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Shady Esperanto and Young Hearts
Stephen Kellogg
Kellogg gets verbose with the title and verses, but the singalong chorus is a real grabber: "Oh, I never want to get old." - USA Today
Friday September 04, 2009, 10:30 PM
By Donnie Moorhouse
Stephen Kellogg is coming home.
It is true that he and his band the Sixers left their Northampton base over three years ago, when Kellogg and his wife moved to Connecticut to raise their two girls.
"But I still call it home," said Kellogg. "That is where the band was born."
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers will release their CD "The Bear" on Tuesday, Sept. 8. The band will celebrate the release of that disc with a show at the Iron Horse on Sunday, Sept. 13. Jeffrey Gaines opens the show.
"We've just made a record we feel really strongly about," said Kellogg. "We've grown as a band. We've also landed with the right label at the right time."
The new disc will come out on Vanguard. It is the band's debut on the vaunted indie label.
"It is a label that doesn't view 30,000 records sold as a failure," said Kellogg.
The Sixers formed at UMass in 2003 with Kellogg, Kit Karlson, and Brian
Factor. A year later, after releasing the stunning "Bulletproof Heart" the band was signed to Universal Records.
Noted for their live performances, the band has opened for O.A.R., toured
military bases around the world (which included a show with Sugarland in Germany ) and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Carbon Leaf.
Kellogg is a heady, heartfelt songwriter who can turn a phrase that will remind you of Petty, Springsteen, or Bono. The current tour will take them from Northampton to the Midwest , through the South, and back East before the New Year.
Kellogg has been warming up with some solo dates with Dar Williams.
To hear clips or "The Bear" and pre-order the CD, check out the band at
www.stephenkellogg.com. The site also features a video blog of the making of the record. - MassLive.com
August 20, 2009
I think we all have bands in our lives that we pull for no matter what - whether it’s because you started liking them at an influential time in your life, their live act won you over, or they just seem like all-around great guys. For Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers, it’s all those things. So when Oz sent me an advance copy of their new album a few weeks back, I listened with some trepidation – pulling for them since I once put Kellogg in my Fantasy Supergroup, but nervous that after 10+ years of banging out solid material, they may mail this one in.
I’m happy to say the album absolutely delighted me. The Bear is easily Kellogg’s finest effort to date.
It starts off with the title track, a two-minute, stripped down acoustic thumper with gritty guitar riffs and an undeniable beat. It gets even better on track two with a catchy, straight-forward alt-country number called “A (With Love).” The third song, “Shady Esperanto and The Young Hearts,” is undoubtedly Kellogg’s most radio-friendly. It literally has everything – an upbeat melody, Springsteen-esque DOUBLE hand claps, heartfelt vocals, and a jubilant “I never wanna get oooolllldddd!” sing-along chorus. Am I allowed to pump my fist to Stephen Kellogg? I’m unsure.
The album is equally strong as it progresses onward. Kellogg calls on friend Josh Ritter to lend a helping hand on another standout track, “All Part of the Show,” a lyrically whimsical tune about phony relationships. But perhaps my favorite song on the entire record is a 7-minute gem called “Mabeline.” It’s vintage Kellogg and full of everything I’ve always liked about his music.
The Bear will be released on September 8th on Vanguard Records. The dudes are on tour now and stop through Chicago at the Old Town School of Folk Music on 8/23 and again on 9/18 at Park West. - HearYa - Indie Music Blog
Discography
Bulletproof Heart - 2004
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers - 2/15/2005
The First Waltz - 9/26/2006 - CD/DVD set
Glassjaw Boxer - 7/10/2007
The Bear - 9/8/2009
Photos
Bio
Look no further than the title track of their new Vanguard debut album The Bear to understand Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers. As the band sings passionately, “Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. Sometimes you’re gonna win, sometimes you’re gonna lose…but you know in the end – there's no apologies!”
“SK6ERS,” as they’re also affectionately known, have carved a determined, inspiring path since forming in Western Massachusetts in 2003. An exceptional live act given to high-energy showmanship, The Sixers are closing in on their 1000th show with a newfound grit and gratitude. Stephen and core Sixers – Kit “Goose” Karlson (keys, bass, tuba, accordion) and Brian “Boots” Factor (drums, mandolin, banjo) -- are friends who act like brothers and switch off on their instruments to keep it fresh; much in the tradition of their collective heroes, The Band. “We’ve all opted to approach our life in the same way – trying to put integrity ahead of ambitions of fame and fortune, though we’d like that too... at least the fortune part,” Stephen says with a laugh.
Many bands talk about “keeping it real,” but in The Sixers’ case, they mean it. “We’re not up there projecting a personality we can’t believe in. I think it’s important to go with the feel of each moment and take chances. If that means we get out of synch or sing out of key once in a while, so be it. The crags are cool because they’re interesting.”
That explains why producer Tom Schick (Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright) signed up for the new record. “Each person in The Sixers really adds a lot,” he says. “They’re so locked in with each other. Stephen is definitely the leader of the gang, but everybody has their say,” he adds of the roles played by Boots Factor and Kit Karlson. “They rise and fall together. It’s amazing to watch them work.”
Schick now understands why the group has a growing legion of loyal fans. “They’re a ‘classic rock’ band in the best sense of the phrase,” he says. “You can hear Neil Young, Tom Petty and John Cougar in there. It brings back a lot of good feelings about growing up and listening to great people who can really play their instruments. It’s not pieced together on a computer. It’s very refreshing.”
The Bear is their rawest and most collaborative album yet. With alternating tracks between producers Tom Schick and Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown) the album was recorded in an apartment studio in NYC and a big old house in Maine respectively. The duality of these settings fits perfectly with Kellogg’s description of his family upbringing as, "aristocrats and farmers." Ditto the musical diet he was raised on, a strange bedfellow mix of his dad's 70's records and his sister's taking him to 80's metal concerts. Kellogg explains, "I'm as much a product of Whitesnake as I am of Jackson Browne. The beauty of The Sixers is that they don't have a problem with that."
Out of that deep understanding of each other, several of the new songs were co-written by the group including "My Old Man," an aching personal track about an aging father; "Dying Wish of a Teenager," a song about wrestling hopelessness; "The Bear" and "Do," both brighter tracks about making it through life amidst the highs and lows that exist for everyone. It all builds up to the climactic "Born in the Spring," a song about rebirth from the “what-fors, flames and trap doors through which all of us fell.’’ The album is a heartfelt odyssey that also rocks with an explosive touch at times, as the band continues to push the boundaries of what they've done before. Of the recording process itself, Boots elaborates, "Most of the record was recorded in a room with us spilling all the guts we could muster into the mics. It wasn't always pretty but that's... well that's the bear."
Other stand out collaborations comes in the form of those who lent their time and talents to the making of The Bear. Canadian stand out Serena Ryder on "See Yourself," Josh Ritter on "All Part of the Show," label mates The Alternate Routes and Whiskeytown alumnus Mike Daly. Also appearing on guitar and pedal steel is the newest Sixer, Sam Getz, who joins the touring line up in the Fall of 2009.
Having released four independent records as a solo artist, Stephen formed the band in Northampton, MA after meeting Kit and Boots at UMass – Amherst, looking not just for talented musicians, but for true comrades. "I used to play 60 songs a night at this steakhouse. I was supposed to play only covers, but I would slide my own material in by introducing it as 'an old Jefferson Airplane B-side' or something. The guys brought me out of that and into the realm of making records and touring the whole country over the course of one great year. "
The skill and camaraderie of the band, along with its growing popularity, was noted by the major label Universal Records, which signed them off of their 2004 debut album,
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