Lamont Skylark
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Lamont Skylark

Band Americana Rock

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"From the Web"

As a Southerner recently exiled to New England, I've seen more snow in the last eight days than in the rest of my 26 years combined. When the great white dunes of snow that cover the sidewalks and parking lots grow gray and hard, like sand at a volcanic beach, and when the slush and sludge soak through the first pair of socks and begin to overtake the inner stockings, then one can begin to understand and appreciate why the people of the north are believed to lack the courteousness found in their Southern brethren. There's little time for niceties and petty civility when it's freezing out. But during weeks like these, when my environment turns so foreign and hostile that I might as well be living on the moon, it feels good to lie back, the arctic blast sloughed off, and listen to the warm, enriching, and decidedly Southern sounds of Lamont Skylark.

Hailing from Wilmington, N.C., that beautiful coastal town near Fort Fisher, Cape Fear, and the Jolly Dolphin, Lamont Skylark produces jangly power pop suffused with the echoes of country and Western. It's not quite country and not quite classic rock, but it does have that country spirit, and it definitely rocks in the classical sense. Generally alt-country and modern-day power-pop leaves me sort of cold, but the Skylark possesses a bit of roughness that provides character and a vividness frequently lacking in such music.

Love Poems and Fight Songs lacks the gloss, soullessness, and rote mimicry of much contemporary power pop or country; I would credit the group's rugged Southern element with nipping that bland shrinkwrapped quality in the bud. The rusticity of the pedal steel and the soul of a good Hammond crop up from time to time, enhancing the Skylark's traditional instrumentation in predictable yet positive ways. Singer and songwriter Lincoln Morris writes good, if not remarkable, songs, songs that push most of the right buttons and that could foreshadow an eventual period of genius. As is, songs like "How Do You Know," the rockabilly trot "Daisy," and the hill country folk of "7 Stills (29)" have to settle for being merely pretty damn good.

Love Poems and Fight Songs gives us a look at a young band with a great deal of potential. I would say that already Lamont Skylark isn't too far off the level of the Old 97's or even Uncle Tupelo, and they could one day perhaps grow into a band superior to either of them. Who knows, maybe Morris even has a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in him somewhere. Wherever their future takes them, however, with their debut album Lamont Skylark has already made a record I'll be listen to for years to come.


 - Garrett Martin, 12/29/2003 - Delusions of Adequacy


"From the Web"

Uncle Tupelo meets a little more Neil Young. Check them out when they hit your town. - Homeland Obscurity (music notes)


"Print"

Ah, the lazy days of summer are winding down and with that, it’s back-to-school time for many of us. For those of you just starting the journey into the world of higher education, it may be the time you start to relate to music on a different level. The bands you listen to now will flood you with college memories for the rest of your life, and I think that’s a lot for most bands to live up to. Lamont Skylark seems up to the task though. This whole CD has everything it takes to be a “college rock” staple. It’s the soundtrack to a never-made bizarre road trip movie starring you and whomever you want to take along for the ride. My version stars a young Johnny Depp. You have to make up your own. “But is the CD any good?” you might ask…Why yes, yes it is. The lyrics are smartly written, and the music is good in the way that you probably aren’t already hearing something that sounds just like it on the radio every 10 minutes. It’s fun without the mandatory pop factory sound that major labels seem to be forever in search of. Fun without the lyrics that assume you have an IQ of 50. So in general, I think that unless you are a Goth mistress of the underworld, or a big hip hop player, most anyone (even those of us who left college behind long ago) will find something to like on this disk.
www.lamontskylark.com
- Praxis Magazine


"From the Web"

Upon first listen, Love Poems and Fight Songs didn't impress us much...but something about the disc made us want to play it again...and again...and again... During that time, we were pleased to find ourselves falling in love with many of the tunes on this album. Lamont Skylark tunes combine the best elements from pop, folk, and country...to create a fresh sound that is vibrant and inviting. Bandleader Lincoln Morris writes some truly heartfelt songs...and his deep voice is perfectly suited for his material. This album recalls some of the more pensive material by Gram Parsons. As mentioned previously, this band's material does take a while to sink in...but once it does, you will find yourself completely immersed. Cool tunes include "Stew," "Grey," "How Do You Know," and "Down From the Sky." (Rating: 4++++) - babysue.com


Discography

"Love Poems and Fight Songs" (2003), self-released on Broken Home Records

"High Wire" (2006) self-released on No Label Records

The band receives light to moderate airplay on AAA and Americana stations throughout the southeast and midwest.

Streaming music from "Love Poems and Fight Songs" can be heard at

www.lamontskylark.com

To hear tracks from "High Wire", and some exclusive, unreleased material, please visit

www.myspace.com/lamonskylark

Photos

Bio

Lamont Skylark, from Wilmington, North Carolina, grew from two bands. the first, Skylark, a grungier rock outfit, and the second, Lamont, a roots-driven country group. Founding members Lincoln Morris and Kevin Rhodes, after several lineup changes, paired the ideas together and pared the group down to a trio to record their first album together, "Love Poems and Fight Songs", as Lamont Skylark, in 2003. All kinds of comparisons followed, from pre-Rubin Johnny Cash to the Velvet Underground. Every listener had a different take on the sound. Critics applauded its depth and diversity. Southern belles loved its singability and lyricism. As they toured the eastern seaboard and midwest they found that no matter how differently people identified with their music, ears and hearts alike were drawn to its warmth. It even won them a "Best Country Band" award in Beat Magazine.

Fast foward to 2006, where after more touring and radio dates, time off for fatherhood (Lincoln) and business building (Kevin), Lamont Skylark found themselves with a lineup stir again as their bassist left North Carolina for Northern California. They had almost completed their first record in three years, to be called "High Wire", and had to begin searching for new blood to flesh out its new direction.

Enter Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Ted's experience playing lead guitar with folksters the Fustics, and his abilities on lap steel and drums made an easy fit with the band and freed Kevin up to focus on piano songwriting. Bill, Kevin's neighbor, had been out of bands for a few years, focusing on electronic and experimental musics. But when asked to help push the boundaries of their sound, he jumped right in and lent the recording some subtle inflections and textures that really hint the boys are going somewhere beyond simply "country rock".

Now a fully gelled quartet of multi-instrumentalists, touring to support "High Wire", all members of the band are writing, singing, and rotating instruments to keep the sound as fresh and vital as it can be. Country crowds, indie rockers, even beach bums are being won over at every stop, and the comparisons are becoming ever more lengthy and hyphenated. "Sounds like Neil Young meets Radiohead meets 'Pet Sounds'", or "eclectic-americana-rock-country-space music". Even up-and-coming Americana giants the Avett Brothers have been singing the band's praises and personally chose them to open their New Year's Eve bash to ring in 2007. That's no slouch, folks.

When you book Lamont Skylark, no matter what the occassion, you get diversity and you get quality; but above all you get honesty and you get the true soul of Americana with an eye to the future.