Session Americana

Session Americana
Origin Cambridge, Massachusetts
Genres Americana, folk, roots music, rock, blues
Years active 2005–present
Labels Hi-n-Dry
Associated acts Treat Her Right, Resophonics, Morphine (band), Funky White Honkies, Face to Face (new wave band), Chauncey, Maybe Baby
Website www.sessionamericana.com
Members Dinty Child
Jim Fitting
Jefferson Hamer
Ry Cavanaugh
Jon Bistline
Billy Beard
Laura Cortese

Session Americana is a Boston-based band consistently referred to in articles by variants of “a folk-rock [or roots] supergroup,” a “who’s who” or “all-star” band featuring members Billy Beard (drums, vocals), Kimon Kirk (bass, guitar, vocals), Ry Cavanaugh (guitar, bass, mandolin, organ, vocals), Jim Fitting (harmonica/vocals) and Dinty Child (mandocello, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar, accordion, keyboards, vocals).[1]

History

This six member group of experienced musicians came together in 2004, for informal shows at Toad (a pub in Cambridge) on Sunday nights, with Sean Staples (mandolin, guitar, vocals).[2] Kirk moved to Los Angeles in early 2009 to play with, among others, Aimee Mann and Grant Lee Phillips, and was replaced by Jon Bistline. Kirk continued to be the primary touring bass player and eventually returned to the band full time when Bistline decided to devote more time to his day job. Session Americana had a Sunday night residency at Toad for two years, moving to the larger Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA when their popularity outgrew Toad’s small capacity. The name Session Americana (what the bartenders wrote on the sandwich board outside of Toad on Sunday nights) went with them even though by this point they were evolving into more of a "band". Even though they have steadily played larger stages to more people, their shows continue to involve the band facing each other around a table with a single mic in the middle, passing instruments around as needed, harmonizing on old blues tunes, classic Americana songs, and original numbers written by the group members and their friends. A hallmark of Session Americana is their frequent collaboration on-stage with musical guests, including Rose Polenzani (with whom SA recorded “When the River Meets the Sea” in 2008), Jennifer Kimball (who is married to Cavanaugh), Dennis Brennan, Peter Wolf, Patty Griffin, Rachael Price, Aoife O'Donovan, and many more.

The band released four albums and continued their Lizard Lounge residency until slowing down concert appearances in late 2009 following Cavanaugh and Kimball’s move to Ireland for 2009-2010.[3] They reunited for a concert in October 2009 at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA, alongside Buffalo Tom’s Bill Janovitz, and again for a tour in Ireland in May 2010. On Kimball and Cavanaugh's return to Boston, the band started playing again regularly and have been back to Europe every year since.

Since the Fall of 2010, the band has been working regularly without Sean Staples, who suffered a voice injury, and evolved into more of a collective. Jefferson Hamer, Laura Cortese, Duke Levine, Jimmy Ryan (musician), Adam Moss (musician), Alec Spiegelman, and Jason Anick have all been in "seat 6" since then, with Laura, Adam, and Jefferson taking a bulk of the road gigs, primarily around the Northeastern US, but also for short tours in the rest of the country and Canada.

The band

Discography

Awards/Nominations

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Session Americana" by G. Miller. "State of Mind Magazine." Feb./March 2008. p. 13
  2. ↑ "He Keeps Toad Hopping" by J.Perry, Boston Globe. June 20, 2008.
  3. ↑ http://www.jenniferkimball.com. Accessed November 2, 2009

External links

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