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The
Atkinsons, “American Gothic”
(self-released)
"Dickie Wood has a lot of words floating around in his
head. That’s the thought that comes to mind listening to the
new release from this ubiquitous Richmond group. Serving the
role as lead singer and guitarist, Wood is accompanied by
multi-instrumentalist Jeff Williams, bassist Ricky Breland,
fiddler Mike Ferry, drummer Kris Krull and
percussionist/ vocalist Jamie Wood. Throughout 10 tracks
(and a bonus track), they weave stories of loneliness,
desertion, romance, boozing, traveling... very much a
cross-section of the American experience.
Songs are written more in the form of rhyming prose than as
couplets, which helps bolster the storytelling. Sonically, the
group resembles alt-rock pioneers Uncle Tupelo or early Ryan
Adams. The idea behind the music is well- communicated, and
the songs are executed with precision. The Atkinsons have been
performing on Richmond stages for more than four years, and
the time and experience are reflected in the maturity of this
recording."
****
-Style
Weekly, June 2007
by
Josh Bearman
The
Atkinsons, “American Gothic”
"It's
not as easy these days to find a sprawling country road that's
not bisected by a major interstate. But if you can find
that road, The Atkinsons' debut Americana album American Gothic
may be a good traveling companion. The six-piece Richmond
group blends country and rock, laced with mandolin and fiddle
accents - as well as a bit of sawdust and whiskey thrown in for
good measure. For details, visit www.theatkinsons.us."
-Richmond
Magazine, April
2007
The
Atkinsons, “American Gothic”
The
CD has roots rock sound accented with Mike Ferry's fiddle which
is frequently and effectively used to provide the
"mood" of the songs. This is especially true on
one of my favorite tracks, "Chapter One", Caroline.
The next "chapters" are also powerful tunes;
Chapter 4, "Forever
Wanting You" has some good old 'southern rock' guitar riffs you might
hear in old Molly Hatchet
tunes. "Part of
Me" is a haunting acoustic tune that starts off with
the harmonica effectively mimicking a train whistle. Another
standout 'Chapter' is "Move
Along" which is a bit of of southern 'anthem' or jam
type tune with some nice guitar in the middle. The music is
moody and strong, and as you can tell by the quote above a great
deal of thought went into the album. Leader Dickie Wood
sings lead vocals on the tunes, and definitely has a twang to
his voice- if twangy voices aren't your thing, you'll still
enjoy the CD- maybe listen to half at a time. If you like
powerful music and a twangy voice to boot, you'll really enjoy
this CD.
-AmericanaRoots.com,
Dec 2007
by
Don Zelazny
The
Atkinsons, “American Gothic”
Their
bio says The Atkinsons are an Americana band "rooted in
rock, touched by country, and rich in harmonies. The
Atkinsons merge their signature sound with bittersweet tales of
woe and heartbreak." The neat thing about Americana
music is that is encompasses so many influences. The
Atkinsons, from Richmond, VA, have a unique blend that seems to
work. It's not Bluegrass or Old-Time, but the classic
Americana feel is still there.
-Americana
Rhythm Music Magazine, September 2007
"You
had me at "Caroline"! You guys are wonderful. A
breath of fresh air - unpretentious; down to earth; heart-stirring
music."
-VA
Jukebox
"The Atkinsons are one of the best Americana bands in Richmond.
This band delivers a good time with fantastic performances and
songs that make people want to sing along. Original songs like
"Caroline" and "Best Thing" tap into deep emotions with lyrics of
bittersweet tales of woe and heartbreak. The Atkinsons are a unique
ensemble of musicians with a great harmonizing sound!"
-Scott
Eicholtz with
The
Richmond Buzz
"The
band delivers country music in the vein of early '70s Stones – rough,
honest and devoid of the cheeseball element. Lead singer Dickie Wood has
the nicotine- and whiskey-stained vocals of Robert Earl Keen, and is the
perfect compliment to the band's raucous fiddle throwdowns."
-Richmond.com
Sound Off
by
Caine O'Rear
After
teasing us for so long with their mandolin- and fiddle-soaked Americana
songs, The Atkinsons’ long-awaited debut CD is finally being
released. “American Gothic” tells the story of a nameless tragic
hero from his birth to adulthood, and then, through streaks of bad luck
and bad decisions, his death. Although the lyrical content is dark, you
know the music and melodies will be upbeat, so bring your tappin’ toes
to the CD release show at Cafe Diem March 10.
-Style
Weekly Inside Track
"The
Atkinsons light up a crowd from the moment they take the stage.
Tight melodies wrapped around a fire-brand message of lost hope and
forlorn women.
Open up a whiskey bottle, ease the chair back on the cabin porch and
let the music take over."
-J.
Tayloe Emery
Menokin
Americana Music Festival
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Magazine33
posted an awesome article about ATK in their November 2009 issue and
put us on the cover too! Thanks Magazine33 and especially
Chris
and Heather, Robin, Kendra and Brian!
Richmond
Times-Dispatch article regarding Massey's Fourth Annual
Swinetangle BBQ 9/28/09 "Good times, good cause: The
James River lapped onto the shore while the sounds of Richmond-based
Americana band The Atkinsons floated through the air."
To
promote the Friday Cheers show scheduled for June 5, 2009 with Jerry
Douglas and The Atkinsons opening, Hays Davis interviewed ATK and
posted an article on Richmond.com on 6/3/09. Unfortunately the
Cheers show was rained out. The article was great though...check
it out here.
The
Atkinsons were one of the 10 featured bands in Richmond
Magazine's Sourcebook that came out in February 2009! A
picture of Dickie and a blurb about the band can be found on page
74-75.
In
November 2008, The Atkinsons' song "Caroline" was hit a high
of 15th
out of 406 entries on Ourstage.com
in the Americana / Alt Country genre.
The
Community Idea Station's PBS music series called The
Music Seen started to air nationally the summer of 2008 to
many different locations including Chicago, Detroit, Sacramento,
Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville, Birmingham, Buffalo, Huntsville,
Montgomery and Wilmington. The Atkinsons played on Season 6
along with the Palominos and Buttercup.
Massey
Alliance's Swinetangle BBQ article on Richmond.com.
ATK
was the featured artist in the Town of Ashland's On Track newsletter
for the summer of 2008. Read it here.
Style
Weekly's Belle Magazine featured a pic and a blurb about ATK's
show at Pocahontas Premieres with Blue Line Highway on 8/9/08.
Brick
Weekly included a picture of The
Atkinsons on stage at the Colonial Downs Rhythm Bets N' Brews Festival
in their 7/26/08 issue.
The
Atkinsons were mentioned in Boomer
Life Magazine re: our Cafe Diem shows: "The Atkinsons, who
cover the territory between Americana Country swing and straight-up
rock".
The
Atkinsons have been the Roots featured artist on Noisehead.com
several
times. Thanks Noisehead!
"American
Gothic" received an awesome review that is posted on Twangville.com
and TheGobblersKnob.com!
Thanks Kelly!
The
Atkinsons were the top featured artist on Noisehead.com
on 4/17/08!
The
Atkinsons were played on Fox Sports Radio 910 AM on
Monday,
Feb.
11th at 10:25 and 10:45pm on Game Time React with JT the Brick.
The
Atkinsons' song "Caroline" was played twice in a row on WRIR's
River City Limits show on 2/2/08: ATK's original version and
Schnitzel's cover!
The
Atkinsons were included in the weekly Star Profile on Scotland's
Kernow
Cowboy online country music website in Feb 08.
ATK's
show at Poe's Pub was the pick of the week for 1/25/08 in the
Sound
Off section on Richmond.com:
"It's
'rock with a twang', as the band calls it. We say it's pretty
rockin', boot tapping Americana. Apparently, we aren't the only
people that think so. Their CD "American Gothic" has
received some awesome reviews from all over."
"Out
of Time" was accepted in the IndieHighway.com
Mp3 catalog in the Americana genre and our artist profile was added in
January 08.
"American
Gothic" received a great review from Don Zelazny of AmericanaRoots.com!
Click here
to read it!
"Caroline"
was played on Ray Randall's podcast show, Americana
Roots Review Vol. 55, on AmericanaRoots.com.
The
Atkinsons were added to VA
Jukebox in November 2007 with
a
quote that read "You had me at "Caroline"!
Tracks
from "American Gothic" were added to the Town
of Ashland, VA
Cable
Channel 17 in October 2007.
All
11 tracks from "American Gothic" were added to the playlist
on
Cosmic
American Radio in October 2007! Their blogspot reads:
"I
recently received this disc in the mail. I don't really recall how
it got sent
to me
but
I put it in the stack to listen to. Many of the discs that arrive in
the mail aren't
very good so I don't get too excited. However, I love this record.
If you
like Blue
Mountain, Son Volt & Scott Miller you'll like
The
Atkinsons. I
have added the entire
disc to the playlist because it was
too hard to leave anything
out. Check
these guys out and
give the record a listen..you'll probably like it."
A
picture of ATK playing Beaverdam Heritage Days appeared in the
Hanover
Herald Progress on October 17, 2007.
Several songs from "American Gothic" are now being played
on
Newgrass,
Prog & More on Live365.com
The
Atkinsons' picture appeared in Brick
Weekly on September 6, 2007 promoting our Cafe Diem show.
Tracks
from "American Gothic" are regularly played on Richmond's
WRIR
97.3 shows like Activate!, River City Limits and Lost Music Saloon.
"American
Gothic" was reviewed in Americana
Rhythm Music Magazine in the September 2007 issue #12.
"American
Gothic" was reviewed in Style
Weekly's June 20, 2007 issue by Josh Bearman (see quote on this
page). We received 4 out of 5 stars!
"Caroline"
was played on Studio
B New Rock 102.1 on May 27, 2007.
The
Atkinsons were featured in Richmond
Times Dispatch's Weekender section in an article by Bill Craig on
May 17, 2007.
"Water
Town" will be
featured as GarageBand.com's
Americana
Track of the Day on May 2, 2007.
An
encore performance of The Music Seen aired on PBS Richmond on 4/5 with
The Atkinsons, Palominos and Buttercup.
"American
Gothic" was reviewed in the Radar section of Richmond
Magazine's April 2007 issue (see quote on this page).
"Water
Town" was featured
on NPR 88.9FM WCVE on Page Wilson's
Out
O' the Blue Radio Review on March 17, 2007.
"Out
of Time" was
featured as GarageBand.com's
Americana
Track of the Day on March 17, 2007.
"Caroline"
was played on the Great
American Music Hour podcast on March 12, 2007.
ATK performed "Out
of Time" live on the Virginia This Morning show,
and
Dickie was interviewed by Bill Bevins, on
WTVR CBS
on March 12, 2007.
"Caroline"
was featured as GarageBand.com's
Americana
Track of the Day on March 11, 2007.
The
Atkinsons' CD release show was the pick for March 10, 2007 on Richmond.com's
Sound Off section.
ATK's
new CD mentioned on Style
Weekly's Inside Track on March 7, 2007.
ATK
was featured in Richmond
Times-Dispatch: Flair
on
January 12, 2007.
The Atkinsons' live performance
on The
Music Seen series on WCVE PBS Richmond first aired on November 22,
2006.
ATK
was chosen #1 on TheRichmondBuzz
"The List" in Nov 06. ATK
interview was featured on TheRichmondBuzz
ATK was on Richmond Music Journal's
Hot List at No. 4, Dickie and Jamie at No. 13 and Richmond
Roots Revival at No. 1 on Nov. 3, 2006!
ATK
and Richmond Roots Revival were both featured on an Undersound
interview on YouTube
ATK performed live on the Locals Only
Show on WRIR
97.3 to promote Richmond Roots Revival's Two Year Anniversary Show on
October 21, 2006.
"Caroline"
was first played on the Great
American Music Hour podcast
on July 24, 2006.
ATK performed live on the Real Estate Show on RICH-TV Channel
79 on August 3, 2005.
ATK played the
Menokin Americana Music Festival in Warsaw. We were interviewed and the festival was broadcasted on WRAR FM 105.5 and WNNT River Country FM 100.9 on April 24, 2004.
ATK played live on WHAN 1430 AM in Hanover on "Drive Thru with Rog" on April 22, 2004.
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