Music
Press
"What's really cool about The Munks is that you can say they have a little Dylan feel about them, or maybe a Tom Waits sound, but you can't classify them as country or country rock or Americana. They have NO CLASSIFICATION." - The Arkansas Times
"The Munks are avatars of the Little Rock sound and a reason to feel good about the music scene." - KUAR Radio, Arkansas
"The Munks could possibly be the hottest band in Little Rock at the moment...They are highly acclaimed." - Good Morning Arkansas
"The Munks use violin, pedal-steel guitar, keyboards, drums, and great lyrics and melodies for a music that defies description. It's simply The Munks' sound..." - The Arkansas Times
Discography
LP "Heartbreak Numbers" 2006- Big Bender Records
Track "Nice To Know" on "The United State of Americana", Shuteye Records 2006
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Throaty, thuddy, hoary: THE MUNKS
Defining the seeds of Little Rock quintet The Munks may be a parlor game by the time the group’s trajectory is complete. The Munks’ pedal steel, violin and Arkansas origins connote cornponery commonly found in the Americana/alt.country/etc. fields, but not found on the band’s debut , Heartbreak Numbers (Big Bender Records).
However, The Munks are indeed partly informed by classic country music and rootsy rock, and certainly not above covering the likes of Merle Haggard’s “…The Bottle Let Me Down” or the Rolling Stones’ hillbillyish “Faraway Eyes” in concert. The lolling, piano-driven songs of throaty vocalist Aaron “Brother” Grimm also reflect glints of pop, 90;s grunge and more- all steeped in thuddy, hoary, straight-ahead album rock. To further add to their eclectic mix and mystique, The Munks were named after off-kilter jazz pianist Thelonius Monk, which is enough to give would be pigeonholing scribes fits.
Giving voice to this singular canon is an appropriately uncommon instrumentation- at least uncommon outside of Western swing music. Founders Grimm and drummer Brooks Browning (a third generation percussionist) are joined by five-string bassist/vocalist Rich “Beatrice” Dwiggins, pedal steel/ traditional guitarist Alex Piazza, and classically trained violinist Bennett Ryel. Little Rock’s Capitol View-Stift Station neighborhood—home to a disproportionate swell of the city’s most diverse and literate rock bands—is where The Munks live, play, and were formed.
The Munks’ rise through the ranks of the greater Little Rock scene has been dynamic. The fivesome’s song, “Nice to Know” is featured on the compilation disc The United State of Americana, Vol. 4 (Shuteye Records). The Munks have been featured in The Arkansas Times, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and have performed on the city’s ABC-TV affiliate morning show. The band made it all the way to the finals of the state’s highly regarded Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase- a field often populated with longtime sentimental favorites. The Munks’ Heartbreak Numbers, recorded in Little Rock’s Tusk of Jaguar Studios, was released in May of 2006. Wherever in your record store Heartbreak Numbers may be filed, dig these new avatars of the Stift Station sound- The Munks.
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