Goodnight Ned

8. Goodnight Ned – Smoke From the Sails

2012 was a big year for local music. One band who stormed the scene was Goodnight Ned. The band’s debut Smoke From The Sails is almost picturesque for our list — rocky and rugged with vindication, all the while clean and poetic in terms of songwriting. The six-piece has a familiar folk dynamic between the guitars, keyboard and vocals, which they fill out with violin and trumpet. Plus, with even more local love, they sincerely explain the unique paradox many feel about our great city in their song “Dallas”: The fundamental difference between us/Darlin’ I love you, but you don’t love Dallas/You’ve been so good too me, but this shit town won’t let me leave. - By Tiney Ricciardi, Sarah Flynn, Laura Rowe and Rania Khoury

8. Goodnight Ned – Smoke From the Sails

2012 was a big year for local music. One band who stormed the scene was Goodnight Ned. The band’s debut Smoke From The Sails is almost picturesque for our list — rocky and rugged with vindication, all the while clean and poetic in terms of songwriting. The six-piece has a familiar folk dynamic between the guitars, keyboard and vocals, which they fill out with violin and trumpet. Plus, with even more local love, they sincerely explain the unique paradox many feel about our great city in their song “Dallas”: The fundamental difference between us/Darlin’ I love you, but you don’t love Dallas/You’ve been so good too me, but this shit town won’t let me leave. - By Tiney Ricciardi, Sarah Flynn, Laura Rowe and Rania Khoury

Goodnight Ned has the extreme pleasure of being one of the opening bands on this bill, and I was glad they were. I had heard a lot about them this year, and been a fan for probably six months or so, but had yet to see them live.

They were a large band, having six members, including a fiddle player, Andrew Juhasz, and a keyboardist, Jonas Martin. One thing that surprised me about them was how prominently the keys figured in to the music. I’ve seen lots of bands who use that instrument, but normally, at least from my experiences, it’s someone banging away on the keys to no avail, as it is overpowered by all the other instruments. That wasn’t the case here. In fact, there were several moments, especially in their first few songs, where Jonas had some integral parts, and even when he didn’t, you could still hear the keys crystal clear. The first three songs I didn’t know, and one of those they said was a new song. Afterwards, though, they got into some material I was somewhat familiar with, like their song about Dallas, which is aptly titled, “Dallas”. Both of the guitarists in the band, Chase McMillan and Conner Farrall, also both act as vocalists, and had traded off on some of the songs thus far, but they joined forces on this one, co-singing it. They both bring something different to the table, with Conner having what I guess I will call a more traditional voice, with a rich sound. Chase’s is equally as good, though it’s often a little gruffer, one could say a little rougher around the edges, but that gives a lot of character, and as good as they are on their own, when combined, their voices sound incredible. Another song I wasn’t sure of followed, and then the faster paced, “Make Me Some Money”, which is a pretty catchy tune to boot. The lead track from their “Smoke From the Sails”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, came next, I believe they said it was a song about the infamous duo and “…If they hadn’t gotten shot.” The band then pulled out another song, and I think this one they noted had never been played live until now. It was also somewhere around this point in the show that drummer, Michael Munoz, said if anyone was cold (as it was freezing outside, or at least felt like it) they could go buy a Goodnight Ned shirt. “…They aren’t long sleeve, but if you buy about ten of them they’ll keep you warm.” he said, laughing a bit. They had been playing for awhile, longer than I thought they would, but at this point they said they had only had two songs left, and both could be found on their latest CD. The first of those two was “Papa Jack’s Bag”, while concluding their 45 minute set was “Fruit On the Tree”.

I enjoyed their live show just as much as I hoped as I would, and then some. Their music is along the lines of Americana and Folk, though you’ll catch some hints of Rock periodically, too. The fact that they have two singers makes them pretty versatile, and aside from switching out, and even co-singing, they also use some harmonies, with both Michael and Jonas being capable backing vocalists. There was even one song where there of them sang a line in a round, which sounded fantastic. And then you have their live show, which is pretty entertaining. The stage seemed a little cramped with six people on stage, but they didn’t let that hinder them, as they all put on a topnotch performance, including bassist, Ryan McLaughlin.

You can find their music in ITUNES, where they have an LP, EP, and a single (which is “Make Me Some Money” and is part of a compilation CD). They also have a couple of shows lined up for November, both of which will be in Dallas. The first will be on the 10th at the White Rock Lake Festival, while on the 24th you can catch them at the Granada Theater opening for Turnpike Troubadours. - The Music Enthusiast

Goodnight Ned has the extreme pleasure of being one of the opening bands on this bill, and I was glad they were. I had heard a lot about them this year, and been a fan for probably six months or so, but had yet to see them live.

They were a large band, having six members, including a fiddle player, Andrew Juhasz, and a keyboardist, Jonas Martin. One thing that surprised me about them was how prominently the keys figured in to the music. I’ve seen lots of bands who use that instrument, but normally, at least from my experiences, it’s someone banging away on the keys to no avail, as it is overpowered by all the other instruments. That wasn’t the case here. In fact, there were several moments, especially in their first few songs, where Jonas had some integral parts, and even when he didn’t, you could still hear the keys crystal clear. The first three songs I didn’t know, and one of those they said was a new song. Afterwards, though, they got into some material I was somewhat familiar with, like their song about Dallas, which is aptly titled, “Dallas”. Both of the guitarists in the band, Chase McMillan and Conner Farrall, also both act as vocalists, and had traded off on some of the songs thus far, but they joined forces on this one, co-singing it. They both bring something different to the table, with Conner having what I guess I will call a more traditional voice, with a rich sound. Chase’s is equally as good, though it’s often a little gruffer, one could say a little rougher around the edges, but that gives a lot of character, and as good as they are on their own, when combined, their voices sound incredible. Another song I wasn’t sure of followed, and then the faster paced, “Make Me Some Money”, which is a pretty catchy tune to boot. The lead track from their “Smoke From the Sails”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, came next, I believe they said it was a song about the infamous duo and “…If they hadn’t gotten shot.” The band then pulled out another song, and I think this one they noted had never been played live until now. It was also somewhere around this point in the show that drummer, Michael Munoz, said if anyone was cold (as it was freezing outside, or at least felt like it) they could go buy a Goodnight Ned shirt. “…They aren’t long sleeve, but if you buy about ten of them they’ll keep you warm.” he said, laughing a bit. They had been playing for awhile, longer than I thought they would, but at this point they said they had only had two songs left, and both could be found on their latest CD. The first of those two was “Papa Jack’s Bag”, while concluding their 45 minute set was “Fruit On the Tree”.

I enjoyed their live show just as much as I hoped as I would, and then some. Their music is along the lines of Americana and Folk, though you’ll catch some hints of Rock periodically, too. The fact that they have two singers makes them pretty versatile, and aside from switching out, and even co-singing, they also use some harmonies, with both Michael and Jonas being capable backing vocalists. There was even one song where there of them sang a line in a round, which sounded fantastic. And then you have their live show, which is pretty entertaining. The stage seemed a little cramped with six people on stage, but they didn’t let that hinder them, as they all put on a topnotch performance, including bassist, Ryan McLaughlin.

You can find their music in ITUNES, where they have an LP, EP, and a single (which is “Make Me Some Money” and is part of a compilation CD). They also have a couple of shows lined up for November, both of which will be in Dallas. The first will be on the 10th at the White Rock Lake Festival, while on the 24th you can catch them at the Granada Theater opening for Turnpike Troubadours. - The Music Enthusiast