Neo-vaudeville folk band Curtis Eller's American Circus will be playing a special "black tie" show @ Mettlesome in Durham, NC on July 30. Expect lots of songs from their forthcoming album No Bones. Tickets are available here. The Kickstarter campaign for the new album has reached of $5,366 its $11,000 goal, with 19 days to go.
HCTF review of Another Nice Mess
Curtis Eller's American Circus have launched a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs of recording their new album No Bones:
Fans of past recordings have been swept up in a sepia-toned world of tightrope walkers, two-bit prize fighters, Hollywood scream queens, presidential assassins, and frequent, inexplicable visits from Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon. The latest batch of songs finds the American landscape strangely silent. An unsettling calm has befallen the sweatshops, circus tents, burlesque houses, and punk rock dives. The once riot-torn streets of the New World have grown eerily calm. Something doesn’t feel right.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus have made a video for Carry the Faces (for Martha Wills), a track from their Another Nice Mess album. It is a song for all the people that were lost or forgotten.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus have made a video for Goddamn Loser, a track from their Another Nice Mess album. All of the band, except drummer Andy Lyth who was in the UK in Manchester, had a lot of fun at the Bull Tiki speakeasy in Durham, NC. They made the best of the absense of their band mate, by inserting footage of him making a call from a classic phone booth in England. Filmed by Graham Wolfson (Durham) and Saffy Lyth (Greater Manchester).
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus set up in bass player's Hugh Crumle basement to record a live video for Sonny Liston Told Us, the sad tale of a former heavy weight champion, for the Tiny Desk Contest 2025. It is a track from their Another Nice Mess album.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus have made a video for Another Nice Mess, the title track from their latest album. The clip features footage from the pie fight in Laurel & Hardy's 1927 silent short film, The Battle of the Century.
HCTF's annual list of the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come. As per usual many genres are represented. Here Comes The Flood covers a lot of ground and it shows in this eclectic, final tally.
Today: countdown from number 20 to 16.
Please shop at your local record store. Most of the stores have a pretty good website where you can order your stuff. It might even be cheaper than the big ones on the 'net. The folks who work there know their stuff and can recommend artists you might like.
Buy directly from the artist, attend live shows and stop by the merch table. And be sure to tell your friends about that great new act you discovered. Word-of-mouth can't be beat as the prime source to discover new music.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus have announced an American East Coast tour to promote their Another Nice Mess album: "They always have been a band that have a soft spot for outcasts, losers and people going their own way like the unnamed protagonist in Conscientious Objector. They make a case of straying from the mainstream and not give in to the values of Standard White Jesus, a cover of the Pat Macdonald song, with the killer line "Everybody want to be on a stamp, but nobody wants to die". True Love in the Exclusion Zone offers some pointers on how to write a good love song. O, and don't waste your youth on being part of a firing squad."
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus are entertainers pur sang, seemingly relying on tried and true styles, but with plenty of twists and turns, both musically and lyrically to capture the listener's attention. On their new album Another Nice Mess - yes, the title track is a hat tip to Laurel & Hardy - band leader Curtis Eller leads his band on a grand tour of bygone American folklore. Learn about the tragedies German gymnast Lillian Leitzel and heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, whose careers ended badly. Actress Fay Wray of King Kong fame, on the other end, made a glorious comeback after she had to start working again, to overcome financial troubles. People could run into her in the street and do a double take once they realized who they just saw.
They always have been a band that have a soft spot for outcasts, losers and people going their own way like the unnamed protagonist in Conscientious Objector. They make a case of straying from the mainstream and not give in to the values of Standard White Jesus, a cover of the Pat Macdonald song, with the killer line "Everybody want to be on a stamp, but nobody wants to die". True Love in the Exclusion Zone offers some pointers on how to write a good love song. O, and don't waste your youth on being part of a firing squad. There are plenty of these "what the fuck" moments, making Another Nice Mess a thrill ride that you don't want to end.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus will release their new album Another Nice Mess on October 9. The banjo is underappreciated instrument, but Eller has mastered it to great effect on the album's lead single True Love in the Exclusion Zone, offering some pointers on how to write a good love song while he was at it. Like don't waste your youth on being part of a firing squad. Take note of Steve Cowles' tenor saxophone, who steals the show with an on point short and sweet solo. The video was made by Andy Lyth.
Curtis Eller's American Circus have launched a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs of recording their new album Another Nice Mess:
Welcome to Our Little Big Top! You have found your way to the fundraising apparatus dedicated to the recording and release of the latest phonographic recording by Curtis Eller's American Circus. We are delighted to welcome you on board. We have previously produced two critically acclaimed albums with the indispensible help of our Kickstarter family. It is impossible to overstate how grateful we are for your continued support!
Banjo maestro Curtis Eller hits the road again, playing shows in the States and the UK. Prepare for a night of joyous vaudeville tinged music.
Live dates:
Curtis Eller's American Circus is one of those extremely rare acts who can mix politics and fun and find a perfect balance between the two. On their new album A Poison Melody they touch base with nuclear war (Radiation Poison), hitting the airwaves without business folks calling the shots (No Soap Radio), the godfather of stand-up comedy Lenny Bruce and flooding (Waist Deep In the Big Muddy).
They still sound old time folk jazz big band firing on all cylinders, the kind that is here to entertain and teach. Band leader Curtis Eller plays a mean banjo, bass player Hugh Crumley lays down swinging bottom end, but it's Steve Cowles who steals the show with his flute parts. Alan Lomax would have loved them and sung his praises about the two-punch Before the Riot and After the Riot about racial prejudices.
Curtis Eller's American Circus have launched a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs of recording their new album:
Welcome to the official fundraising headquarters of Curtis Eller's American Circus! In uncertain times such as these, the citizens of an anxious nation inevitably turn to the dulcet tone of the five-string banjo to ease their troubled minds. Eller and the band are diligently at work on a new full-length phonograph recording to guide you through the dark and dire days ahead.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus head out to the UK and Ireland to tell stories of despair and hope.
Live dates:HCTF review of How to Make It in Hollywood.
Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus is in the midst of a tour, They fly across the big pond for a short Irish tour.
HCTF review of How to Make It in Hollywood .
Curtis Eller's American Circus have pity on the working man. They sing about big shots who lost out in the end (Richard Nixon, General Lee, Sonny Liston), and major disasters (the economic collapse of 1929 and the horrors of war). Main man and banjo player Curtis Eller is there to tell the tale, like a field reporter from the good old days.
How to Make It in Hollywood is a cheerful album about things going bad, filled to the rafters with old time folk songs wrapped in old time jazz. It could have been recorded a couple of decades ago, but its contents still ring true in the 21st Century. Feel free to sing along and drink to their health.
Curtis Eller's American Circus:
Curtis Eller: banjo & lead vocal
Louis Landry: drums, percussion, organ, piano, accordion, melodica, vocals
Shea D. Broussard: harmony vocal, hand percussion
Dana Marks: harmony vocal
Shea D. Broussard, Joseph Dejarnette, Douglas Vuncannon: upright & electric basses
How to Make It in Hollywood is a self-released album. Buy it from their website.
Tracks:
