Speaking Cursive
Jacksonville, Florida, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2012 | SELF
Music
Press
Speaking Cursive’s self-titled debut album has been a long time coming. Rick Grice, the band’s frontman, wrote the songs for the 11-track LP almost four years ago, but was waiting for the right line-up of musicians to make it a reality. Since forming over the past few years, and the long-awaited album’s release last fall, the Jacksonville-based band snagged a spot at The Big Ticket Fest, playing their mix of Something Corporate-style pop-punk and Fountains of Wayne – or even Cheap Trickesque power-pop – alongside genre heavyweights Fall Out Boy and Weezer. The first single on the album, “Rorschach Dress,” is indicative of the group’s polished and heavily produced sound, a super-peppy break-up song with squeaky-clean three-part harmonies, simple hand-clap-style drumming, and a catchy earworm-worthy chorus. — Janet Harper - Folio Weekly
Frontman, Rick Grice, of local band, Speaking Cursive, recently sent me a link to the band’s first full-length, self-titled album. Although I had only heard a couple of the group’s previous tracks from 2012′s EP, What’s In A Name?, I could immediately tell that Grice and co. had been putting a lot of hard work into their new album.
Speaking Cursive is a bit hard to categorize into a specific genre, but Grice said, “Songdriven. I guess you could say it’s a bit like Thin Lizzy meets Shovels and Rope meets your favorite punk band? I try to let the songs write themselves … put myself in a place of inspiration and then pick the melodies out of the air.”
While you can’t hear the album just yet, on Tuesday, November 11, the band will release their new album to the public.
Unlike the first record, which was solely recorded by Grice, Speaking Cursive steers the band into much different waters. This change is largely due to the addition of local, well-skilled musicians Leroy Copeland, Jeremy Austin, and Eli Alexander Clark.
Not only did the new lineup help, but also the fact that Grice, who has been a producer for nearly a decade, worked tirelessly to polish the record to its fullest potential. “I’ve spent the last 10 years learning how to polish my productions to the nines, however, with this record, I pulled back on the reins a bit.” Grice said. “We did a lot of the tracks in one take and I tried to let the chips fall where they may for the most part. It’s still a clean recording, but it has some grit!”
Anyone looking to hear the album a bit early should check out Speaking Cursive’s CD-release party at Jack Rabbits this Saturday, November 8. The album will be available for free streaming one week leading up to the release on Bandcamp. There, you can pre-order the record and you’ll also get two bonus tracks and an instant download. - Void
Discography
"Speaking Cursive" - November 2014 Produced, Engineered, Mixed & Mastered by Richard Leigh Grice
"The What's in a Name E.P" - February 2012 Produced, Engineered, Mixed & Mastered by Richard Leigh Grice
Photos
Bio
Tuesday, November 11th 2014 marked the release of Speaking Cursive’s first full length album. As a follow up to 2012‘s “The What’s In A Name?...E.P.” which was recorded solely by frontman Rick Grice, this record definitely takes a different approach. Now with added veterans of the Jacksonville music scene Leroy Copeland, Jack Ringca, and Jeremy Rogers, whom each have been performing/touring for over 15 years, this band is brimming with talented musicians whom are passionate about their craft.
When asked to specify their genre Grice simply replies “Songdriven.” And when asked, OK if you had to describe your sound... “Well...I guess you could say it’s a bit like Thin Lizzy meets Shovels and Rope meets your favorite punk band? I try to let the songs write themselves...put myself in a place of inspiration and then pick the melodies out of the air.” Whatever it may be there is no denying it is Rock and Roll.
The record was 100% produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Grice himself. However, with his day job as a full time producer...it absolutely does not sound like your average home recording. “I’ve spent the last 12 years learning how to polish my productions to the nines, however, with this record I pulled back on the reins a bit.” Grice describes. “We did a lot of the tracks in one take and I tried to let the chips fall where they may for the most part. It’s still a clean recording but it has some grit!” All members of the band sing so their record and live show is littered with 3 and 4 part harmony which is a key element of the band.
Since the release the band has not slowed down. They secured a spot at The Big Ticket Festival in December opening for Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Young The Giant, J. Roddy Walston (and several others) and were recently nominated as one of Folio Weekly's "Best Albums of 2014" in their February 'all music' issue.
Currently they are finishing a brand new record for early 2016 with the first music video set to release in November of this year.
Band Members
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