Al Rose w/ Doug Hoekstra
Art in the cafe...
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Saturday, September 2, 2006
"At his best, Al Rose writes intimate songs, bristling with sharp turns of phrase and a level of introspection that by itself would be worth venting accompanied by little more than an acoustic guitar. But Rose doesn---t stop here. Gravity Of Crow, his fourth album, sidesteps categorizations that might befall less ambitious singers: ---folk,--- ---pop,--- ---Dylan wanna be.--- The arranging on Gravity is as ambitious as Rose---s lyricism, an orchestral country-blues that magnifies and dramatizes his wordplay: the dark comedy of ---Shut,--- to the majestic chorus of ---Egg Me On.--- Too many would-be poets treat sonics as an afterthought, but with Rose his language was music." --- Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune
---Bothering The Coffee Drinkers establishes Doug Hoekstra as an outstanding writer and essayist, someone just as skilled in penning stories and essays as songs.--- (Nashville City Paper)
Raised in Chicago and residing in Nashville, singer-songwriter Doug Hoekstra---s perchance for painting musical landscapes has been lauded by critics, djs, and fans throughout the United States and Europe, earning him a reputation as a man with an ear for a phrase and an eye for detail. CMJ Music Monthly called him a ---songwriter---s songwriter---;
Wired observed that while ---a lot of people write songs; Hoekstra writes five-minute worlds,--- and Americana-UK went so far as to proclaim him ---Americana---s answer to Oscar Wilde.---
Hoekstra---s gentle baritone anchors his music, setting realistic narratives against an effective backdrop of memorable melodies, easy rhythms, and occasionally, unexpected arrangement touches. In addition to touring extensively and releasing seven CDs (and one EP) on labels on both sides of the pond, Hoekstra has also found time to write a boatload of prose. His short fiction and non-fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals, and ---Bothering the Coffee Drinkers--- (Canopic, 2006) is his first book.
