Congress of a Crow

Taking wing
By MATT GLEASON World Scene Writer
7/21/2006

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Singer-songwriter Danelle Phillips soars to new heights with Congress of a Crow
Growing up in Wichita, Kan., Danelle Phillips couldn't listen to a song like Deadeye Dick's "New Age Girl" -- the one about a girl who "don't eat meat but she sure like to" well, um, you know -- without getting grounded.

And that damsel, who would grow up to become Congress of a Crow's powerhouse singer, couldn't watch MTV or VH1 either.

In retrospect, Phillips actually commended her parents for forbidding the music channels because, as she wrote on the band's myspace.com Web site, she wouldn't trade a childhood "when all there was to do there was climb trees and rebuild cars, ride four-wheelers and play guitar inside the empty silo on our land."

Beyond those diversions, Phillips amused herself playing the trumpet -- an instrument she's still known to play in concert -- in the high school orchestra and its marching and jazz bands.

She also was something of an actress, performing in plays such as "Bye Bye Birdie" -- one of her favorites because Phillips' character, Rose, sang more than she talked.

The artist still doesn't like talking on stage, but with a voice like her's -- many liken it to Gwen Stefani's


-- there's really no need to jabber.

Her towering vocals and incandescent performances communicate everything that needs saying.

Back in her Fridgebuzz days, the dynamic singer attracted droves of fans with concerts mostly packed with cover tunes.

Those covers helped pay the bills, but Phillips wanted to escape the cover band life, so, about a year ago, she made the leap from the club-friendly pop group to the harder-edged Congress of a Crow.

Phillips recently sat in Gypsy Coffee House toying with a mug of coffee, topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, as she looked back at her decision to form Congress of a Crow.

"It's finally paying off, man," she said about the group featuring members of the defunct local rock outfit Vastu. "After a year of 'Oh my god, what did I do?' it's finally, like, some really cool stuff is happening."

That cool stuff includes releasing the relatively new four-song EP "When Did Animosity Eat Us Alive?"

The disc is 18 minutes of Phillips' vocal acrobatics matched with the dual guitar assault of former Vastu rockers Adam Tichenor and Wil Sutherland.

Phillips' backing band, which also includes bassist Matt Mayo and drummer Nathan Lindley, gives her the firepower to spike the pop stylings of a Stefani or Pink with fist-clinching rock tinged with smatterings of a Latin groove.

The first cut, "Reason," finds Phillips confronting divorce and its effects, especially those inflicted on a child discovering a parent's infidelity.

On a wave of rock energy, Phillips unleashes pent-up rage as she sings "It's all your fault!"

Phillips captures a similar intensity on "Bad News," a tune the singer described as an anti-suicide anthem.

"I don't know what it is in the Midwest but I think people are more depressed than people who get to see the ocean everyday, you know," she said. "So that song is kind of a reinforcement to wake up, your friends are your support and we're here for you."

Before the group closes out the EP with "Vampires," an ode to the nocturnal, partying set, Phillips and company bust out with the infectious "Time 2 Wake Up."

Phillips actually came up with the chorus, "It's time to wake up, put on your makeup and put the drinks up," before she even joined the band.

Tichenor recalled the fateful jam session in which Phillips heard the tune's verse riff and simply had to jump on stage to sing whatever came to mind.

"That was off the top of her head," Tichenor said, "Whenever it's that easy, it's like 'OK, sweet, I get to do my job and someone will do theirs.' "

Now that Phillips is free to write and perform her own tunes, she's reveling in her band mates' boundless creativity.

"The ideas have never run out," she said, "and I believe they'll never run out." - Matt Gleason~Tulsa World

. . . .I got to see Congress of a Crow at Boston\'s this weekend. The band had a great full sound, all of the songs were great, and the lead singer had a great stage presence, not to mention a great voice. This girl could WAIL! If you like rock, you should make an effort to see this band. They will probably be picked up by a label before long, and if not, they should. - fan review

Congress of a Crow's lead singer Danelle Phillips just about set the Mercury Lounge ablaze at midnight on Friday.

The local superstar, who now fronts the hard rocking act, scorched away all memory of her poppy Fridgebuzz days as she rallied the crowd from her perch atop the low, glass-block wall in front of the stage.
She even -- get this -- played the trumpet.

I couldn't take my eyes off her, and neither could anyone else.
- By JOHN WOOLEY & MATT GLEASON World Scene Writers

APRIL 25, 2007
It's been a few weeks ago, but the last Congress of a Crow show that I was at has continued to stick with me.

The entire bands puts on a great energetic show, and with the ever-so-talented Danelle Phillips leading the way with her incredibly strong vocals and worldly style of alternative rock, Congress of a Crow definitely has what it takes to build an international following.

Currently, Congress of a Crow is wrapping up in the studio and has continued to keep a busy live performance schedule. - hypecast.tv

'Original' is this band's mantra

'Congress of a Crow' might not peck at you if you try to pigeonhole them, but they'll sure chirp about it

By Jane Wilson

http://www.okWeekend.com correspondent

TULSA -- As a band, originality counts for so much.

For people to really believe what they're hearing, the band has to be believable and real and themselves and the band Congress Of A Crow has that down.

Together for more than two years (the two guitar players, Adam and Wil, have been playing together for 11 years), they are an original band and don't really care what genre they fit in.

"The way that we write music, you don't follow a specific formula, just play what everybody thinks sounds good and it comes out the way it came out," said Adam Tichenor, guitar. When people ask him what genre the music fits in, he usually says, "I just usually tell them it's good."

To be more specific, the music could be classified as alternative, funk, rock, reggae, to name a few styles.

"If we were ever to go on tour with a band, it would be probably be 311 or Incubus. We kind of fit in that genre," said Danelle Phillips, vocals.

As far as their originality is concerned, they consider themselves more down to earth.

They're not into the flashy, skater clothes that is popular in their genre of music.

There are plenty of other qualities that separates this band than just their style.

"The first thing that I'd say makes us stand out is Danelle. There's not a lot of original rock groups with female singers in Tulsa," said Tichenor. "It's an original band, I'd like to think."

Adam also teaches guitar lessons and wants to instill originality in his students and he reminds them that "whenever you start to write your own songs, whenever you start having your own ideas, whenever you start to be able to hear your own voice in your head and play it, you're going to hear other people's music, but if you play what you want to hear, then it's going to come out, and it's going to be original and it's going to be true," said Tichenor.

It goes back to writing what you know, what you have experienced, and what is meaningful to you.

"One of our songs is called "Reason" and it's actually about my parents that went through this really ugly break-up and divorce after about 28 years of marriage," said Phillips.

While the band is performing, they leave it all out there.

"People always tell me that I'm so emotional, like from the lyrics to the look on my face, it's such a wide range of emotion and I think that's kind of what life is all about, ya know. You get these singers that sing about happy times and love and everything and in my experience it hasn't been that pleasant, so I want people to see that it's ok to cry, it's ok to just get that ugliness out of yourself because if you keep it inside it will eat you up and become a very sad person," said Phillips.

The ability to express yourself through music has always been a key factor for many original bands and even cover bands if they can put their own twist on the song.

"Being able to come up with the perfect words and melodies is cool," said Phillips.

She goes on to say that showing the finished product to people and seeing their eyes light up is probably more exciting.

Everybody in the band puts in their input when writing a song.

"I want people to know you can put a group together and be completely collaborative and come out with an original sound. You don't have to try and sound like something," said Tichenor. "What I want people to know is that we're a completely fresh and an original group."

For Tichenor, the best compliment he can hear from a fan is, "You guys really have an original sound."

They plan on going into the studio in April to record an album.

"The world today focuses on who's hot, who's young, and let's see how much money we can make out of this person and then discard them," said Phillips.

They now see themselves as more mature, older, well-rounded and able to transfer that into better songs and lyrics.

"We're really good at what we do and I feel confident in saying that, cause I've been doing this for like 12 years now," said Phillips.

In her high school yearbook, Phillips wrote:

"I want to travel the world through music."

It looks like she and the band are going to make that happen. - Jane Wilson www.okweekend.com