Belles and Whistles

belles and whistles is a band that was conceived in new york city of all places. cameron and i were walking down the streets of manhattan talking about joni mitchell and the band and stuff when i said, "how about the band name bells and whistles?" he said, "i like the band name soft core."

we decided to name it "belles and whistles" after friend, maxon higbee, suggested the extra "e." leave it to max...

over the last couple years the band has gone through a series of dramatic changes being led by various wonderful front-men and front-women.

most recently the band has reformed to achieve a more country-influenced sound featuring covers by artists such as the waifs, the avett brothers, and neil young.

www.myspace.com/bellesandwhistles  

John Fern (aka Nolan Ford) (tour kickoff show)

Guitarist, singer, and 27 year old swashbuckler Nolan Ford is a familiar face in the Chico music scene.  Playing with the pop/math outfit Secret Stolen for the past 5 years as well as side projects such as Belles & Whistles and After School Special have helped him develop and solidify himself as a powerful musician.  His newest endeavor is as a singer/songwriter, and he's finally got enough original music to take it on the road.  Help Nolan raise money for a February tour at his tour kickoff show at Cafe Coda on February 11th.

 www.myspace.com/johnfern  

Danny Cohen

With Shades Of Dorian Gray, Danny Cohen has crafted the musical equivalent of an accomplished painting. Equally cerebral and serendipitous, his third Anti- album is an eclectic song cycle that thrives, informs and rewards with each successive listen.

One might assume from the title of the follow up to 2005’s We’re All Gunna Die, that Danny is an Oscar Wilde devotee. Not so. “He’s not one of my favorite writers,” Danny chuckles. “And I think The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of his worst books. I used the title because the songs were pointing me in that direction. I felt like there were a lot of gray tones in the themes and musical sounds, whereas my last record had earth tones. This one is more subtle and musty and I liked the play on words.”

A vital and unconventional artist in his own right, Cohen is quick to point out the parallels between Wilde’s famous novel and his own work on this record. Just as the main character in that tome, Dorian, stays young while his portrait reflects age, the musician says his own art has yielded a similar result. “I’m not only young in spirit and childlike,” Cohen insists, “But I’m physically 20 years younger than my chronological age. It’s the music and the writing and the painting I do that absorbs the mental and experiential aging.”

www.myspace.com/museumofdannys 

Garrett Gray & the Perpetual Drifters

The Perpetual Drifters formed in the spring of 2007 during the collaboration of singer/songwriter Garrett Gray with drummer Justin Wood and bassist Evan McPherson. What followed was the recording and completion of their debut EP, Peeling Back the Night and recently their first full length album "Hopelessly Devoted" as well as a large indefinite quantity of live performances around northern California, Oregon, and Washington.

www.myspace.com/perpetualdrifters