ARTIST: Brothers and Sisters
TITLE: Fortunately
LABEL: Calla Lilly
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 197kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 55m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-08-19
RIP DATE: 2008-07-22
Track List
----------
1. Mason City 4:38
2. You're Gone 3:58
3. I Don't Rely 3:11
4. Make a Man's Body Hurt 4:35
5. Can't Hold Me Back 3:41
6. The Wind 1:58
7. The Air is Getting Thicker 3:55
8. The Trees are Bare 4:07
9. California 4:18
10. That's How It Goes 5:08
11. Lonely Man 3:39
12. Wash Away 4:16
13. Ainrofilac 0:56
14. Fortunately 7:25
Release Notes:
Brothers and Sisters is a band out of time. Led by real-life siblings Will and
Lily Courtney, their music entirely lacks the calculated cool of contemporary
indie rock and seems totally oblivious to the cynical machinations of the music
business. In an indie world currently hell-bent on exhuming the still-warm
corpse of post-punk, Brothers and Sisters reach back to a sunnier age, when
idioms as disparate as polished West Coast pop, rock and roll choogle, AM radio
balladry and classic country could still rub up against each other at the same
hazy Topanga canyon party. Live, the music called up by this stage-cluttering
eight-piece alternately evokes classic-rock gods like The Band, late era-Byrds,
Fleetwood Mac and Buffalo Springfield alongside songwriters such as Dennis
Wilson, Jimmy Webb, and the Mamas and the Papas' John Phillips on his classic
John, the Wolf King of L.A.
"Brothers and Sisters bask in the same golden sunshine as The Mamas and The
Papas and The Byrds, but also mines the era's darker side... Austin's best-kept,
countrified secret." - CMJ Magazine
"There is nothing pretentious or even ostentatious about this music; one can
almost smell the tobacco and old Lone Star beer cans spike with salt and lime."
- No Depression
"Austin-based eight-piece who sound like Big Star jamming with Neil Young (New
Life) and The Jayhawks (Without You), The Mamas and the Papas, Byrds, even Ray
Davies in a swamp. Country rock ballads and pop perfection, with imperfections
in the home-made, one take sound to make it all the more engaging." - MOJO
Brothers and Sisters' eponymous siblings are the children of Ragan Courtney and
Cynthia Clawson, respectively a Baptist preacher and a Grammy-winning
independent gospel artist dubbed "The Christian Barbra Streisand" both for her
voice and for her support of the Christian gay community (the latter of which
got her excommunicated from Christian radio). When he was six, the Courtney
parents took young Will to a Beach Boys concert and it was over; he decided to
become a musician. As a kid he sang in Houston's Post Oak Boy's Choir and before
long was recording songs for childrens' records and commercials. When he was old
enough to get out of Houston, Will headed to L.A. - home of his idols The Beach
Boys, Randy Newman and the Flying Burrito Brothers.
After stints in short-lived bands and some work with Zander Schloss (The Circle
Jerks, Joe Strummer) and Ric Menck (The Pernice Brothers, The Tyde), Will grew
frustrated when the excesses of the L.A. music scene stymied productivity, so he
took off - driving his pickup down to Austin, Texas to start a band with his
sister. Their self-recorded debut featured a motley crew of Will and Lily's
friends and acquaintances as the backing band; a handful of weeks after that
debut was recorded, Brothers and Sisters had grown into a seven-piece. In late
2005, Conrad Keely - the singer of...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead -
invited Will and Lily to contribute harmonies (and, on one of the song, a lead
vocal) on the forthcoming ...Trail of Dead record. Shortly thereafter, Keely
joined the band, playing violin and keyboards. The ragged sprawl of their live
appearances (misunderstanding audience members have all-too-frequently compared
Brothers And Sisters to a cult) sparked attention, and gigs with friends in
Okkervil River, The Tyde, Jeff Tweedy, Spoon and ...Trail of Dead - as well as
appearances at Austin's SXSW music festival - quickly made Brothers and Sisters
a favorite with Austin crowds.
Following several months of good press during their first year, in December,
their song "Without You" was featured on an episode of The OC. The band followed
up their debut release and ended their first year by U.S. touring the US and
Canada with ...Trail of Dead and The Blood Brothers, piling in a van for several
months and lapping the country twice, an epic, roving family affair. Recently,
they recorded their second full-length record inc