Glamourpuss

This fun-loving Canadian five-piece weighs in with their first full-length collection of blues and zydeco. Guitarist Travis Furlong leads Glamour Puss on the album's opener, the salacious "Kitty Kitty", which is punctuated by mean horn blasts and a stomping organ sound. The band creeps its way through fourteen slinky originals -- Furlong and keyboard/accordion player Roger Cormier share most of the songwriting duties -- and a gravely take on John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom"; while their cover sounds fine, my money is on hot-sounding originals like "Million-Air" and "You're Rich and I'm Poor". Another "don't miss" tune: the title track, which features mean acoustic guitar picking courtesy of guest performers Michael Jerome Browne and Charlie A'Court."
-AL
Living Blues
May, 2004

"...this is as good as modern Blues gets. With a blessed
absence of unending, masturbatory solos, an incredibly sweet-sounding production, lyrics that aren't too clever to be cool, and musicianship to-die-for, this CD, Wire and Wood is a phenomenal and thrilling oasis of state-of-the-art Blues in the desert of the genre's overdone mediocrity."
-P. Kellach Waddle
Blueswax
January 14, 2004

"Glamour Puss's "Wire & Wood" is quite possibly the most upbeat CD I have heard in a long time. This Canadian 5 piece, consisting of Ron Dupuis (Drums / Vocals), Travis Furlong (Guitar / Vocals), Paul Boudreau (Bass / Vocals), Roger Cormier (Keyboards / Accordian / Harmonica / Vocals), and Dan Rodgers (Sax / Vocals) are all extremely talented and run the gammet with a musical stew of Rock / Blues / Zydeco / and All-Around-Party Band. Most would be confused by a CD that crams 15 songs of various styles into a CD running less then 53 minutes, however Glamour Puss pull it off, and pull it off flawlessly."
-Brian Cohen (Founder)
Are You Blues
Autumn, 2003

"...After listening to their latest CD release, "Wire & Wood", I have come to two conclusions: Glamour Puss loves the blues and they love to party! There is a unique kind of irony on this CD however. On the one hand the lyrics express difficult life situations like painful relationships, loneliness, misunderstandings, disappointment, etc., elements that are essential to blues writing. On the other hand the majority of the music supporting the lyrics is upbeat, electric, fun and even danceable."
-Darryl Styres
Monkeybiz.ca
September, 2003

"Unexpected and somewhat bizarre, this blues / rock / zydeco / R & B record is strong, strong, strong. The first great strength evident to the listener is the record's layered rhythm. Double-time bass working closely with drums, a precise horn section and a fat-bottomed organ sound give the band, in essence, three rhythm sections, so when one of the three distinct rhythm entities decides to drop out and explore the front line world of lead every so often, it doesn't detract from the song's drive at all.

"Among the record's 15 tunes are numbers definitely emphasizing the separate musical genres performed by the band, but few of the tunes are purely "blues," "zydeco," or whatever. Glamour Puss impressively blends genres that often conflict in other hands. I can think of no musician friends with whom I would not happily and enthusiastically share this release.

"The band sounds at different times like Huey Lewis & the News, Sam & Dave's backing act, the Edgar Winter band or the Saturday Night Live orchestra. Altogether rewarding."
-September, 2003

"This is an exciting group ... I'll be very surprised if Glamour Puss doesn't garner an award nomination of some sort in 2004."
-Richard Bourcier
Jazzreview.com
September, 2003

"... music of joyful self-expression ... dance music ... to take away the blues."
-David Kidney
Green Man Review
September, 2003

"Glamour Puss Wire & Wood NorthernBlues NBM0018/Festival Album number four and proof positive that this band deserves its new national status. Roaring out of the block with three straight rockers, they then stay true to their New Brunswick roots with a blend of Cajun, French and acoustic blues originals. First time producer Michael Jerome Browne has done a marvelous job with the recording and the performances, adding guitar, fiddle and harmony vocals and generally taking things a step higher. The drive and spirit, though, belong to the long-standing lineup of Ron Dupuis on drums & vocals, Travis Furlong on guitar & vocals, Paul Boudreau on bass & vocals, Roger Cormier on keyboards & vocals and Don Rogers on sax & vocals. Phillipe Lucy & Roland Bourgeois augment Rogers for a horn section throughout. Newcomer Charlie A'Court guests on acoustic guitar along with Browne on "Wire & Wood", Furlong's paean to his guitar. Cormier's "(Elle est) Dangereuse" has a most effective melody line and the list of 12-bar blues with French lyrics is not a long one. John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" gets the Animals treatment, capturing every bit of the energy - Taken from www.northernblues.com

Reviewed by Sue Andreychuk

Recordings this good don’t seem to come along often enough. New Brunswick’s own Glamourpuss are preaching simple blues gospel through this fast-take gig at the Upper Cape United Church in NB. A wonderful blend of blues, rock and accordion-thumping zydeco, the emotional connection to their music is obvious. The magnificent seven that make up this seasoned group include a mix of vocals from Ron Dupuis—who is also on drums—plus Travis Furlong and Larry Maillet. Special guest Michael Jerome Browne gets blending in with harmonies.

I was so impressed with both the simplicity of the lyrics and the high-quality sound recording. It is like I have heard these songs before on an old crackly blues recording but now they are recovered and brought to modern light. Ironically, the only cover on the whole thing is ‘Georgia’ at the very end, and it is a must listen. Ray Charles himself would not turn this sound down, no way!

Favourites, well, I had many to choose from these blues experts. ‘Leaving on Sunday Morning’ eases me into quicker-paced tunes like ‘Addiction’ and ‘Drivin’ the 401’. Who doesn’t need to call upon a higher force when driving the racetrack we call the “collectors lane”.

Not surprising is how many Atlantic-Canadian music awards these fellas have to their credit. I wish them many more but mostly, want all of Canada to hear such sweet blues tunes. There is nothing like the real boppin’ thing and they are surely it!
June 2006 - 701.com