Back in 1995, Milwaukee-based drummer John Carr heard a great CD playing at a bar, and asked the bartender what it was. Behold, it was the recently released Chess New Orleans anthology. At that precise moment, The Hungry Williams was born; and now they bring to the world their new CD, Lets Go!, releasing September 9th on Rochelle Records. Distribution for the new album will be through AMPED (ampeddistribution.com).John Carr bought a copy of the New Orleans anthology that week, thus beginning a fascination with 50s RPiano Smith, Allen Toussaint, and the Meters. But this was a whole different vibe...
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Back in 1995, Milwaukee-based drummer John Carr heard a great CD playing at a bar, and asked the bartender what it was. Behold, it was the recently released Chess New Orleans anthology. At that precise moment, The Hungry Williams was born; and now they bring to the world their new CD, Lets Go!, releasing September 9th on Rochelle Records. Distribution for the new album will be through AMPED (ampeddistribution.com).John Carr bought a copy of the New Orleans anthology that week, thus beginning a fascination with 50s RPiano Smith, Allen Toussaint, and the Meters. But this was a whole different vibe. It SWINGS, hard. Theres a Caribbean flavor, too, that was nothing like hed heard before. THAT is the sound Carr has chased ever since. In fact, The Hungry Williams just might be the best New Orleans-sounding band NOT from the Crescent City that youve ever heard!By 2015, Carr had played with everyone and anyone in town, earning the reputation as Milwaukees Ringo. But the itch for a hard swinging, horn driven band with that Latin flair had never subsided. He had a name picked out, in honor of one of the best New Orleans drummers ever, Charles Hungry Williams. But most importantly, Carr knew who to create a band with.First up were vocalist Kelli Gonzalez and bassist Mike Sieger. Carr and Sieger have been playing together in various incarnations since 1991. No rhythm section is tighter and livelier than these two. Mike and I play joined at the hip, enthuses Carr. We each have our own flavor of keeping the beat, and the simpatico between us means we come up with something relaxed and happy. Sieger recruited Carr into a zydeco outfit featuring Kelli Gonzalez as lead vocalist. There, Carr found in Gonzalez someone who knew 50s R&B even better than he does.Next came Carrs good friend and guitarist/vocalist Joe Vent. Theyd come up together in the 80s, playing the New Wave guitar-based pop of the day. In the 90s, Vent led his own band and ran Dont Records, at the time the home of local heroes Paul Cebar and Willy Porter. By 2015, Vent was ready for a change of pace.So was keyboardist Jack Stewart, former bandmate of Carrs in local jump bluesers, The Uptown Savages. Stewart started in the 60s playing in blues-based jam bands, then in the 70s he started Milwaukees first punk rock band, Death. The Uptown Savages played for nearly 20 years, and when that was done, Stewart happily agreed to join Carrs new project. read more
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