Chuck Lee Bramlet

Chuck Bramlet 's elegant and raw emotional lyricism will hypnotise you. A primitive form of folk rock but an effective one, and overall in these times of computer driven music, a likely album to treasure for the future. Irresistibly introspective and of high acoustic and lyrical quality. - Panartist.com

Assured second solo release from the one time Gingersol-Man. After years as sideman in AOR outfits Rebel Train, The Violets and more recently Gingersol, a chance listen to Son Volts 'Trace' prompted Chuck Lee Bramlet to put down his bass, pick up a proper guitar & start to write some proper songs. Ahem! So now I have isolated one of the largest music buying demographics in America, a fairly popular & big selling band & all bass players in a single paragraph, do you trust me to lead you through the finer points of ‘Murder of Crows’? ....‘Murder of Crows’ takes its lead from the aforementioned 'Trace' as well as perhaps Tom Petty's 'Wildflowers' and Warren Zevon’s 'The Wind'. Grown up, sure, but with an edge and a little conscience for added social validity... 'Thank you Starbucks, 'cause there's one more another block away, are you Justified?' (Justified) To take the Zevon thing a stage further, on 'Not My Brother' the resemblance in singing style is uncanny (As is the similarity in melody with the late masters ' She's Too Good for Me') although on the Bramlet track we are treated to a stunning backing vocal from the Melissa Etheridgesque Lisa Hayes. Other standout tracks include 'Justified' with its double tracked vocal set hauntingly under a trio of driving guitars and 'Denial' which deals with an unspecified addiction... 'How many of those did you take today?' This record is however, not without its VH1 moments; 'Dark Star' ( not the Grateful Dead cover) and 'Little Lights' are fairly unimaginative pop tunes, the latter being partially rescued by a lovely mandolin figure holding it together, only partially mind. While influences are worn proudly on its sleeve, in ‘Murder of Crows’, Chuck Lee Bramlet has produced an album that will easily appeal to fans of any of the records mentioned in reference here and recorded it in a style that will ensure a similar longevity. Also available ‘Pooks Road’. - Americana UK

What a gem! We get a lot of CDs in here, so many we can barely open the packages, let alone listen to them. When we hear a good one, what a treat, and I must have listened to this one over 200 times already.

This is rock 'n roll in the tradition of Tom Petty and John Fogerty - guitar strumming, great lyrics, band music, with some folksy tunes as well. Chuck came to North Hollywood from Portland, Oregon where he kicked off his solo career as a writer after gigging and recording with The Violets, Lisa Hayes, and Gingersol as a bassist.

Stating his main influences as being Nick Drake, Johnny Cash, Roger McGuinn to Otis Redding, Bramlet plays music that is definitely old school, picking up where The Byrds, Moby Grape, and Buffalo Springfield left off. On this 11-track CD, starting with the intro "Pooks Road," the songs take one up and down with killer melodies, some fine strumming, and excellent vocals. Delighted was I to find in the liner notes, after I had already listened to it to death, that Anastasia Newham sings on this project - no wonder it's so good. Drummer Jano Janosik is the only other musician involved, leaving Bramlet on the guitars, bass, lap steel, accordian and Hammond Organ.

Although the songwriter claims this selection of songs are "dark," dating back to his time spent in Portland (a dark place), I found the songs to be uplifting, even if they are a little melancholy and undoubtably haunting. The last two cuts, "Long Thin Line," destined to become a great hit, and "St. Johns Bridge" being an instrumental, will send you back to track one to listen to the whole thing all over again. If addictive forming is dark, then yes, this is a very dark work!

With more sweetening for airplay, I think Chuck would sell a couple million copies! - NoHo LA

Chuck’s sophomore release is another first-rate, mid-tempo jangly roots-based pop extravaganza that was established last year on “Pooks Road”. Will appeal immediately to fans of Tom Petty, Wilco, Son Volt, Peter Bruntnell, etc. We particularly love “Dark Train” which very well could be Chuck Lee’s musical answer to Neil Young’s “The Loner”! Makes an excellent first listen after your weekly dose of Sunday morning mellow pop! - Ray Gianchetti - Kool Kat Music