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"This is one of my favorite three cds of the last year. I am taken with Erin Condo's work on Leaving Songs" --Roger Coryell, Program Director TwangCity.com - TwangCity.com
Eddytor's Dozen
by Chuck Eddy
May 23rd, 2005 5:59 PM
Selena, meet Polly Jean Harvey.
Take a look at the first four album titles below. Notice a theme? Now, look at these song titles, all from discs vouched for below that contain new music: "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do" (one of 2005's best singles, by the way), "Leaving Song," "Joe's Gone Ridin'," "Lonesome Rider," "Love and Gasoline," "Temporary Town," "Away From Me," "Trying to Find Atlantis." Now look at these, all from sets below where the music is three-quarters of a century old: "I'm Going Away Blues," "Memphis Rounders Blues," "Running Wild Blues," "Some of These Days I'll Be Gone," "Moving Day," "He Rambled." Charlie Poole's band was even called the Ramblers. Sometimes things change less than you'd think. - Village Voice
She's a pure Americana hometown gal, rocking a tank top wit her old, faithful blue jeans--hair down, shades on--because that sun's entirely too bright for the hangover she's suffering.
She's lived in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Guatemala, but it was in West Virginia where Erin Condo paved her way to discovery in 2002, playing open mics in Morgantown and State College, PA. Now living in Austin, TX, she just released her solo debut, "Leaving Songs."
The album title and CD art (the track list is on a postcard addressed to Another Lover in Temporary Town, USA) serves as a nice indication of what's in store.
Stories of recurring lost love--"It's Nothin' New, but it hurts just the same." That universal theme of dead end relationships--"Quick to love, slow to go."
Songs like these go great with hard whiskey, but they're notall sad and slow. She picks it up a bit with songs like "Primer-Colored Car," an autobiographical piece about busting out of a small town, and "Gas Well" is about chicks knocking off a liquor store...kickass!
It's traditional saloon-style country: sorrow expressed with twin fiddles, a hawaiian steel guitar, a harmonica and a piano--all driven by a voice that is strong in its subtlety and familiarity. She's a talented songwriter and storyteller.
I recommend "Leaving Songs" for boozers and fans of traditional country--TJ King June 1-14, 2005. - Graffiti Magazine
Discography
Erin released her debut album "Leaving Songs" in March, 2005 and is currently recording her follow up due out 2007.
Photos
Bio
Erin Condo's songs walk down a dark path, exploring lovers leaving, one night stands, prison guards, and drunken liquor store robberies. Her missteps in love and loss are captured in her debut album "Leaving Songs," recorded in central Pennsylvania and produced by the Mighty, Mighty Wiggus, Bob Klotz, and Erin herself.
At its peak, Erin Condo's "Leaving Songs" reached #51 on the Americana Music Association charts, after receiving an enthusiastic response from AAA radio all over the country.
Selections from "Leaving Songs" got the most airplay on Austin's own KUT, winning support from the nationally renowned DJ Larry Monroe, who invited Erin and her band to perform on KUT's Live Set in June, 2005.
Rustin Thompson of Seattle's KBCS (91.3) named "Leaving Songs" as the #1 album on his list of top ten albums of 2005, ahead of new releases from James McMurtry, Mary Gauthier, and Dwight Yoakam among others.
TwangCity.com station director Roger Coryell also names Erin's debut in his top three albums of the year. Leaving Songs also reached #6 of Suffragette Station's (Hawaii) top ten list for 2005.
As a performer, Erin can hold her own in a dance hall or in a seedy dive bar. Always surrounding herself with some of the best local talents, Erin's live shows are engaging and evocative, with her voice and her songs at center stage.
Erin was also selected as an official "Performance Alley" Showcase artist at the 2006 International Folk Alliance Conference in Austin.
Originally from the small town of Perryville, Maryland, Erin has lived in Oregon, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Guatemala. She now calls Austin, Texas home.
Recording has begun for Erin's second album. The multi-talented Sarah Glynn (Sarah Glynn Band, Lucy & the Luck Band) is producing the effort. Look for the follow-up in mid-2007.
Erin is also playing shows around Texas as a co-bill with the formidable Sarah Glynn (myspace.com/sarahglynn) in an impressive, if surprising, pairing.
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