Rams Head On Stage To Showcase Rock Bands

The August schedule at Rams Head On Stage includes rock ‘n’ roll group Hollis Brown and dance-rock ensemble Elektric Voodoo.

Hollis Brown
Friday, August 27, at 7:30pm

Hollis Brown is an American rock ‘n’ roll band. Named after a Bob Dylan song (“The Ballad of Hollis Brown”), the band was formed by Queens, New York, natives and songwriters Mike Montali (lead vocals/guitar) and Jonathan Bonilla (lead guitar). Both second-generation immigrants (Italian-American and Puerto Rican-American, respectively), they soon found their musical brethren across America, recruiting Andrew Zehnal (drums) from Cleveland, Adam Bock (keyboard/vocals) from St. Louis, and Brian Courage (bass) from Long Island.

Hollis Brown’s latest vinyl EP, “Cluster of Pearls” (Alive Naturalsound Records), was chosen as one of the 300 select releases throughout the world for Record Store Day 2016. Pressed on Starburst Vinyl, the record is limited to 800 copies and features four previously unreleased tracks and two songs released on vinyl for the first time. “Cluster of Pearls” follows the 2015 release of Hollis Brown's third album “3 Shots” (Jullian Records/RED), featuring the Bo Diddley collaboration “Rain Dance,” and the duet “Highway 1” with acclaimed alt-country songstress Nikki Lane. The edgy, roots-rock indie band recently wrapped 40+ amphitheater shows across America supporting Counting Crows and Citizen Cope last summer/fall, followed by a month-long headline tour in the United Kingdom and Europe.

The independent act has achieved a significant amount of success since their formation in 2009. They released their debut album “Ride On The Trai” on Alive Naturalsound in 2013 (produced by Adam Landry), garnering song and video premieres from Rolling Stone, Paste, and American Songwriter, along with music placements on Direct TV's "Kingdom," Showtime’s “Shameless,” MTV’s “Real World,” and the Willem Dafoe/Matt Dillon film “Bad Country.” Following a Lou Reed tribute concert in New York City, Alive Naturalsound asked the band to record a tribute to the Velvet Underground’s classic album “Loaded,” as a limited-edition vinyl release for Record Store Day 2014. “Hollis Brown Gets Loaded” took on a life of its own, with airplay on influential radio stations, resulting in a full CD and digital release.

The band has toured extensively in America and Europe, headlining and supporting such bands as The Zombies, Jackie Greene, Heartless Bastards, Rich Robinson of Black Crowes, and Jesse Malin, and building an impressive fanbase on both continents.

Tickets to the Rams Head show are $20. For more information, visit www.ramsheadonstage.com/events/detail/396895.

Notable Tracks

Run Right To You

Do Me Right

Elektric Voodoo
Sunday, August 29, at 8:00pm

Elektric Voodoo is an Afrobeat-inspired psych dance-rock ensemble founded by Scott Tournet. The group is comprised of Tournet (songwriter and guitarist), Matt Bozzone (drums/percussion, vocals), Ty Kiernan (congas, timbales, percussion), Travis Klein (tenor sax, keyboards, guitar, percussion, vocals), Brad Nash (baritone sax, keyboards, percussion, vocals) and Luke Henning (bass, vocals, percussion). They joined in 2016 around the time Tournet left the band he had built up for 12 years with Grace Potter and Nocturnals.

“I think it can’t be stressed enough that we’ve really done this thing the old-fashioned way and all of that heart is in the music,” Tournet said. “The music is pure in that way.”

Elektric Voodoo has a new album, “Telescope,” due out August 20. A concept album, “Telescope” presents a conscious shift from internal to external, and is intended to be listened straight through. The album’s nine songs tell a story of a journey through self-reflection, evaluation of mortality, confrontation of death and eventually dawns a new perspective.

Tournet discussed the single and the lyrics, “I’ve been peering through a Telescope...looking at the world up close...but never opening up both eyes.”

“These lyrics from the track summarize the plight of the main character through the first half of the record,” he said. “On top of a heavy funk and afrobeat groove, this song stacks blissed-out synths and delayed guitars that drift along with a song that could work in a stripped-down singer-songwriter setting. An amalgamation of genres and elements that are disparate but blend in a natural way.”

Tickets to see Elektric Voodoo at Rams Head On Stage are $20-$22. For more information, visit www.ramsheadonstage.com/events/detail/406309.

Notable Tracks

Single 1 – Wake Up

Single 2 - Telescope