Mike Hallal Band
Rumford, Maine, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2003 | INDIE
Music
Press
The Mike Hallal Band’s latest release, Hatchet Blues (Pi Records), picks up where their previous release, the well-received Live At Lizard Lounge, left off. Although recorded in the studio this time around, the new album still has that live-in-the-studio feel, and their powerful, unvarnished blues/rock approach is still in place. - Graham Clarke, bluenight.com
... both lyrically and sonically this is a fine piece of work. At the third play one even begins to appreciate the gruff and slightly menacing vocals, never more than in the title track... Hallal wrote most of the songs, and some of them are superb, like "Worlds's a Place" whose lyrics were inspired by an extract from Barack Obama's work Dreams from My Father - the music written by fellow band member and guitarist Chris Schluntz... Their covers, for example in the manner of Eric Clapton's "Outside Woman Blues" and Charlie Patton's "Poor Me" are sensitively executed and suggest that this band are both musicologists and musicians. - Martin Norris, Blues Matters! Magazine
"Thumbs Up" for Hatchet Blues: poignant, haunting. - kayleeusa, jango.com
Mike Hallal and company serve up a collection of funky blues rock numbers that make you shake your money maker while rattling the earth from underneath your feet... There isn"t a dog on this disc... Good stuff! - Douglas Sloan, Metronome Magazine
Modern electric blues can get a bad rep at times. And it’s no wonder, when high falutin’ studios attempt to polish the guts and soul out of the raw recording or when some loser takes the notion that he’s the second coming of Clapton. So having considered the above and more, it was nice to hear “Hatchet Blues”, the latest release from the Massachusetts-based Mike Hallal Band... The title track takes on an almost tribal sincerity, a slow-burning rumination on revenge by way of the blues. Around the halfway mark, we hear a little of Hamlet, further proving that this band are not short on influences... The Mike Hallal band require no tutoring on what it means to play the blues... You need the CD! - Peter McGee, bluesbunny.com
... 33. Elvin Bishop: Raisin’ Hell Revue (Delta Groove)... 35. Mike Hallal Band: Hatchet Blues (Pi Records)... 48. Roomful of Blues: Hook, Line & Sinker (Alligator)... - Andy Grigg, Real Blues Magazine
The Mike Hallal Band has been packing them in for over a year now at Cambridge, MA's Lizard Lounge, with their sweaty version of blues/rock and roots music... Probably of the most interest to blues fans is the electrifying "Doctor Blues," the band's reworking of Henry Townsend's 1931 classic tune, "Doctor Oh Doctor". - Graham Clarke, Blues Bytes
1. Dennis Jones: Pleasure & Pain (Blue Rock )... 4. Delaney Bramlett: A New Kind Of Blues (Magnolia Gold)... 54. Mike Hallal Band: Live At Lizard Lounge (Pi Records)... - Andy Grigg, Real Blues Magazine
Various Artists – Kidzlikedanny4
These are inspiring songs, the kind of catchy things that linger in the mind long after the song is over... Recalling the fine-tuned storytelling of Lambchop, the Mike Hallal Band’s “Wail Yourself Free” serves as the collection’s heart with an expansive elegant sheen..." - beachsloth.blogspot.com
Discography
Albums on iTunes*
Hatchet Blues
Live at Lizard Lounge
Chains of Being
*Also Amazon, Rhapsody, Spotify et al
Photos
Bio
"Helluva songwriter," says bluesman Jimmy D. Lane of Hallal.
"The right elements of blues and funky sensibilities keep it real" with his "gutbucket" band, says The Noise of Boston.
Their sound is "tight... smoldering... electrifying" declares Blues Bytes.
And their new live-in-studio album, Hatchet Blues, is "lyrically and sonically... a fine piece of work," judges the UK's Blues Matters!.
Have a taste.
Ingredients
Jim Antonellis (drums): Brother-in-arms with Hallal for some 15 years. His shuffle grooves and 4-to-the-floor stomps recall Chicago blues drummers Ted Harvey and Fred Below. Influences include Gene Krupa and Charlie Watts.
Robert DeCorte (bass, vocals): Longtime jam partner and vinyl-hunting bud of guitarist Schluntz. Wrote and sings the evocative "Last of the Great Train Robbers" on new album. Also plays with Rhode Island jam band institution, Loose Change.
Mike Hallal (guitar, vocals): Some "superb" songs, says Blues Matters! of Hallal's latest. Influences include Beatles, Rolling Stones and Robert Johnson. Hatchet Blues is the 10th full-length release featuring his songs and performance.
Chris Schluntz (lead guitar): Burns thruout the new album, helping ignite riff-heavy cuts like "Crying at the Sun" and the title track. Also authored the funk for "World's a Place". Vinyl collection includes Buddy Guy and The Black Keys.
Radio play for Hatchet Blues
WMRA 90.7 (VA)
WUCF 89.9 (FL)
KDHX 88.1 (MO)
WMBR 88.1 (MA)
WHUS 91.7 (CT)
WRUW 91.1 (OH)
LT38 104.3 (GA | Argentina)
CFBX 92.5 (Canada)
UKW 104.5 (Germany)
RTV 105.1 (Netherlands)
VFM 91.6 (Croatia)
Radio 2: 94.1 (Macedonia)
WPRB 103.3 (NJ)
QUE 98.2 (UT)
WOA 99 (UK | India | Dubai)
AIR 105.4 (India)
MUST 107.8 (India)
mvyradio.com (MA)
jango.com (NY)
live365.com (France)
Band Members
Links
