’ and this certainly is. In a strange way that slightly dark haunting feel of the album is made more so by it’s beautiful sounds of Rebecca’s exquisite vocals and the gorgeously tuneful lead guitar rather than it’s strong themes. An album of rare beauty that demands repeated listening sessions!

• All Music Guide [+ Show ]
  

  Pronsky is an allusive, poetic lyricist who isn't interested in providing clear, linear meanings so ...Pronsky is an allusive, poetic lyricist who isn't interested in providing clear, linear meanings so much as impressions, dreams, and moods. Pronsky makes observations in a clear, resonant tenor, strumming her acoustic guitar over a rhythm section, while Bennett provides the musical color on lead electric guitar, piano, mandolin, and organ. Whatever the dissatisfactions the singer expresses, Bennett's playing provides a counterweight; life may not be good, but the music can be.

• Blurt [+ Show ]
  

  "Keeps that yearning sound of love and loss burning strong. If Pronsky can draw comparisons to Neko ..."Keeps that yearning sound of love and loss burning strong. If Pronsky can draw comparisons to Neko Case (and she has), that has less to do with imitation than it does with her possession of another version of The Voice: a strong instrument that doesn't need to over-emote since it projects with authority. A sense of economy filters through the whole album, as well. Some songs skillfully wrap up after two verses, knowing that one more would be too much; a couple use the circular trick of ending the song by singing the first line of a verse, leaving you dangling... Along with Pronsky's pipes, guitarist Rich Bennett puts the trimmings on the music with a battery of echo drenched, twangy leads, which brings us back to the high lonesome texture to the music. These songs would sound pretty strong on their own, but Bennett's attention to detail is what makes them really memorable. "The Wheel" ultimately becomes one of the album's strongest tracks because its slow tempo and chord changes create a suspense that never fully resolves. All that dreamy reverb only helps the matter. Viewfinder has her poised to take off in a direction that could bring fans of good country music and songwriters together in her camp. Hopefully it'll fall into the right hands." (8/10)

• The Other Woman: BBC 6 Picks [+ Show ]
  

  This Brooklyn native should be a household name as far as we’re concerned... ‘Viewfinder’ is a super...This Brooklyn native should be a household name as far as we’re concerned... ‘Viewfinder’ is a superb record by an accomplished musician - it’s obvious she’s playing music since the year dot ... on track to become one of America’s foremost modern folk songstresses.

• Pittsburgh City Paper [+ Show ]
  

  Rebecca Pronsky knows her way around a metaphor, and though residing in Brooklyn, she sings like she...Rebecca Pronsky knows her way around a metaphor, and though residing in Brooklyn, she sings like she has Nashville in her blood. She can easily remind listeners of Neko Case, both in terms of her ability to belt the lyrics and the way she stands out above the sea of thoughtful women with guitars. The songs follow a tension-and-release set-up much like traditional country music, but her writing and that voice keep them from sounding standard. Pronsky seems the type of singer whose pipes can cut through the background noise at the bar and lure listeners to the stage, where her lyrics sustain interest for a whole set.

• Metro Pulse [+ Show ]
  

  Brooklyn singer/songwriter Rebecca Pronsky shuffles through the dark territory where old-fashioned r...Brooklyn singer/songwriter Rebecca Pronsky shuffles through the dark territory where old-fashioned rock n roll, country, and folk come together. It's roughly the same territory where Neko Case and Kelly Hogan operate, and any accusations of carpetbagging are shot down by both the conviction of her songs and the strength of her voice.
  

• R2 'Rock n Reel' UK [+ Show ]
  

  (4 STARS) Viewfinder gives rein to Pronsky's country leanings on a superbly crafted set of descripti...(4 STARS) Viewfinder gives rein to Pronsky's country leanings on a superbly crafted set of descriptive and atmospheric songs. With a jazz-trained voice that's capable of delivering plenty of convincing emotion to her material, Pronsky's performance stands head and shoulders above most of her contemporaries, especially in combination with her superlative writing skills. Pretty close to perfection, the whole package is nicely paced with a well-judged balance of subject matter that deals with the familliar themese of love and loss without recourse to cliche. An album that comes into sharper focus with each hearing. Viewfinder reveals Pronsky to be an outstanding lyricist with the ability to stop you in your tracks.

• Americana UK [+ Show ]
  

  Her third album, 'Viewfinder' is music for the generation; largely a reflection of recession, war an...Her third album, 'Viewfinder' is music for the generation; largely a reflection of recession, war and loss and how it has affected our lives. However, to read between the lines and decipher the abstract and metaphorical content of her words is to take heart. She is an optimist. Her heart is strong but tender. Her words are at first disillusioned but then point to a better future, her melodies both exhilarating and haunting and her delivery immaculate... It’s clear that this lady’s crooning chords have been honed to perfection. And it’s not for the ipod shuffle setting either. Although there are potential hits at every turn something about the gradual unravelling of her perceptions makes this more of a start to finish in a comfy armchair listen, or indeed a dimly lit basement bar with a gin and tonic. Its thinking music while so many of her contemporaries remain background... Currently touring the UK (I caught her at Camden Town’s Green Note), it seems she is finally ready to take us by storm over here.

• No Depression [+ Show ]
  

  If you're any sort of a country music fan, the opening bars of Viewfinder will have you drooling wit...If you're any sort of a country music fan, the opening bars of Viewfinder will have you drooling with pleasure. There's at least a couple of songs here, Hard Times is one and Aberdeen, with it's driving bass line, is the other, which ought to pick up plenty of radio play - memorable and distinctive enough to ensure that she's much better known by the end of the year. In her songs here there is a persistent air of loss of innocence, of being aware of becoming a grown-up. Whether it's the financial collapse, the nation at war or the emotional growing up of learning to live with loss, this feels like the literate voice of a generation coming of age in the new millenium." ~ John Davy, No Depression

• Philadelphia City Paper [+ Show ]
  

  2011: Viewfinder, Rebecca Pronsky's third full-length, gets off to a strong start with "Hard Times";...2011: Viewfinder, Rebecca Pronsky's third full-length, gets off to a strong start with "Hard Times"; its galloping pace, brooding pedal steel and firm vocals set the tone for the darkness to come. But the disc's first peak comes just a song later, with "Day of the Dead." By the time she reaches the album's other side, she's been on the wrong end of a breakup, the wrong part of town and the wrong point of a love triangle. So when Viewfinder rolls to a close with the grateful, loping "Good Life," you know she's earned it.
  
  2008: TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE YEAR CRITIC'S LIST -- Rebecca Pronsky struck a deep chord on last year's Departures & Arrivals, with a little twang and a lot of empathy.

• Common Folk Music [+ Show ]
  

  One of the finest singer-songwriter records of 2011. The opening song, "Hard Times," is an instant a...One of the finest singer-songwriter records of 2011. The opening song, "Hard Times," is an instant attention-getter and country hit. It aptly introduces the album’s solid country influence and overall theme of lost innocence, cold reality, doubt and relationships.

Setlist

Almost entirely originals. We generally draw from these tunes but have many more we can do and some country/twangy covers too:
Border Town
Million Days
Big Kid
Gone
New Haven
Digging Graves
Big City Lights
Birds
Road to Nowhere
Hard Times
Road to Nowhere
Best Game in Town
All the Birds
Special
Fragile World
Waterways
Anything But Good
Aberdeen
Shame
Give Up Too Easily
Day of the Dead
The Wheel
Mercury News
Good Life
Movin' Out West
Come Down
Another
Rise Up
Big Demands
Red Eyes
Better That Way
Cold Hard Cash
Glenn Tipton

Basic Requirements

Calendar