Rocket Shop 11/30/2011: Waylon Speed; Glory Reinstein

Samantha Donnelly with Waylon Speed. Photo by James Lockridge.

Words by Nick Kramer. Photos by James Lockridge.

On Wednesday, Burlington-based foursome Waylon Speed dropped in on the Radiator Studios to play some tunes and give Sam the scoop on what they’ve got going on. The country-rocking crew of Rev. Chitwood Hammaker, Noah Crowther, Kelly Ravin, and Justin Crowther just released ‘The Boots EP’. They debuted the excellent 4-song set with a release party Thanksgiving weekend at the Rock ’n’ Roll Resort festival in Kershonksen, NY.

In addition to the EP, the band has already recorded a follow-up to their second album ‘Horseshoes and Hand Grenades’, and looks to drop their third full-length disc this coming March. Recording at Trey Anastasio’s legendary The Barn studio, Waylon Speed worked a grueling session schedule, but “walked away with big smiles on our faces.” Inspired by the aura of a place that seems to Noah, “created for good recording vibes,” the boys have great expectations for the record.

On the air, they played songs pulled from throughout their catalog, including some rocking numbers from ‘The Boots EP.'  Their songs run the gamut from a crooning, country-rock slow-burner with guest vocals from Lowell Thompson, to the quick-picking “Koi Pond”, which has Kelly and Chitwood trading red-hot licks over a kick-stomping honky-tonk backbeat.

Always playing shows in the Northeast, Waylon Speed are a central force of the home-town Burlington scene. As for favorite gigs outside the 802, Kelly and Noah look back to last summer’s Floyd Fest in Virginia, as well as raucous nights in Dover New Hampshire, where Noach boasts, “we’re like Kiss in Dover, for some reason.”

As they move towards the March album release, the band is hard at work planning their spring and summer tour dates, which will include a long run of West Coast shows, as well as a healthy trip around the summer festival circuit - a perfect fit for Waylon Speed, who have made stops at the past two Gatherings of the Vibes, as well as several other multi-day fetes.

You can find the ‘The Boots EP’ for sale at your online music vendor of choice (iTunes, CDBaby et al.) and for all things Waylon Speed be sure to stop by http://waylonspeed.blogspot.com

Glory Reinstein. Photo by James Lockridge.

Glory Reinstein of Bluebird Promotions in Colchester dropped in for Rocket Shop this week to tell listeners about her newly released ‘Vermont Artists for Vermont Relief’ benefit album. All proceeds after expenses from the sale of the 18-track compilation will be donated to the Red Cross to be used in relief efforts repairing the destruction caused by Hurricane Irene. The disc features tunes from a range of local artists, most of whom Glory does promotional work for through Bluebird. When putting together the CD, however, she also went beyond the Bluebird stable and reached out to artists whose work she respects.

According to Glory, giving back is a central part of what she does with Bluebird. She plans to release a benefit compilation every year. In fact, had the hurricane not struck, proceeds for this year’s disc might have gone somewhere else.  As it is, Glory’s picking the Red Cross was partly serendipitous, “I saw money going to the United Way...to a local foundation...and I thought maybe I’ll choose the Red Cross.”

Having settled on a worthy beneficiary, Glory now vows to, “ be sending them a check every month or every other month and keeping just my cost for manufacturing.” Mrs. Reinstein even put up the production cost of creating the album herself.

The 18 songs on the album are a beautiful collection of modern indie, folk, and rock that showcase some of the best and brightest of current Vermont music. While none of the songs were written specifically for the compilation, they are arranged in a way that Glory believes tells a story.

‘Vermont Artists for Vermont Relief’ is available for sale at both CDBaby and iTunes as either a hard copy disc or digital download. We hope you’ll check it out.

The Rocket Shop playlist: Patrick Fitzsimmons, "The Waited Place" Gregory Douglass, "Havoc" Amber deLaurentis, "All Year Long" Bow Thayer, "Good Time to Holler" Edie Carey, "Come Inside" Waylon Speed, "Reminds Me" (Live) Waylon Speed, "Got Caught" (Live) Waylon Speed, "Shine" Waylon Speed, "Koi Pond" (Live)