Blake Powers & Fallon Franklin

I'd also like to mention a couple of other people I ran into not too long ago. Blake powers and Fallon franklin (www.blakeandfallon.com) just finished shooting a video for Cactus Cafe that will be out on DVD due in late fall of 2005. It will have some of their new material on it, along with some interviews and live performances. They are also recording some work over at Bismeaux Studio under the watchful eye of Ray Benson. As if that wasn't enough, they are also going into the studio soon to start working on their fourth release that will include songs by both. It will be their first full band compilation album. Blake and Fallon are out of the Austin area, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they book some more Dallas dates pretty soon. - Todd Purifoy - Mavrik Magazine

Being a huge fan of music, I always love those moments that you don’t expect. When you are going about your normal routine, and you come across something that stops you dead in your tracks. Recently, that happened to me. I was doing a little bit of web - surfing, and came up on an article about a new artist from Texas named Fallon Franklin.
Reviewers sometimes don’t agree with each other, but the over – positive spin on the album made me a little curious, so I decided to look for a little more info. As I said, I love those moments. This is, simply put, one of the best voices I have ever heard.


There are many facets that Franklin brings to her m music. There is a little bit of Country, a little bit of Blues, a little bit of Rock, but no matter the situation this artist makes her presence known . . . and felt. On the opening track, “What About Me”, Franklin’s vocals bring to mind Natalie Maines, and you are at once struck by just how powerful her vocals are . . . and you wonder why you hadn’t heard of her before. “R e d Lights” has such a weary feel that no matter how young you might feel, sometimes you can feel time - tested. The soulful rockers idea of Franklin comes into full view on “Fairytale”, which has such a scorching and blues-ish lean that you just know she has listened to a little bit of Raitt and Crowe over the years.

One thing that this album proves is that you are only as good as those that surround you. On this disc, Franklin has surrounded herself with the best. Blake powers gives some potent guitar licks on the driving “It’s Going to Rain”, and contributes some incredible harmony on the emotional “Mt. Zion”, a song about reliving memories that is one of the best performances on the disc. Drummer Joey Campbell provides the beat on “Going Down”, where Franklin tells her lover that she will be better than fine without him once she moves on from the cold relationship. All along this album, bassist Kevin Schneider lends some booming riffs to each performance.

Franklin’s prowess as a singer is matched only by her talent as a tune smith. Without knowing her past, you can assume she has had a more than interesting life. In “Downtown”, she is trying (not too successful as of yet) to forget an old love, who she happens to pass him and his new girl on the street. “Bridges” has the singer wondering just how life has made her a different person than who she was. The chorus of “Joe” drips with heartbreaking emotion, and on “Wrong Way”, she delivers such a hurting, evocative performance that she proves she has the chops to compete with any artists out there, regardless of format. Sometimes you take a road that you didn’t expect to be on your route, and when you do…you’re glad you did. I can tell you that I am certainly glad that my path crossed that of this beautiful and talented Texas angel! I want you to save this magazine and this article, because when Fallon Franklin becomes the nationwide rage that I think she has the potential to be, I will be the first to tell you “I told you so.” www.fallonfranklin.com... Log on for more info…She’s that good, folks, that good indeed!
- New Music Weekly magazine

Release Date: End of March 2004
First heard of this band very recently - March 6th opening for Honeybrowne at The Firehouse. I was completely brought in and blown away! Lucky for me that they had give away demos - Blake was kind enough to make sure I received one and I have listened to it for 3 days straight!

Blake is not only a talented singer/guitar player, but he also writes all of the songs. It has been a very long time since a songwriter grabbed my attention so completely. His songs are written from deep inside of his soul. Instead of remarking briefly on each song, I will pick one of my favorites on this CD. It is not much musically, but if more had been done instrumentally it would have truly taken away from the lyrics and meaning behind the song. 'Father's Face' is about a son remembering a moment of seeing his father standing in his suit with his briefcase staring at the floor - apparently feeling the loss of his freedom sucumbing to his job and the responsibility of supporting his family. One of the most powerful lines is 'A world where pride is sold for bare minimum wage created in his soul a vast and vacant space'. In goes on that this son, now grown, finds himself in that same place in his life, now being the grown up son, now being 'haunted by his father's face'. It is a very haunting song and so elgantly written, that I found myself sitting there listening, with quiet tears streaming down my face.

The entire CD in a whole is about watching the events of our life from a safe distance. I am not sure I could say it better than Blake Powers, so I will post his words, with his permission, from the album notes, 'Isolation is certainly theme, and it stems from our voyeuristic tendency to watch events from a safe distance. We create boundaries that, in effect, allow us to observe or even experience situations without being emotionally affected by them. Many of the songs deal with narrators who look out windows at the world around them, in effect, anesthetizing the reality of the situations they encounter. Emotional lines are drawn that are unconsciously obeyed and assigned a divine or inescapable origin, even though their impetus derives from our own hands. We then co-opt those lines and try to control them: we sell them as religion, love, drugs; We use them to classify things that are inherently "non-classifiable"; We create systems of thought and action that are expected; etc...' (excerpt taken from www.blakepowers.com - music - click on cover to view album notes).

This CD is due to be release at the end of March 2004. I recommend and implore everyone to get a copy. It will touch you in ways that music has not yet reached you. You won't believe the personal, emotional connection you will have with this music. As Blake put it best to me, it requires the listener to be open to looking at places inside of the heart that many people are afraid to look at....in just the past 3 days, it has been very healing to me - and opened my heart and mind more than anyone else has musically in a very long time. - GalleyWinter.com

…I met Fallon Franklin last month at River Road Ice House outside of New Braunfels (TX) during Guadapalooza. As I interviewed Fallon and her cousin Blake Powers, I must say I enjoyed the envious stares of some rather well known young Texas musicians walking through the staging area that day. Being with Fallon is like hitting the trifecta at the track. First, she is absolutely drop-dead beautiful. We’re talking supermodel and girl next door wrapped into one. Secondly, she has the voice of an angel. And last, but certainly not least, at the tender age of 21, she is an amazingly good songwriter…

…Not really what I would classify as a country artist, Fallon’s music tends more towards folk or Americana. Her songs are very personal, all but one selection on her CD “Red Lights”, are about personal experiences. Her inspirations come from real-life…problems with parents, relationships with others, growing up, moving away…things that people can relate to. While her music is danceable, she prefers to play “listening venues” such as coffee houses and smaller, more intimate clubs...

…Blake & Fallon’s songwriting skills are exemplified with a listen to both their CD’s “Lines” and “Red Lights.” Haunting lyrics describing the trials and tribulations of coming of age set to catchy melodies make up the bulk of this fare…
- Texas Rising Star Magazine

“Perhaps it’s because I’m at a station in life where it’s painfully obvious there are more questions than answers, and frustrating there are no meaningful signs to point the way. Or perhaps it’s just one hell of a catchy number. For whatever reason, Blake and Fallon hooked me with the first song on Wasted Day. The title track bemoans the passage of time and the gulf separating dreams from reality: I had the dream again, that I was flying / I got six hours of sleep, then I am back on my feet / I’m just one of the sheep, and I can taste it. Yes, a bitter tang afflicts each of us who pursue the everyday instead of the extraordinary. Variations on that theme recur throughout Wasted Day, as Blake and Fallon descry the bitter yield of self-awareness. A dour message, perhaps, but it’s sugarcoated with some of the sweetest folk-pop I’ve heard in some time, with the Austin-based trio (Blake Powers and Fallon Franklin, plus drummer Joey Campbell) falling along the literate singer/songwriter continuum somewhere between Darden Smith and Jars of Clay. Life may sometimes seem a pill too bitter to swallow, but beautiful art like Blake and Fallon’s helps makes the everyday bearable and occasionally even transcendent.”

-Patrick Nichols
www.thisistexasmusic.com

Listen to:
“Wasted Day”
“Bathroom Floor”
“Angelina”
“Just Like Him”
- www.thisistexasmusic.com

Texas Music Times - February 2007
WWW.TEXAS MUSIC TIMES .COM
By Keith Howerton
The first time I saw Blake Powers and Fallon Franklin was in late 2005 opening for Cory Morrow at Gruene Hall. They were country and had a stage presence and charm that was infectious. They are a charming duo on stage and in person. The music that night was solid and enjoyable, but it seemed somewhat forced and difficult to deliver with heart for the couple. Although I enjoyed the set completely it did not leave a huge impact on me musically. I just chalked it up to a nervous show on their part.

I did not think much about Blake and Fallon until almost a year later when I was contacted by a booking agent about checking out the new CD titled “Wasted Day”. I thought “great”, would love to hear where they went with the new project. I was also please that they had done a CD together as a band. The previous projects were separate solo projects. It was good to hear they had a combined project out recorded with Fallon’s husband Joey Campbell on drums and percussion.

When the CD arrived, I sat it aside to get around to giving it a listen. Because of an extremely busy schedule I was not able to get to it right away. I like to listen to a CD and do nothing but listen. Sometimes I just don’t have that hour to give. When I finally put the CD in the player I was immediately struck by the obvious. The project is a great departure from country or even Texas and red dirt rock. It is not a country record at all. In fact, it is a great pop record mixed with some great blues and contemporary modern pop rock sounds. I was so surprised and shocked that I listened to the record 4 times in a row. I was also surprised at how much I liked the record. It is a cool mix that is not really within any genre but is genuine and original.

Austin producer Mark Addison, known for his production of Honeybrowne and for being extremely talented with capturing instrumental sounds, produced the project. “Wasted Day” has a wonderful feel of instrumentation and vocal harmonies that are musically tight and delightful. By pushing the edge with keyboard tracks, Addison and the band were able to give the CD a symphony sound that is much larger than the sum of the instruments used. It is a masterful work.

The recording of “Wasted Day” is a departure and a risk for Blake and Fallon. So much Texas Music is designed to fit into a small box of what is good and what is not. However, in the end the best recordings of any artist are those that fit them and don’t try to fit into any sort of market or scene. Texas music is changing. Blues, rock, and pop are coming back in this scene and Blake and Fallon will find the niche for their brand of music. It is genuine and original and there are always people willing to listen to genuine music even if it doesn’t fit the “formula” of Texas Music. It is simply good music that is made by someone from Texas. I listen to Norah Jones for the same reason and I never see her on the Texas Music Chart. But I don’t think Norah cares that much.
- Texas Music Times - Feb 2007