Joe Cassady & The West End Sound

Artist Information

Biography

New York city alt-country innovators Joe Cassady & The West End Sound’s third studio release on Avenue A Records, The Chymical Vegas Wedding, takes listeners back to the band’s acoustic folk/country roots without losing the intelligence, sonic textures and New York indie-rock sensibility that won their first two albums AMA, FAR and Euro-Americana charting and praise from sources like BBC’s Bob Harris, Maverick Magazine, and Blues Matters in the UK as well as USA Today stateside.

Produced by Rod Hohl of the band Yarn, The Chymical Vegas wedding highlights Cassady’s literate lyricism with an acoustic-based, multi-textured backing of guitars, mandolins and banjo that always courts tradition while never quite settling down to be traditional.

Called, "an alt-country innovator . . . in the tradition without being derivative," Avenue A Records recording artist Joe Cassady and his band The West End Sound, combine the best of the singer-songwriter tradition with roots, Americana and modern rock forms. Their debut CD What’s Your Sign? was named as one of the best CD’s of 2007 by editors of USA Today and Soundstage! and was spun by legendary UK DJ Bob Harris on his BBC2 Saturday Program. The follow-up, 2009’s The 47th Problem reached the top 10 of the Euro-Americana Charts, received extensive airplay in the U.S, Australia and South America and was named #4 of the Top 10 Albums of 2009 by Hi-Fi & Musik Magazine in Sweden.

Founded in 2005 out of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Joe Cassady & The West End Sound are among the main protagonists in a growing roots/rock music scene arising in the Big Apple. In 2010 they completed their second European tour, winning over crowds at The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival and the Southern Fried Festival in Scotland, in addition to other dates in the UK and the Netherlands. Along the way they have shared stages with notables such as KT Tunstall, Badly Drawn Boy, Harper Simon, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Bernie Worrell of Parliament Funkadelic and Talking Heads and Garth Hudson of The Band, as well as acts like Olabelle, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, the Zen Tricksters, and the Jim Weider Band. In the words of Midwest Record's Chris Spector: this is "an up and comer that's going to go the distance no matter what marketing handle they hang on the genre. Top shelf stuff in any bar."

"Wasn't necessarily expecting good alt-country from a Manhattan band, but got it anyway. The songs' obvious intelligence doesn't get in the way of the solid, often enthralling music."
Ken Barnes - USA Today

“Cassady and his pals continue to merge the best of various fringe and underground sounds into a special Americana gumbo that you label that way because there’s no other way to make the uninitiated understand.” Chris Spector - Midwest Record Review

"He's a beatnik in the wrong decade, with a taste of country rock and urban, brazen, outsider romance. It is as if he wants to be Allen Ginsberg, Paul Westerberg, Waylon Jennings and Keith Richards at the same time. He succeeds surprisingly well."
- Honky Deluxe Blogspot

”Can someone tell me how I've been able to miss this band? Tell me!” Frank Ostergren - "Best Right Now"--Rootsy.nu

"Heavy shit indeed." Jan Wolfer - Hooked on Muisc

Instrumentation

Joe Cassady (Songwriter, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Shu Nakamura (Lead Guitar& Keyboards), Aaron Gardner (Bass), Robert Bonhomme(Drums)

Discography

THE 47TH PROBLEM: (Top Ten on Euro-Americana Chart, #4 of Top 10 Albums of 2009 by HI-FI & Musik Magazine in Sweden); WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?: (USA TODAY and SOUNDSTAGE! Editor's Choice for Best CD's of 2007, 20 + Weeks on the AMA Americana Radio Airplay Charts and featured by Bob Harris on BBC2 Radio in the UK); JOE CASSADY & THE WEST END SOUND: (Self-Titled EP)

Links

• MySpace
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• ReverbNation
• YouTube
• Worpress Blog
• Avenue A Records

Audio

• Broken Down
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• Van Gogh's Ear
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• Everything Once
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• Pole Dance
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• Holy Hell
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• Make It Rain
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• Somewhere (A Long Way From)
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• Rorschach in Love
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• We All Tour With Elvis
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• Living Ghosts
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Lyrics

• Everything Once
• Pole Dance
• Holy Hell
• Make It Rain
• Rorschach in Love
• Somewhere (A Long Way From Here)
• We All Tour With Elvis
• Rorschach in Love
• We All Tour With Elvis
• Living Ghosts

Video

Make It Rain

Photo Gallery

Press

• No Depression Review of THE CHYMICAL VEGAS WEDDING [+ Show ]
  

  I've seen New York's Joe Cassady And The West End Sound at Belladrum Festival two years running and ...I've seen New York's Joe Cassady And The West End Sound at Belladrum Festival two years running and absolutely loved 'em each time: 'a classic rock band with a star guitarist' is how I described them and that's pretty much how they come over in a live setting. (see fan video below) I was perplexed that their first two cds didn't have the oomph that they deliver on stage but with the arrival of this, their third album, I guess my view is going to be that they're a band with two characters. Again, the sound on disc tends towards the restrained, lyrical and wistful; you can hear the rock party starting on a few songs, for sure, but they don't catch quite light in the way things do on stage.
  
  This, however, is not a problem because the music on this cd is, I think, something of what Gram Parsons had in mind when he talked about his Cosmic American Music or whatever his phrase was. Fusing elements of country music - there's some pickin' and some twang in there - with a basic rock sensibility, the thing that really makes this band distinctive is Joe Cassady himself. On stage he kind of looks like a trendy college teacher on play day in his cordurouy jacket and hiding a little behind his spectacles and unruly hair. Listen to the words he's singing though and you soon realise that this is a man with a very individual take on life and one who's chronicling the America he finds around him. Questioning all the givens that other people take at face value and wrestling with the dark side of life, he's certainly a man with something to say. As with so many American songsters, Jesus does keep cropping up, but I guess he did for Gram, too. The thing is, with Joe's lyrical preoccupations he could easily have ended up singing solo in coffee bars, just him and his guitar. It seems incongruous that he should have ended up fronting a rock band but it works really well. There's a wry humour in his writing - witness the song 'We All Tour With Elvis' (i.e. on The Great Tour In The Sky) - which works well with the cheerful barroom rock of his band; it's the end of the world as we know it but we'll all feel fine with this lot.
  
  There's a suspicion that he doesn't have too many melodies up his sleeve; some of these songs sound like numbers from previous albums. The same charge has been levelled at much bigger bands, though, and besides Joe's got a wonder guitarist in Shu Nakamura who comes up with no end of joyful instrumental breaks to cover his tracks. With a lot of bands you get a sense of the career trajectory, from breakthrough hit to losing the plot in search of a mature sound. I don't think these guys will have that problem. They kind of sound like they've been around forever and will be around for a long time to come, doing that Joe Cassady thing. As for 'The Chymical Wedding...' , if you want an explanation of the title best check out Joe's tale on his website.
  John Davy
  
  
  

• Americana at Belladrum (Tartan Heart Festival 2009, Scotland) [+ Show ]
  

  "The biggest surprises and successes of the weekend came on the Saturday. In the mid-afternoon Joe C..."The biggest surprises and successes of the weekend came on the Saturday. In the mid-afternoon Joe Cassady and the West End Sound came on stage and set the place alight. Somehow reminding me of both The Faces and The Band they played tuneful, lyrical roots rock and would have played for another half hour if the crowd had got their way but we had to make do with two encores. Shu Nakamura on guitar was a total star, grinning his way joyfully through the entire business and playing like a demon. It was perfect festival music; there were some covers in there but their own stuff somehow seemed familiar."
  http://flyinshoes.ning.com/profiles/blogs/americana-at-belladrum-the?xgs=1

• "Best of 2009" Hi-Fi & Musik Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  1. Olika artister “Radio Nord & Radio Syd” (Riverside/BAM) 2. Diana Jones “Better days will come” (...1. Olika artister “Radio Nord & Radio Syd” (Riverside/BAM)
  2. Diana Jones “Better days will come” (Proper Records/BAM)
  3. Sofia Karlsson “Söder om kärleken” (Sally Wiola Music/Playground Music)
  4. Joe Cassady & The West End Sound "The 47th Problem” (Avenue A Records/Hemifrån)
  5. Greg Copeland “Diana and James” (Inside/BAM)
  6. Amy Allison “Sheffield Streets” (UM/Hemifrån)
  7. Todd Thibaud “Broken” (Blue Rose/Border)
  8. Gretche Peters & Tom Russell “One to the heart, one to the head” (Scarlett Letter Records/BAM)
  9. Pilgrim “Harbour girl” (Rootsy)
  10. J-Tex “Misery” (Heptown Records)
  - "Best Of 2009" in Hifi & Musik Magazine, Sweden

• "Best of 2009" Rootsy.nu [+ Show ]
  

  1. Olika artister Radio Nord & Radio Syd (Riverside/BAM) 2. Diana Jones Better days will com...1. Olika artister
  Radio Nord & Radio Syd
  (Riverside/BAM)
  
  2. Diana Jones
  Better days will come
  (Proper Records/BAM)
  
  3. Sofia Karlsson
  Söder om kärleken
  (Sally Wiola Music/Playground Music)
  
  4. Olika artister
  Dim lights, thick smoke and hillbilly music
  (Bear Family/Border)
  
  5. Joe Cassady & West End Sound
  The 47th problem
  (Avenue A Records/Hemifrån)
  

• USA Today.com: My favorite albums of 2007
  

  WHAT'S YOUR SIGN? Selected as one of "My favorite albums of 2007." Ken Barnes - USA TODAY

• USA Today.com: First Impressions: This week's previews and rearviews [+ Show ]
  

  Joe Cassady & the West End Sound/What's Your Sign? (out now): Wasn't necessarily expecting good alt-...Joe Cassady & the West End Sound/What's Your Sign? (out now): Wasn't necessarily expecting good alt-country from a Manhattan band, but got it anyway. The songs' obvious intelligence doesn't get in the way of the solid, often enthralling music.
  
  

• Soundstage! Best Recordings of 2007
  

  WHAT'S YOUR SIGN? Selected as one of Soundstage! Magazine's "Best Recordings of 2007"

• Maverick Magazine Review of THE 47TH PROBLEM [+ Show ]
  

  Joe Cassady and the West End Sound The 47th Problem Avenue A records **** "It doesn't take a g...Joe Cassady and the West End Sound
  The 47th Problem
  Avenue A records
  ****
  
  "It doesn't take a genius to work out that Joe Cassady is a damn fine musician and an even
  better songwriter. Some of the tracks on THE 47TH PROBLEM would stand scrutiny with the very best of Americana and not be found wanting. Everything that is great about the album is encapsulated in Willie Mays, it's engaging, well written, beautifully played and eminently listenable without being shallow or trite."
  

• Honkey Deluxe Blogspot Reviewof THE 47TH PROBLEM [+ Show ]
  

  " . . . a beatnik in the wrong decade, with a taste of country rock and urban, brazen, outsider roma..." . . . a beatnik in the wrong decade, with a taste of country rock and urban, brazen, outsider romance. It is as if he wants to be Allen Ginsberg, Paul Westerberg, Waylon Jennings and Keith Richards at the same time. He succeeds surprisingly well."--Honkey Deluxe Blogspot

• Soundstage! Review of THE 47TH PROBLEM [+ Show ]
  

  In this album, Joe Cassady and the West End Sound, more than most singers and bands, resubmit famili...In this album, Joe Cassady and the West End Sound, more than most singers and bands, resubmit familiar experiences to us afresh. Maybe songwriter Cassady’s "Willie Mays" is influenced by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy’s "Catfish," about Catfish Hunter, another baseball star, but like the album’s other ten original soft-to-driving rock tracks, this song sparkles in its own right: "Pinstripes and diamonds and overhead lights / Million mile stars twinkle through million dollar nights."
  
  Cassady explicitly acknowledges his Dylan influence. Especially when spinning out his prosaic lines while fronting his ragtag-sounding, deceptively musical band, he makes big-time hay from ground that Dylan already plowed. But part of his success is his individuality, and he diverges significantly from Dylan. His singing is more conversational, less apocalyptic, and reading the lyrics, you think about Allen Ginsberg -- another acknowledged occupier of Cassady’s brain.
  
  Shu Nakamura on several instruments, Robert Bohnomme on drums, Anthony Bax on percussion, and Aaron Gardner on bass shine more than players in a classic Dylan model band -- Nakamura in particular, with his hot guitar solos and catchy introductions. The sound needed a bit more work, but we'd want to keep the "mess" that keeps the listener hopping.
  
  Cassady’s writing on personal relationships and literature are sophisticated and witty but not in a popular vein. Writing excitingly on public matters might be a useful page to borrow from Dylan. Cassady's big talent deserves a serious following, and the timing is right.

• Midwest Record Review of THE 47TH PROBLEM [+ Show ]
  

  "Cassady and his pals continue to merge the best of various fringe and underground sounds into a spe..."Cassady and his pals continue to merge the best of various fringe and underground sounds into a special Americana gumbo that you label that way because there’s no other way to make the uninitiated understand. Would it be so weird for Townes Van Zandt to hang out with Lou Reed? Perhaps not as the journey through the mirror these two would take together would be really off the hook."

Setlist

Original Tunes with select and rocked up covers by artists like Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, or Kris Kristofferson. Can play a 45 minute set or all night long depending on your situation.

A Recent Setlist (Originals Unless Otherwise Noted):
1. Can Opener
2. Mad Woman
3. Find My Way Home
4. Sixteen Coaches
5. Rollin’ & Tumblin’–Muddy Waters
6. Motherless Child–Traditional
7. I’d Rather Be You
8. Jack Kerouac–Kenn Keder
9. White Freightliner–Townes Van Zandt
10. Dead Flowers–The Rolling Stones
11. Curse of the Drinking Class
12. Tonto’s Blues
13. 9th Floor
14. Prometheus Bound
15. G3 Blues
16. St. Jude
17. Warren G. Harding
18. What’s Your Sign?
19. Angel Eyes
20. Beirut Boogie
21. Willie Mays
22. Joshua Your Mother Loves You
23. Six Days on the Road–Flying Burrito Brothers
24. Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound–Hank Williams Jr.
25. Parrots & Napoleons
26. If I Wake Up
27. Heavy Poems
28. Sin City-Gram Parson/Chris Hillman
29. Mama You Been On My Mind–Bob Dylan
30. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way–Waylon Jennings
31. I Still Miss Someone–Johnny Cash

Basic Requirements

Calendar