Townhall

Townhall
The New Song
Produced by Ian Cross and Townhall

This quintet of young multi-instrumentalists met while studying jazz in college in Philadelphia, Pa. After putting their formal music educations aside, they hit the road and the studio, teaming with seasoned producer Ian Cross. Townhall’s repertoire is a groovy, all-inclusive blend of everything from neo funk, folk and soul to reggae, jam and jazz. And while most bands in this genre find it difficult to capture the energy and essence of a live performance, they have somehow eluded that problem in The New Song.
Their second release—but first studio album—contains 12 tracks of interesting, intelligent and deliberate arrangements. A nod to the classics is detectable throughout, from Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan and Marvin Gaye to a glimpse of early Genesis on “Ellie Mae.” Listening to The New Song is like a trip around the world or through time. It is a collection of sonic trends from many generations, past and present, and gathers influences from a variety of regional styles. There is a surprise waiting around every corner. In the midst of the title track, you find yourself on the streets of New Orleans listening to a brass band, while “Chevy” concludes with a moment of free-form jazz. This is real music for real music fans. —LN

215-627-1308
www.townhallmusic.com
info@townhallmusic.com - Performing Songwriter

Townhall, a Philadelphia, PA, quintet, is a creative, sophisticated band who has no interest in boundaries or categories. Like the jam bands of yore and the current crop of long-winded music-makers, they blend various genres of music on their debut album, but unlike their contemporaries (Phish, String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic, Mr. Bungle, Leftover Salmon, etc.), they have the ability to actually write songs that stand on their own apart from musical improvisation. Their melodic sense is inseparable from their musicianship. Plus they are funky -- groove is inherently important in everything they do. The album opens with "Confusion," a horn-driven funker with trombones, trumpets, and clarinets sparely issuing a call to the lyric as the upfront bass and drums call the guitar into the mix. George Stanford, who fronts the band as vocalist and trombonist (most of the time), knows how to phrase to such a greasy backdrop. On "Premonitions," the very next cut, dubby reggae bass and double-time scattershot drums create a backdrop of a melody to get down into; the horns fill in the backgrounds and the guitar provides a happening middle bridge to hold everything together. Other standouts are the haunting ballad "Ellie Mae"; the title track, which sounds like a Latin band meeting a bluegrass group who wants to be a soul band; and the beautiful Al Green-styled soul of "Chevy." No, Stanford can't sing as well, but his expressiveness, sensitivity, and under-delivery are reminiscent. In all, this is as fine a debut as you are likely to find if musical adventure is your thing. This is passionately played, wonderfully executed, and cannily creative music by a band in full command of their abilities. Recommended. -- Thom Jurek - All Music Guide

Better Than Jam


They’re talented and they can improvise, but please don’t compare them to Phish.


Tim Sonnefeld, bassist for the Philly-based rock quintet Townhall, isn’t just a guitar player ­ he’s a virtual music virtuoso, and can play Dobro, guitar, and banjo, plus probably anything else you put in front of him.


Just like the group’s main vocalist George Stanford, who also plays trombone, and co-vocalist Nate Skiles, who plays everything from trumpet to guitar. The remaining members Mark Smidt (who plays trumpet, bass, and flute) and percussionist Kevin Pride also know how to switch it up when it comes to playing a variety of soulful instruments.


Just don’t be fooled: Townhall is not a jam band.


Good musicianship doesn’t necessarily equal hour-long sonic sessions at the Philadelphia-based quintet’s shows, which can be a relief to some looking for quality songs without all the excess. “There’s a certain improvisational element to the structure of our songs,” Sonnefeld explained, “but I am personally not a fan of jamming. The whole 20 minute psychedelic excursion never really did anything for me.”


You’d never expect those words to come out of the mouth of someone whose band is often lumped into the same category as your typical hippy-magnet bands like String Cheese Incident or the Disco Biscuits. But maybe that’s because these guys aren’t what they seem at first. For instance, Townhall isn’t a particularly political group either, despite its name.


The real story behind how they came to be called Townhall is actually far from anything involving Democrats, Republicans, or whether George Bush is evil (ahem) or not: The band’s name pays homage to an album created by Charles Mingus, a jazz composer, who is one of Sonnefeld and Pride’s favorite musicians. The name Townhall stuck, just as the group’s catchy melodies will in your head ­ such as the recently released rap-filled, smooth groove called Kick the Can ­ whether you like it or not.


Each member of the Townhall quintet attended the University of the Arts in Philly, but “we all quit,” Sonnefeld said. “It was a good move, I felt. My mother didn’t think so.” Hopefully, Mom has changed her tune by now, since Townhall has developed quite a following in the City of Brotherly Love: The group has already received rave reviews from Philadelphia Weekly and The Daily News.


Although Townhall has gone over well in Philly, a recent hot topic on the group’s message board is a controversy over the fact that The New Song, the group’s latest disc, is featured on MTV’s The Real World: Paris. Some fans see this as a musical death wish (or as selling out ­ go figure) but by others as a valuable way to get more exposure.


Sonnefeld insists that having the album on MTV is really not that big of a deal. “We sent it to all kinds of record labels and I guess the people at MTV dug it and were like, ‘we could use this,’” Sonnefeld said. “It’s not like we got paid much for it; they gave us like $5 or something ridiculous. But if somebody hears it, good.”


Townhall has opened up for some interesting cats already. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd, for instance, believe it or not. “Of course, there were a few guys up front like, ‘go to hell! We want Skynyrd!’” Sonnefeld said of the show. “But I really expected the whole crowd to turn on us.”


Luckily, that didn’t happen. But Sonnefeld did have a “weird kind of stage fright. It was more like [fear] because this crowd obviously wasn’t going to love us.”


Give them time. Townhall’s music hasn’t quite reached that far outside Philly yet, so financial concerns are part of why the band hasn’t hopped on a plane to tour the rest of the world ­ yet. “To go out and play in Kansas to like three people, we’d pay so much in gas and food and tolls to get out there,” Sonnefeld said. “It’s hard to do it but I’d love to.”


Don’t worry. If the popularity of The New Song in Philadelphia is any indication, it seems like the long, strange trip down the road to success is certainly in Townhall’s future. - Pulse Weekly