Artist InformationBiography
EVANGELICAL: characterized by ardent or crusading enthusiasm; zealous
GENITALS: the organs of creation; the sexual organs; the private parts
Imagine if Johnny Cash, Bob Marley and Joan of Arc were one woman. Now, imagine that woman gathering a band of eclectic musicians on a crusade to expand the bounds of Country music.
Described as "Cosmic Square Dance" and "Hillbilly Jazz", Juli Crockett and The Evangenitals are opening people's minds and ears to a new style of Southern music. Though based in the roots of Country, the band incorporates a wide variety of influences, instrumentation and styles. The result is a genre-hopping bull ride that has music fans and critics buzzing in Los
Founded by playwright/director Juli Crockett and opera/jazz singer Lisa Dee, is an alt-country hillbilly love punk rock revolution of the freak folk/Americana variety made flesh for your listening pleasure. On a quixotic crusade in the key of life hell-bent on breaking all the world’s hearts open, they are coming soon to a sound wave near you.
Born in Enterprise, Alabama, Crockett's roots are in the soulful country music of the South. After receiving a BFA in theater from NYU’s Tisch School and an MFA in Directing from CalArts (and currently pursuing a PhD in philosophy from the European Graduate School) Crockett has drawn the eclectic blueprints for entirely new genres. In an age of hybrid technology the Evangenitals follow suit with songs ranging from Klezmer-punk-jazz to cow-town truck-stop lullabies, citing influences from the new-wave intelligentsia of the Talking Heads to the archetypal fire of Johnny Cash welded together with the mutant masterminds of Ween. The jukebox at the Mad Hatter’s tea party is the Evangenitals.
Vegan warrior Crockett combines her pioneer lineage with her love of performing arts, to push not only the frontiers of art, but to foster a renaissance of compassion, love, and gratitude as the platform to engage in global collaboration, activism, and community building. By her side from the genesis of the Evangenitals is vocalist Lisa Dee, formally trained in the art of glass shattering, gospel singing, and spiritual counseling. Her harmonies and operatic solos are devastating and wonderful in the context of art school country punk… and she plays a ferocious tambourine.
The squadron also includes guitarist Henry Bermudez (a combination of Prince and Genghis Kahn with a streak of Stevie Ray Vaughn and the heart of Hendrix), drummer David Hurlin (bald minimalist, devotee of Lord Shiva, funky as a spoon in a garbage disposal), bassist Matt Ticciati (Kung Fu Monk), fiddler Andrea Baker (gypsy pirate bellydancer of soaring strings), and accordionist Ari DeSano (Saint Squeeze Box the Merciful). Filled with an insatiable desire to explore new forms of musical instrumentation and arrangements, the Evangenitals take listeners on a journey of passion and creative freedom, embracing all of life as source material, from the mundane to the sublime.
The Evangenitals were midwifed in a defunct bowling alley in the gritty Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, where they gave their first performance for a small mixed group of rehab refugees and listless drunks from an adjoining bar. Since then, the band has recorded three albums, toured the U.S. in a bus of dubious reliability with The 1 Second Film, appearing at scores of clubs from Los Angeles to Georgia, New Orleans to New York. Wherever the band has appeared, a cult following has sprouted like mushrooms after a soft but persistent rain.
Despite a dynamic range of material that veers from quirky anthems to gently persuasive melody, The Evangenitals shows tend oddly toward the rowdy, inspiring boisterous reactions and a physical response that isn't quite dancing, certainly not pogo, but a vigorous bobbing response that is currently being researched by a team of neuro-behaviourists from UCLA.
The Evangenitals experience is like riding six white horses through a tornado, then being thrown onto a beach to see a simultaneous sunset-moonrise only to find yourself awaken in your own home, in your own room, as if from the best dream of your life, filled with the desire to live better, more fully, more passionately, consciously, deeply, here, now, ever!
The Evangenitals experience is like hopping a train to Alabama and winding up at a solar powered square dance on the moon
The Evangenitals experience is like the ride at Disney land called escaping with your life from a burning barn and falling to your knees to kiss the ground your family walks upon
The Evangenitals experience is like getting hit by a Nerf bus.
What Some Folks Say:
"Some days you go looking for the sky but oh lord it's a long walk upwards. Other days you stay down on the earth and find your Evangenitals. Get your tired heart wrung by the best new band since the last best new band ... and maybe the best band after them also." (Colum McCann – Award-winning author of "Dancer")
“Have you ever met a retired professional boxer who is working on her Doctorate in Media and Communications, sings lead for an alt-country band, is a published playwright and theater director and works in a sex shop? No? Well then you should meet Juli Crockett. She has done it all and more." (Mike Gormley, Music Connection Magazine)
“Gifted with a powerful voice, Crockett makes her distinctive mark as the anti-crooner. She sings with a deep clarity and is able to maintain an odd balance of folky sweetness and country music's signature yee-haw…. At first listen, her vocals call to mind other notable altos like Cher, Grace Slick, and flannel-clad lesbian grunge pop extraordinaire, Linda Perry. Crockett's sound is low, smooth and profound.” (Orphan Records Review)
"The Evangenitals... sound sort of like a cross between Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks and L'il Kim. I bought their album."
(Steve Almond, author of Candyfreak & Not That You Asked)
“It is my firm belief that no band in Los Angeles gets more "room respect" (and deservedly so) than the Evangenitals. When these guys play, no one speaks or makes a sound. It's a true phenom.” (Michael Anderson - Stereo-9)
"Like the Dixie Chicks being beaten with their own guitars at the playful hands of the Violent Femmes." (Aaron James, Musician)
"3rd loudest audience applause in the 10 years I've been booking the Buccaneer." (Tim - Booker for The Buccaneer in Sierra Madre)
Instrumentation
The Main Squeeze:
Juli Crockett - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, yodeling
Lisa Dee - vocals, percussion, tambourine, kazoo, operatics
Henry Bermudez - lead guitar, slide, stomping
Andrea Baker: violin/fiddle
Ari DeSano - accordion
Kristy McInnis: drums
Laurie Es - bass
The Extended Family:
David Hurlin: drums, tabla, cowbell, shakers
Matt Ticciati: bass, gypsy guitar
George Bernardo (Cash'd Out) - Drums, Percussion, Marimba
Joe Kolias - Cymbals, Triangle
Joey Ninja (Ninja Academy) - bass, pedals, bows
Brett Lyda - guitar(s), lap steel, casio, vocals
Jason Chesney (old californio) - Bass, Guitar, Pots & Pans
Brian Landers - Pedal Steel, Electric Banjo
Dave "Salad" Salardino (ukefink) - Mandolin, Ukelele, Banjo
Zoe Moss - Accordion
Geoff Brandin - Bass, Piano, Pedal Steel
Jeff Jones - Space Bass
Mike Ibarra (killsonic) - upright bass
Discography
"We Are The Evangenitals" - copyright 2005 - Evangenitals
"Everlovin" - copyright 2007 - Evangenitals
Currently available at CDBaby.com, iTunes, on Internet Radio and other online venues.
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