Bill Kaffenberger

"CD of the Month" honors go to This World Is Bound To Fall by Bill
Kaffenberger. Fans of Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Herb Eimerman, Ted Holden, Phil Angotti, Horst-Peter Schmidt's work with Different Faces and Starbyrd and fans of chiming Rickenbacker 12-string music will really dig this full-length disc. The jewel case artwork should be a HUGE clue regarding the disc's contents, since Bill is pictured three times with his mapleglow Rickenbacker 370RM 12-string guitar. "She's So Real" leads things off with a track that sounds like it would have fit very nicely in Roger McGuinn's Back From Rio album. As the last jangly Rickenbacker riffs fade out, Kaffenberger segues quickly into the catchy acoustic counterpoint song "What Am I Doing Here." What follows these first two tracks is a succession of eleven more nifty tunes, and ten of the total thirteen tracks are Kaffenberger-penned songs. On those tracks that feature the most pronounced 370RM guitar riffs, it is difficult to avoid further comparisons with McGuinn. "Joshua Gone Barbados," "In A Winter's Dream," "White Gull Journey," "Praise The Lamb Of God" and "Urge For Going" all sound like Byrds and McGuinn-influenced tracks. On those songs that are inspirational or spiritual in nature, you can almost imagine Roger plugging in and accompanying a group at a folk mass or folk service. "Urge For Going" is a five and a half minute joyride that explores a McGuinn-cum-Kaffenberger treatment of Joni Mitchell's classic song. I'm almost convinced that Bill rode along with Joni and Roger during those mid-70s Rolling Thunder Review bus tours! Bill Kaffenberger deserves a big thumb's up for this Amariah Recordings-released gem of a disc. You can acquire Bill's superb jangly CD through CDBaby's online catalog service at <http://cdbaby.com/cd/kaffenberger> ; to learn more about Bill's music, visit
<http://home.earthlink.net/~kaffenberger_music> or <http://www.sonicbids.com/BillKaffenberger>. I now look forward to hearing Bill perform his original material in a live setting in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Long may you run, Sir Bill!

3 June 2005, Eric Sorensen, pop music columnist
www.fufkin.com

- www.fufkin.com

Bill Kaffenberger - This World Is Bound To Fall

There are many artists that have been influenced by The Byrds and Roger McGuinn’s Rickenbacker 12 string guitar style. Long time Byrds/McGuinn fan BILL KAFFENBERGER is one of them. A member of the Yahoo Byrdmaniax mailing list, Bill has just released his 4th CD called THIS WORLD IS BOUND TO FALL on AMARIAH Records.

An excellent piece of work, this is just what we Byrds fans need to get our shot of Byrds/McGuinn/Rickenbacker 12 string sound. Bill wrote 10 out of the 12 songs on this CD. He is credited with lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitars, electric 12 string guitar, production, engineering, mixing and mastering.

Raoul Verolleman, June 2005.
http://users.skynet.be/byrdsflyght/main.htm - Raoul Verolleman of Byrds Flyght

“I mentioned local pal Bill Kaffenberger in my opening paragraph. Bill can jangle with the best of them - he brings an acoustic guitar with him to his coffeehouse gigs, but he also likes to plug in his Rickenbacker 12-string at these shows and pleases his audience with some nice Byrds cover songs mixed in with his original material. Bill was kind enough to give me a CDR sampler of some of the tracks that will be on his next album, Jingle Jangle Morning, which he hopes to release later this year. Aside from the obvious Roger McGuinn and Tom Petty references, Bill's music reminds me of Herb Eimerman. Jingle Jangle Morning will feature more original tunes (including a cool rap/raga song and an instrumental) and a cover of Gene Clark's haunting ballad "With Tomorrow." If you haven't already acquired Bill's first disc, This World Is Bound To Fall, I encourage you to do so!”

Eric Sorensen, Fufkin.Com Online Magazine, June 2006.
- Fufkin.Com

Jingle Jangle Morning – Bill Kaffenberger

Bill Kaffenberger’s (second CD), Jingle Jangle Morning, lives up to its title … and then some! Byrds and Roger McGuinn fans should dig this disc in its 17-track entirety. The title song is very reminiscent of McGuinn’s electric work, and numerous other songs fall into the McGuinn/Tom Petty school of chiming Rickenbacker folk-rock music. Like McGuinn, Bill Kaffenberger is not reluctant to display his spirituality in his choice of lyrics and song topics (“Mystic Night” and “Stand With You Awhile”). The McGuinn influence is also evident on the rap raga tune “Who Are All These People” (which appears as a full-length song with lyrics and a shortened instrumental track). “Trouble On The Border” opens with a chord progression that is very similar to the McGuinn-Clark-Hillman Top 40 song “Don’t You Write Her Off.” The highlight among the acoustic tracks is Bill’s cover of the great Gene Clark ballad “With Tomorrow.” Bill’s material often reminds me of fellow singer/songwriter and Rickenbacker 12-string wielder Herb Eimerman. Bill’s growth as an artist is particularly evident in his vocals and songwriting - both more confident than on his 2005 debut album, This World Is Bound To Fall. Jingle Jangle Morning will definitely please Baby Boomers … and it should appeal to younger music fans that appreciate the timelessness of 60s-inspired pop and folk-rock music.

---- Eric Sorensen, music journalist, www.fufkin.com
- Eric Sorensen, Fufkin.Com