Stephen Foster & Howler

Stephen Foster is one of the original Muscle Shoals swamp-style players, working alongside such luminaries as Percy Sledge, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Spooner Oldham. He brings a hot band and all that life-experience to his newest release.

A kick-ass microcosm of all that makes the music south of the Mason-Dixon line great (Allmans, Wet Willie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and lotsa Little Feat for funk n groove), the ten songs on Howl At The Moon will not only burn down the barn, it'll get the party started to raise the damn thing again!

With the burning opener Mad As Hell (And I Ain't Gonna Take It) garnering much radio and Internet play, Foster and the Howlers — Jay Jernigan (vocals, guitar), Larry Hartsfield (bass, vocals), and Eddie Russell (drums) — keep the flame white hot, along with other choice tracks, especially Mama's Goin' Dancin, When The Train Come Home, Cathead Blues, Middle Class Man and Cat Fever. And with a lyric like "I don't need no Viagra / To help me make my wood," how can you lose? - FAME

(PRWEB) October 30, 2006 -- Stephen Foster & Howler released "I'm Mad As Hell (And I Ain't Gonna Take It)" in late July to selected Internet radio stations. Top 10 rotation followed in 2 weeks, and rotation is still happening on some stations. The band has hired Americana Media Promotion to promote the album to the Americana charts, with Lynda D'Amelio onboard as publicist. Album release date is Jan 21st, 2007, but some stations are adding several other cuts from the album, notably "Cathead Blues" and "Mama's Goin' Dancin' (When The Train Comes Home)".

Stephen Foster & Howler hail from Alabama & Tennessee, and the songs and sound are completely Southern. Stephen has played on stage or in studio with such greats as Precy Sledge, Bonnie Bramlett, The Cars, Ricky Nelson, Lee Roy Parnell and many others, and something of all those artists has rubbed off on him. He plays multiple keys and guitars, including delta slide, and does most of the lead vocals.

The bands' fatback groove is reminiscent of Little Feat or Allman Bros. As a 4-piece, they play a spare style, but the bassist, Larry Hartsfield, is such a full player that it sounds like the band is playing more than they really are. Stephen and Jay Jernigan, the band's guitarist, both come from musical backgrounds that required them to play really full and heavy. Now, with the heavy groove supplied by Eddie Russell on drums combined with Larry's bass riffing, both of these great instrumentalists have to play really spare and minimalistic just to stay out of each others' way.

The resulting style is extremely heavy, very bluesy, very melodic. Listen to "Mad As Hell", "Mama's Goin' Dancin'", or "Cathead Blues", and you'll be surprised to find that the tracks were cut 4-piece, without one single overdub, as was the entire album. As a result, the band sounds like the band live, and vice versa. The album was cut in one weekend and mixed and mastered in 2 weeks. No wall of guitars, no double-tracking leads, no extra harmonies, etc. Just like they play it live.

The band has taken an oath of brotherhood and signed a 10-year contract with each other. There's enough material in their song catalog to fill another 7-8 albums, and they own their own recording studio, so be prepared to hear lots more from this Southern Revival band.

The current album "Howl At The Blues" is being promoted by Fred Boenig of Americana Media Productions, with album release and servicing to radio on Jan 21st, 2007 for the Americana Charts.
- Billboard

When I first started to listen to this album, it immediately brought back memories of my teen years in the late 70s. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, ZZ Top and the Allman Brothers ruled the rock charts, blue jeans fit just right and $5 worth of gas in my 72 Dodge Dart would last me all weekend. Ah, the good old days. We can't bring those days back but fortunately that good music is still here.

Stephen Foster and Howler is a four piece band out of Northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee. They are all experienced veterans of the southern rock scene and it certainly comes accross in the music. These guys are pros.

Stephen Foster has shared the stage or studio over the years with the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feat, Kansas and others. If you are a fan of good old rock and roll the way it should be, take a listen to this band. For more information about Stepen Foster and Howler, visit their website: www.howler.biz.

Best Track(s) - CDReviewsbyyou.com

"Stephen Foster & Howler stand and deliver - at times the music is reminiscent of the best of Little feat, at other times injected with passionate blues riffs, but always completely satisfying. Real Southern talent that raises the bar for the rest of us" - Michael "Buffalo" Smith, GRITZ - Gritz