plain old american mess
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Oblio's Arrow

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FEATURED SONG
Lonestar Smile
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Lonestar Smile
Album:
Released: Jan 1, 2009
Label:

General Info

  • Genre: Country / Psychedelic / Rock

    Location DENVER, Colorado, US

    Profile Views: 32676

    Last Login: 3/15/2011

    Member Since 9/24/2005

    Record Label none

    Type of Label Unsigned

  • Bio

    The genre of Americana is in as much disarray as America itself — but rather than try to impose order on that chaos, Oblio's Arrow embodies it. Drawing from country rock, psychedelia and the singer-songwriter tradition of the '70s, the group formerly known as Oblio Duo + the Archers has used its latest full-length, Plain Old American Mess, to continue its quest for outer spaciness, as well as the inner cosmos. The group's recent lineup overhaul has focused its fuzziness: Layered with loose, porous instrumentation and patches of emptiness big enough to drive a prairie through, Mess is the perfect echo chamber for William Duncan's rumble and Steven Lee Lawson's twang. At its best, the disc is a hazy, gray-scale portrait of a sound — and a nation — that is once again painfully, exquisitely rebirthing itself... - Jason Heller (..Denver, Westword..)... .. .. THE ONION: October 19, 2006: .. There's a thin line between trying and trying way too hard. Denver's Oblio Duo, though, has nothing to worry about: William Duncan and Steven Lee Lawson seem to instinctively avoid the labored affection that makes most of Denver's singer-songwriters sound like total crap. Their self-titled CD came out last year, and while it barely registered on this city's hipster radar, it was one of the best local discs of 2005- a bursting at-the seams mess of melody and heartbreak that celebrated the days when Alex Chilton, Harry Nilsson, and Neil Young ruled (or at least should of ruled) the earth. Oblio Duo's new album, The Flag, sees the twosome enlisting guests from Pee Pee, The Blue Angels, and Big Timber, as well as fleshing out their onstage lineup with a backing band called The Archers. And while a retro vibe is present, hints of Wilco and Elliott Smith place the band squarely in its own time. Oblio Duo's songs might sound loose, unstudied, and even spontaneous, but make no mistake: their genius is not accident. Even if Duncan and Lawson themselves don't quite know how they do it. .. -A.V. club (j. heller) .. _______________________________________________________________________ .. .. Oblio's Arrow .. can also be found on facebook. Please follow this link: .. ....Oblio's Arrow.. on Facebook.. .. .. .. .. Oblio's Arrow .. now has its own homepage! Please follow this link: .. ....Oblio's Arrow.... .. .. _______________________________________________________________________ .. .. Oblio Duo + The Archers .. CDs available for purchase! .. .. ............ .. .............. .. .. For more, please visit our store: ..www.obliosarrow.com/store.. _______________________________________________________________________ .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. _______________________________________________________________________ .. ...... .. _______________________________________________________________________ .. .. .. Enter your Email to join List: .. .. .. .. ..Powered by: ..MessageBot.... ..

  • Members

    OBLIO DUO is: Steven Lee (Lawson) - guitars,vocals, piano, bass, harmonica; William Duncan - Drums, vocals, piano, percussion, banjo. THE ARCHERS: Bryce McPherson - screamin' orange gretsch; Jason Fox - lap steel, banjo, bass; Ian Douglas-Moore - bass, Farfisa organ; Brendan Heberton - banjo, cello .. Occasional Archers: Andy Wild - Stand up bass; Mike Neff - Doboro; Charles Von Rosenburg - mandolin; The Beautiful Loeppky and Teutsch - banjo and fiddle; Kloewer - guitar; Shana Voohauer - cello; Lauren Higgins - violin; Ester Hernandez - saw. ..

  • Influences

    leonard cohen, nilsson, tom waits, elliott smith, bob dylan, john lennon, sparklehorse, neil young, queens of the stone age, flaming lips, david bowie (esp. hunky dory, ziggy, and space oddity), pavement, wilco, howling wolf, mississippi john hurt, donovan, kris kristofferson, wille nelson, beatles, my morning jacket, jack elliot, pink floyd, townes van zandt, miles davis, tin hat trio, the shins, silver jews, black sabbath, stevie wonder, otis redding, bonnie 'prince' billy, sweetheart of the rodeo, daniel johnston, CAN, pretzel logic, frank zappa, hank williams, woody guthrie, jim o'rourke, jimi hendrix, leadbelly, johnny cash, lightnin' hopkins, nick drake, modest mouse, velvet underground, ween, thelonious monk.

  • Sounds Like

    a sprawl of soft strums, stray noises, brittle piano, chunks of distortion and the twosome's fluttering, sleep-starved coos.

Videos

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Comments

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  • Christine C. Wagner


    Hey!

    1 year ago
  • Caitlin Fate

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/seafate/4727069140/in/photostream/

    some badly taken pictures of you guys at a house show in Olympia, Washington. It ain't easy takin pictures with an ear of corn in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other, all the while you tunes had me kickin up dust. I loved seeing you guys there! you had me at hello, I'm hopelessly in love with The Point. hope to hear you play in the future
    -Catalyst Caitlin

    1 year ago
  • Betsy

    Please do!  It was a great show!

    1 year ago
  • Letters

    The acoustic set the other night? Smokin'. You gotta do that again sometime. We'll hit you up next time we're in Denver!

    1 year ago
  • Betsy

    It was great to see you guys.  Hope you had safe travels home! - heart, "a Fan."

    1 year ago
  • Ramirez

    how's it going out there dudes?

    1 year ago
  • My Flag is On Fire

    Photobucket

    2 years ago
  • swimteam

    Hey I don't mean to bother you and I really don't like sending these, but I feel like it's the only way to get anybody to listen. We have an ep available and an album called Harlem that we are both very proud of. It would be awesome if you could give us a listen and let us know what you think even if it's not for you. And if you don't listen that's okay too. Sorry again and thank you. from swimteam

    2 years ago
  • The Legendary River Dri…

    Just wanted to say that I've been listening to your CD quite a lot since I got it. One of the best recordings from a Denver band I have heard in a long time. Really, really good.

    The title track, Capital Gains, Lone Star Smile, End of the Burning Moon...Hell, most of the songs, classic.

    -- Curt

    2 years ago
  • The Gromet

    You guys were great last night! The album turned out awesome. Lets confirm that August 21st date.

    2 years ago
10 of 155More

The genre of Americana is in as much disarray as America itself — but rather than try to impose order on that chaos, Oblio's Arrow embodies it. Drawing from country rock, psychedelia and the singer-songwriter tradition of the '70s, the group formerly known as Oblio Duo + the Archers has used its latest full-length, Plain Old American Mess, to continue its quest for outer spaciness, as well as the inner cosmos. The group's recent lineup overhaul has focused its fuzziness: Layered with loose, porous instrumentation and patches of emptiness big enough to drive a prairie through, Mess is the perfect echo chamber for William Duncan's rumble and Steven Lee Lawson's twang. At its best, the disc is a hazy, gray-scale portrait of a sound — and a nation — that is once again painfully, exquisitely rebirthing itself.
- Jason Heller (Denver, Westword).



THE ONION: October 19, 2006:

There's a thin line between trying and trying way too hard. Denver's Oblio Duo, though, has nothing to worry about: William Duncan and Steven Lee Lawson seem to instinctively avoid the labored affection that makes most of Denver's singer-songwriters sound like total crap. Their self-titled CD came out last year, and while it barely registered on this city's hipster radar, it was one of the best local discs of 2005- a bursting at-the seams mess of melody and heartbreak that celebrated the days when Alex Chilton, Harry Nilsson, and Neil Young ruled (or at least should of ruled) the earth. Oblio Duo's new album, The Flag, sees the twosome enlisting guests from Pee Pee, The Blue Angels, and Big Timber, as well as fleshing out their onstage lineup with a backing band called The Archers. And while a retro vibe is present, hints of Wilco and Elliott Smith place the band squarely in its own time. Oblio Duo's songs might sound loose, unstudied, and even spontaneous, but make no mistake: their genius is not accident. Even if Duncan and Lawson themselves don't quite know how they do it.

-A.V. club (j. heller)

_______________________________________________________________________

Oblio's Arrow can also be found on facebook. Please follow this link:

Oblio's Arrow on Facebook

Oblio's Arrow now has its own homepage! Please follow this link:


_______________________________________________________________________

Oblio Duo + The Archers CDs available for purchase!

Buy the CD
album cover
click to order


OBLIO DUO + THE ARCHERS: Nuclear War Ep
click to order


For more, please visit our store: www.obliosarrow.com/store _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________________________


.. Enter your Email to join List: .. .. ..
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Member Since:

September 24, 2005

Members:

OBLIO DUO is: Steven Lee (Lawson) - guitars,vocals, piano, bass, harmonica; William Duncan - Drums, vocals, piano, percussion, banjo. THE ARCHERS: Bryce McPherson - screamin' orange gretsch; Jason Fox - lap steel, banjo, bass; Ian Douglas-Moore - bass, Farfisa organ; Brendan Heberton - banjo, cello

Occasional Archers: Andy Wild - Stand up bass; Mike Neff - Doboro; Charles Von Rosenburg - mandolin; The Beautiful Loeppky and Teutsch - banjo and fiddle; Kloewer - guitar; Shana Voohauer - cello; Lauren Higgins - violin; Ester Hernandez - saw.

Influences:

leonard cohen, nilsson, tom waits, elliott smith, bob dylan, john lennon, sparklehorse, neil young, queens of the stone age, flaming lips, david bowie (esp. hunky dory, ziggy, and space oddity), pavement, wilco, howling wolf, mississippi john hurt, donovan, kris kristofferson, wille nelson, beatles, my morning jacket, jack elliot, pink floyd, townes van zandt, miles davis, tin hat trio, the shins, silver jews, black sabbath, stevie wonder, otis redding, bonnie 'prince' billy, sweetheart of the rodeo, daniel johnston, CAN, pretzel logic, frank zappa, hank williams, woody guthrie, jim o'rourke, jimi hendrix, leadbelly, johnny cash, lightnin' hopkins, nick drake, modest mouse, velvet underground, ween, thelonious monk.

Sounds Like:

a sprawl of soft strums, stray noises, brittle piano, chunks of distortion and the twosome's fluttering, sleep-starved coos.

Record Label:

none

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