The Maybelles: Press

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We just love The Maybelles...memorable songs, great spirit, lovely and lilting harmonies---plus they're just plain fun. Its great to hear them re-inventing a whole new kind of old-time music.

“ Of all the music the Be Good Tanya's gave me, my favorite is The Maybelles. They sound like they might be the grand daughters of country greats from the 1930's, The Wild Wood Flowers”

I love bands that are willing to explore new territory. I love the instrumental combination, the old-time real country feel, the close harmonies and the sprightly fiddle playing. I think you all are onto something big. Thanks so much for sending me a copy of Leavin' Town.

An EXPERT BAND ! Celtic tinged, Appalachian influenced repertoire puts their album in my Top Ten Folk Albums 2005.

Leavin' Town is a brilliant record.
Bell (and The Maybelles) music isn't strictly bluegrass, but the reworking of old-time country and jug-band blues is remarkably nuanced. It embodies the wide-open spirit of what has become an antic, hybrid genre.

SING OUT! says:
The Maybelles are a trio of talented young women. The band is comprised of Jan Bell, guitar; Melissa Carper, bass and Katy Rose Cox, violin. They all sing and are joined by Arkansas Red on Dobro, banjo and guitar. Leavin' Town is their third CD. The band features classic and self-written songs with sweet sibling old-time harmony vocals and a dynamic stringband sound.
The CD opens with "Cowgirl Blues" by Jan who hails from Yorkshire, England, and only seldom does a trace of her homeland accent creep into her voice. The tune is an energetic romp through many of the cliches found in every classic cowboy song. "Caleb Meyer" by Gillian Welch is a perfect vehicle for the Maybelle sound. It features the driving fiddle of Texan Katy Rose. She also contributes "Devil's Gap," a hauntingly beautiful modal-flavored fiddle tune. Melissa Carper from Nebraska contributes a humorous gospel song about alien abduction as kind of an update on "Mr. Spaceman."
Among the classics included on Leavin' Town, Bill Monroe's "The One I Love is Gone" is especially lovely as the Maybelles stretch to achieve the high lonesome sound that Bill was well known for. "Go Away With Me" from the singing of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard and "Red Rocking Chair" are both fine representations of the band's old-time roots although each is treated in a wholly different manner. The former is a delicate song of longing for a better life and the latter is handled at breakdown speed with muscular fiddle and plaintive vocals. The CD concludes with Jan's "Night Blooming Jasmine," a lovely waltz with lyrics describing bittersweet memories of the past.
The Maybelles sing and play songs that emanate from a place and time long ago in this lovely collection of newly composed and classic songs about the rural south.--TD
COPYRIGHT 2008 Sing Out Corporation

Marvelous old school country band!

FEATURE : Musical geniuses in mutual motion.

"Jan Bell is one of my favorite living singer songwriters. The Maybelles album 'Songs for my Baby' is soulful...beautiful. Their version of Jan's 'Right to Love' is in my Top Ten for Magnet Magazine”

"I'm a big fan. They've got it all - good writing, good voices, good sound. If you haven't seen the Maybelles in a while, you've got a real surprise coming!"

Fabulous harmonies, marvellously balanced instruments, contemporary lyrics and sassy attitude, a formula which first made them big favorites in New Orleans and now has them touring European festivals this summer.

"Gloriously sensual harmonies, with expert and authentic instrumentality and solid songs. Their style is "mountain music"--Appalachian--with a good bit of bluegrass flavor. "

HIGHLIGHTS - MUSIC FEATURE:
Upbeat and charming Americana trio.

Their cover of Samantha Parton's beautifully heartbreaking 'Lonesome Blues' capture's with startling precision, the spirit of an Appalachian folk song....Freshness bordering on wonder.

Village Voice Feature
A friend remembers working as an extra on the set of a Nickel Creek video a few years ago. Chris Thile, the band's mandolin player and one of its singers, was wearing a sweater with a small RC emblazoned on it. My friend asked Thile what the letters signified, thinking the garment might be a vintage RC Cola item "Oh, it's Roberto Cavalli," my friend says Thile told him. That's when he says he knew Nickel Creek wasn't just a bluegrass band.

Why Should the Fire Die, Nickel Creek's third album, is not just a bluegrass record. Like Thile's sweater, it's much sleeker, sexier, and more carefully assembled than work by the competition—in Nickel Creek's case, pop-bluegrass heavyweights like Alison Krauss (who produced the band's first two discs) and adult-pop scenesters such as Jesse Harris. The San Diego trio have accomplished something new here, something much more reflective of their station as twentysomethings toiling in an old person's field: "Emo-grass," I'd recommend calling it, if that were anywhere near as catchy as "newgrass" or even the fairly despicable "soulgrass."

You can hear the clippings of emo-grass in both Fire's sound and spirit. When Thile and his bandmates—singer-guitarist Sean Watkins and his singer-fiddler sister Sara—sing about romance, they do it just like self-victimizing emo frontmen do: "You said you'd love me always truly," Sean seethes sweetly in "Somebody More Like You," a tangle of single-string acoustic-guitar lines. "I must have changed." In their imagery as well, they're only a September evening or two away from a co-headlining tour with Mates of State. "You're staring down the stars, jealous of the moon," Thile sings in a tune he wrote with the Jayhawks' Gary Louris.

Musically, Nickel Creek transcend here their previous attempts to circumvent bluegrass orthodoxy (essentially, a baby-faced enthusiasm and a Pavement cover). "Can't Complain" is a lushly arpeggiated ballad with a peculiar key change; a pretty version of Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" is Iron & Wine in all but name. Producer Eric Valentine (Good Charlotte, Smash Mouth) gives "Best of Luck" and "When in Rome," the album's most distinctive cuts, a dramatic slash-and-boom that rubs intriguingly against bluegrass's intrinsic small-room charm. With any luck (and some marketing muscle), this excellent album will find the Dashboard Confessional fans it deserves.

The Duhks, a funky-fresh five-piece from Winnipeg, do some transcending of their own on their self-titled disc, though their blend is more rarefied than Nickel Creek's. If you were an extra in one of their videos and asked shaved-head singer Jessica Havey what the insignia on her cowgirl shirt referred to, she'd probably spin you a long yarn about generational crosscurrents and the impermanence of time. And it would involve hemp.

The best tracks on The Duhks find a rhythmic elasticity in the Celtic and Caribbean musics the band fold into their banjo-and-fiddle-based repertoire. Their arrangement of "Death Came a Knockin' " throbs with a lithe sensuality that belies the tune's many "hallelujah"s; "True Religion" bumps and grinds beneath requests for a properly made deathbed. And in "The Wagoner's Lad" Havey and fiddler Tania Elizabeth challenge bluegrass's implied harder-faster imperative by harmonizing gorgeously about the miserable "fortune of all womankind."

Melissa Carper and Jan Bell, who lead Brooklyn's Maybelles, sound like they've known that (mis)fortune. On White Trash Jenny they play sweet-and-sour old-timey music about keeping it in the family and being someone's wife. Despite (or maybe because of) Bell's English heritage, she's much more of a traditionalist than anyone in Nickel Creek or the Duhks; her and Carper's harder-faster is a triumph for equal-opportunity bluegrassers. Yet they give such an unsentimental melancholy to the mostly self-penned material that you remember their art, not their science. Don't expect a video.

Brighton Show Review The Maybelles in Brighton
Tuesday, August 04 2009 @ 10:15 AM BST
Contributed by: Dan
Views: 156
A blend of Appalachian music from all-girl trio The Maybelles. They use double bass, guitar and fiddle with three voices that - while each being distinct - come together perfectly. And it makes a great sound, a loose old-time country reminiscent of The Carter Family, Gillian Welch or The Be-Good Tanyas (both of whom they cover).
There are some great dance tunes, where Melissa's hard-driven double bass thumps out a promitive rock 'n' roll rhythm for Katie-Rose's fiddle to scratch, jump and leap around.
And there are some songs tackling traditional themes played with a straight face, like the touching 'Leaving Town' about a mother abandoning her young son to escape the law. Jan, on guitar and lead vocals, is a Yorkshire lass and it's easy to make the connection between tunes like this and the kind of songs Kate Rusby or Ruth Notman would sing.
But that would be too much heartbreak, misery and murder balladery for a whole night, so they pitch in a few lighter songs. There's the aforementioned incest song, with a complicated family tree and a rousing join-in chorus of 'We love our Pa'.
And 'Done Been Probed', which plays up to the Deep South stereotype with twin themes of alien abduction and the good Lord Jesus.
Tonight's gig takes place in Brighton's finest small music venue, The Greys. Run by semi-retired actor Chris 'Binky' Beaumont. It's the perfect setting for a band like The Maybelles, with tonight's full house packed around the low stage and rammed up against the bar.
It's exactly what you want, a good-time band in a good-time pub. Who'd have thought that a bit of the Appalachian mwww.artistsandmakers.comountains by the beach would make a perfect night out?

Top 10 New Orleans bands 2004.

THE MAYBELLES • LEAVIN’ TOWN
(Little Red Hen 3333)
You might deduce from the trio’s name and, among the 14 tracks, Little Darlin’
Pal Of Mine, that there will be a certain Carter Family influence here, and you
would not be wrong. Old timey country is the sound Jan Bell, who plays guitar (and
also heads up Brooklyn-based folk country unit The Cheap Dates), Melissa Carper
upright bass and Austinite Katy Rose Cox violin are going for, bringing it to vivid life
with fabulous harmonies, marvellously balanced instruments, contemporary lyrics
and sassy attitude, a formula which first made them big favorites in New Orleans and
now has them touring European festivals this summer. Five of the songs are by Bell,
one each Carper (bluegrass alien abduction!) and Cox, along with Samantha Parton’s
Lonesome Blues and Gillian Welch’s Caleb Meyer, while the past is also referenced
by Bill Monroe’s The One I Love Is Gone, Go Away With Me lifted from a Hazel
Dickens album, the traditional Red Rocking Chair and Hank’s I’m So Lonesome I
Could Cry. There are many other superficially comparable groups out there, but The
Maybelles offer the most complete package I’ve come across. JC
John Conquest, 3rd Coast Music.
The essential newspaper for Americana and American Roots music. Published monthly in Central Texas.

North Devon Live Show Review
American Night is best yet
Thursday, August 20, 2009, 07:00

American Night The Maybelles, The Jaywalkers, Billy Hill, Jim Watts Review: Rosanna Rothery

WHAT can I tell you about the Maybelles? These gals are good! Who says bluegrass is just for the boys? This terrific trio is everything you would expect from a folk country blues outfit: deliciously sweet harmonies and dexterous hands that can turn their skill to all kinds of buoyant Appalachian bluegrass and mountain music.

Jan Bell keeps it rock steady on the guitar, Melissa Carper whacks out a feisty groove on the double bass while Katy Rose provides the passionate and melodic fiddle breaks — all credit to her that she keeps her solos refreshingly elegant and disciplined never wandering into clichéd country territory (I'd warrant there's a classical training underpinning that sophisticated style).

Playing with polish and panache, the gals took the set by its horns and shook out every last bit of energy. Whether they were singing well-worn classics like Hank Williams' I'm So Lonely I Could Cry or highly original songs like Melissa's humorous gospel ditty about alien abduction, we were in the hands of tight professionals.

Support came from hot young talents, The Jaywalkers. Now I was highly impressed with Jay Bradberry's blues-tinged, world-weary country vocals and splendid fiddle playing when I thought she was in her early 20s. To discover she was only 16 years old gave me shivers down the spine. "Sixteen? Surely not!" What a brilliant future awaits that distinctive voice. Co-performer Michael Giverin was wonderful, too, with his thrash funk and country mandolin grooves. Creative compositions and original arrangements put a refreshing twist on traditional styles, demonstrating a formidable innovative talent.

Billy Hill, 10, with his fast fiddle tunes certainly had the cute factor while Jim Watts' laid-back blues made for an enjoyable start to the night.

Shall I stick my neck out and declare this the best American night yet in the history of Bideford Folk Festival? I think I will.

A Songwriter’s Band - The Lovely County Citizen. By Terry Shirley.

The first incarnation of the group that would become The Maybelles began several years ago right here in Eureka Springs when Melissa Carper and Jan Bell met and started playing music together.

The second incarnation was as a duo in New Orleans where they first appeared as The Maybelles. In its annual music issue, New Orleans City Life magazine ranked them among the Top 10 of the city's music acts.

Then musicians being musicians, they hit the road and wound up in Brooklyn where they added Katy Rose Cox to make them a trio. At that time, Chuck Eddy was Senior Music Editor at the Village Voice and rated the group's debut album White Trash Jenny among his favorite Top Ten Folk Albums. He described them as, "An EXPERT BAND. Celtic tinged, Appalachian influenced." Eddy now writes for Billboard magazine, which is the music industry's most influential publication.

Boffo in Gotham City

Mikael Wood, who also writes for the Village Voice, characterized the band's efforts as, "A triumph for equal opportunity bluegrassers, never once sinks into mere bluegrass reverence." And Time Out NY magazine gave them a coveted Recommended rating with the comment, "Don't Miss The Maybelles."

They didn't miss them in London either. Charlie Gillett of the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] said, "Of all the music the 'Be Good Tanya's' gave me, my favorite is The Maybelles. They sound like they might be granddaughters of country greats." Interesting comment in that Jan Bell grew up in Nottinghamshire, England.

Then musicians being musicians, they hit the road back to Eureka to record their second album with David Singleton engineering. Sing Out! magazine says, "Sweet old time harmony vocals and a dynamic string band sound … energetic, hauntingly beautiful, humorous … Leavin' Town is a lovely collection … The Maybelles are a talented trio of young women."

Jerome Clark who frequently writes with actor Robin Williams and Williams' wife, Linda, wrote on Rambles.net, "Freshness bordering on wonder.''

Ozark kudos

Donice Woodside, writing for Nightflying, described them as "Musical geniuses in mutual motion.''

Susan Porter, in the Fayetteville Free Weekly says they're an "Upbeat and charming Americana trio."

According to Mike Shirkey of KUAF Radio, "They've got it all. Good writing. Good voices. Good sound. If you haven't seen The Maybelles in a while, you're in for a surprise."

This is a songwriter's band. Performing Songwriter magazine selected White Trash Jenny for its annual Top 12 DIY picks. They described the album as "chock-full of good old fashioned fun -- groping, incest and stints in jail." The title track tells the story of a free-spirited woman who chose a life of crime and time in jail over life in a trailer park, "having kids and being someone's wife."

The fates of dying mothers and coal mining fathers are revealed in the song "Aunt Molly Jackson" which is wrapped in pretty harmonies and framed with traditional bluegrass instrumentation.
All three of The Maybelles' songwriting skills are showcased on the Leavin' Town album. And they mix in some Bill Monroe, Carter Family and Hank Williams covers which serve to ground them in authenticity. Mikael Wood of the Village Voice really hits the nail on the head when he says, "They give such an unsentimental melancholy to the mostly self-penned material that you remember their art, not their science. Don't expect a video."

Reintarnation

The latest incarnation will take place next week when they play at George's Majestic Lounge on Dickson St. in Fayetteville on Wednesday and at the Gavioli Chapel in Eureka Springs on Thursday as part of the Americana House Concert series. But first, let's rewind this story back to the part about Brooklyn. While playing the New York City scene, they fell in with a banjo player named Hilary Hawke. And that's right, you've already guessed it, the trio ain't no trio, no more. They're a four-piece. This should be more fun than when Granny puked and us kids played in it.

The Maybelles have been invited to perform at the International Bluegrass Music Awards in Nashville this year. And Jan Bell has won the popular vote for Independent Music Awards Alternative Country Album of the Year for her Songs For Love Drunk Sinners as performed by Jan Bell + the Cheap Dates.

Concert Times