New album, tour find local songwriter at the peak of his game
John and Camille Nolan hit the road in support of "Height"
John Nolan in New South Wales, Australia while on tour with Straylight Run
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Show Details
John Nolan / Destry / A Night in the Box
Jackpot Music Hall, Lawrence
$6 - $8
Audio clip
"Til It's Done To Death" by John Nolan
After spending most of the last decade touring with Taking Back Sunday and Straylight Run, singer/songwriter and recent Kansas transplant John Nolan is bringing his solo album to life with the help of a new musical partner: his wife Camille.
For the last few months, John and Camille have been traversing the country by van, building interest in their musical partnership and John's new solo album one show at a time.
Height, released in October on Doghouse Records, was recorded at the Nolans' new home in Lawrence, Kan. between solo shows in the U.S. and an Australian tour with Straylight Run. The solo debut showcases the Long Island native's impeccable pop instincts, pairing complex songwriting and musical versatility with pensive, introspective lyrics. Thanks to the production talents of Mike Sapone (Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run, Brand New), Height contains a depth and resonance rarely found in home-recording projects.
Nolan's songs are never short on conflict. Tensions between comfort and isolation, home and displacement, and salvation and despair give Height an expansive emotional range. "Screaming Into The Wind" is an existential cry out in the disquieting expanses of the Midwest in which a breathy vocal pattern, Phil Selway-worthy bass line and driving snare building to a cathartic, almost dancy romp. "Keep Calm And Carry On" pulls out all the stops in John's home-recording arsenal, with percussion, wurlitzer, synth, organ and multi-tracked vocals propelling a chorus that manages to sound both sinister and reassuring.
John and Camille on tour
On stage, John and Camille present a more stripped-down version of the songs on Height, with the Nolans sharing guitar, piano and vocal duties. Though Camille and John were backed up by the Brian Bonz and the Dot Hongs for several shows, including a Nov. 14 stop at RecordBar, the pair has recently hit its stride as a two-piece.
"We started out trying to play with looped drumbeats and backing tracks, and as we've gone on we've kind of stripped things down to the two of us mostly playing everything live on our own," John said. "I think we've become a pretty tight unit when we play on stage. We feel much more confident being up there with just the two of us, and it's been a really cool thing to watch develop."
Also in development are a vinyl release, a Daytrotter session, and a soon-to-be-completed music video for the album's opening track, "Till It's Done To Death."
"A guy who lives in Salt Lake contacted me about shooting a video," John said. "He does instructional videos for hospitals to pay the bills, and he has a whole crew of people to work with as well as access to a warehouse space. It was a pretty big production, but he volunteered to do it all for free."
John and Camille will be playing their last show of the year tonight at the Jackpot Saloon in Lawrence before heading to the West Coast in early 2010. For a complete list of tour dates and to sample songs from the album, visit www.johnnolanmusic.com or keep up with them on tour at www.twitter.com/johnnolanmusic.
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