Wagtail

Thanks Rebecca!

BUCH SPIELER’S TOP 10 BEST-SELLING CDS (For the week ending August 25, 2007)

1. GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS- THIS IS SOMEWHERE
2. ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK- ONCE
3. STARLINE RHYTHM BOYS- RED’S PLACE
4. GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS- NOTHING BUT THE WATER
5. AMY WINEHOUSE- BACK TO BLACK
6. BRANDI CARLILE- THE STORY
7. SARAH BLAIR- FLOWER OF THE RED MILL
8. REGINA SPEKTOR-BEGIN TO HOPE
9. ANAIS MITCHELL- THE BRIGHTNESS
10. WAGTAIL- ONE CLEAR MOMENT

We’re delighted by the local response to our new CD. Buch-Spieler is Montpelier’s premier record shop and, aside from buying directly from the band at a show, it’s the #1 place to pick up your copy of “One Clear Moment”.

BUCH SPIELER’S TOP 10 BEST-SELLING VERMONT-MADE CDS (For July 2007)

1. STARLINE RHYTHM BOYS- RED’S PLACE
2. ANAIS MITCHELL- THE BRIGHTNESS
3. WAGTAIL- ONE CLEAR MOMENT
4. SARAH BLAIR- FLOWER OF THE RED MILL
5. GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS- NOTHING BUT THE WATER
6. BLUEGRASS GOSPEL PROJECT- MAKES YOU STRONG
7. SUSANNAH CLIFFORD BLACHLY- MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
8. RUSTY ROMANCE- WHO BROUGHT THE FUN?
9. PATTI CASEY-THE EDGE OF GRACE
10. KATE PARADISE- YOU STEPPED OUT OF A DREAM

It was Saturday, June 16th, 2007 in the ocean-like space with jellyfish lighting at Positive Pie, the pizza womb of Montpelier, that Wagtail debuted our CD “One Clear Moment”. Bennett Shapiro of Mad Tech Sound (madtechsound.com) took tender care of each and every ear in the room with his expert touch at the audio desk. Like his t-shirt says, “If it SOUNDS good. It IS good.” Thanks, Bennett, for the great sound and for handing us a recording of the show at the end of the night!

We’ve posted a couple Mp3’s here on the website. They’re available for download at the bottom of the CD & Mp3’s page.

Though the Chew Chew Festival maintains a focus on the food factors, one can only eat and eat and eat before it’s time to lie in the grass and let waves of acoustic music soothe the digestive pangs. From the stage, with solid pro sound managed by Rachel of RMB, we Wagtailers looked past the food tents and families to a sparkling Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks beyond. Not bad. We had two good sets and found good homes for a handful of our still new-smelling CDs. During set break it was four Chew Chew tokens for Pete’s Wicked Sausages, freshly grilled, and another three for a mini cup of Ben & Jerry’s premium ice cream.

There’s not much more to it than that. Convergence. Synchronicity & Song. Divergence. Reflection. Amen.

SEVEN DAYS | June 13-20, 2007

By Robert Resnik

Vermont-based Wagtail has been together less than a year but has already developed a seasoned, “signature” sound–a solid rhythmic groove supplied by guitar and percussion instruments, along with two utterly different female vocalists. Every band member brings talent and personality to the party. Susannah Blachly is a stylin’ fiddler who swings effortlessly from high-lonesome Blue Ridge drone to Irish jig. Kristina Stykos is an able guitarist in her solo work and demonstrates that here as well, but she also sails on mandolin. Wagtail’s main guitarist is George White, and he also plays octave mandolin and sings. Percussionist Carter Stowell taps out evertyhing from djembe to marvelous tabla surprises on some of the Celtic instrumentals–a welcome texture that is still relatively rare in North American acoustic music. [EDITOR’S NOTE: It is Gabe Halberg (not Carter) who plays tabla on “Crossing the Causeway / Icehouse” and on “Boatman”.]

On their first ensemble CD, entitled One Clear Moment, White and Stowell lay down a solid foundation: White’s dead-on rhythm sense and percussive style compliments Stowell’s always-interesting backbeat. For Stykos, it’s all shimmering rhythmic melody lines on mando–no bluegrass chop chords here. And then there are the vocals. White’s soulful, steady voice is just right for country-blues numbers like the recording’s title track, a White original. Both women have unique singing styles, and when Blachly’s purr meets Stykos’ quaver, it sounds like what happens on your tongue when you taste salted almonds enrobed in chocolate. Delicious!

Wagtail’s choice of music–a mix of recent originals and traditional covers, some instrumental only–is very eclectic: from venerable Francis Child ballads (”House Carpenter”), to Stykos’ dark, introspective compositions about her state of mind, or life (”River Go By” and “Dirt Is the Color”); and Blachly’s poppy, catchy orginials (”Let the Light In,” “When the Sun Goes Down” and “Honey Man”).

The instrucmental tracks on One Clear Moment are all played with style and taste, but to me they almost felt like interruptions of the fine vocal numbers. There’s so much great raw material here that Wagtail could have recorded one vocal disc and one instrumental, both stellar. Maybe they should have.

Recording-wise, One Clear Moment is truly homemade–taped and edited at Stykos’ home studio in Chelsea–and the sound is clean and pure. The disc sounds even better with repeated listenings. See what Wagtail sounds like live this Saturday, June 16, at their CD release party at Positive Pie II in Montpelier.

(This review is archived on the Seven Days Web site, here.)

Art Edelstein reviewed ‘One Clear Moment’ for the Arts section of the Times Argus (Montpelier, VT), published Friday, June 1st, 2007:

“Vermont’s newest acoustic group, Wagtail, has released its first album,
One Clear Moment. This fine CD could propel this quartet to national attention, should they choose to go that route.

“Wagtail’s members have some serious talent […]

“If there is a defining theme running through this album its one of brooding with an undercurrent of musical tension. The brooding comes from the use of minor key themes and fiddle drones. The tension comes from the interplay of the instruments and the sense that here are four musicians who have melded into a band but have each kept their distinctive sense of self.

“For all their instrumental talent, Wagtail’s players never intrude on each other. If anything, the arrangements are spartan, with lots of room for the fiddle or the mandolin to take a lead. The men don’t overwhelm the women, and the women don’t tone down their male counterparts. What one gets is a very balanced set of tunes.

“Beyond the fine performances here is a very nice sounding recording. Stykos has emerged as a talented recording engineer and this project was recorded at her home with her hand on the recording console.

“In all, Wagtail has produced a first effort that is already mature and finely honed. While this band may be not more than a year old, it sounds as if they have been spiritually together for a long time.”

Read the complete review on the Time Argus site…

This spring, along with the crocuses, robins, and fiddleheads will come Wagtail’s debut CD “One Clear Moment”. The CD’s migration from Kristina’s recording studio to mixing and mastering with Corin Nelson at Animal Media in Ludlow, to the printer and back to us should wrap up in about three short weeks. A few tracks have found their way onto radio, on Robert Resnik’s program All the Traditions on Vermont Public Radio, and more recently on Goddard College Radio WGDR. We expect to have the CD in local stores like Montpelier’s Buch-Spieler within a month.

Our “official” CD release party is set for Saturday, June 16th, 9:30 PM at Positive Pie II on State Street in Montpelier.

Hope to see ya out! Check the CD/Mp3 page to get a copy.

Where would you rather be at 9AM Monday morning? Clenching coffees and instrument cases, we assembled in WGDR’s generous live studio space to support the fundraiser. We hadn’t played music together since our last fundraiser gig for the Jacquith Libary in Marshfield. If there’s a theme to our fundraiser sessions, it’s that we love this place, central Vermont, and its people. If Dunkin’ Donuts were to pack up and leave town, not a tear would be shed, but let’s keep the lights on at our local libraries and one of the few community radio stations amid these green mountains. We need them! Two band members can get WGDR’s signal from our homes — 91.1FM. Carter’s mom in Ohio tuned in to WGDR’s live online audio stream at wgdr.org.

Thanks to the friendly crew at WGDR for making it easy for us, and to those who called in to pledge. Looking forward to seeing friends, family, and other fine folks at a variety of shows this summer.

Tune to 91.1FM WGDR radio broadcast live from Goddard College in Plainfield, VT — also streaming online at www.wgdr.org — for quality homegrown programming.

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2007
Wagtail performs at Middle Earth Music Hall in Bradford, VT.

The line-up is Susannah Blachly, George White, and Kristina Stykos, with special guest Gabe Halberg on tabla and percussion (Carter was out-of-town — thanks Gabe!). A friend video-taped and posted a few cuts on YouTube.

“One Clear Moment”

“Special K”

“The Wagtail Set”

“House Carpenter”