New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Sherman Ewing Official Website) Comparisons to Keith Richards, Dylan, John Prine, as Raves Continue: "A Shattering Tale of Bad Times and Big Dreams"
Ewing Sets CD Release Concert for June 9th in NYC
USA TODAY: "Rootsy, Accessible...a Wry Lyricism That Suggests a Hard-Won Emotional Integrity"
RELIX MAGAZINE: "A Triumphant Storyteller with a Soulful Brand of Pop-Friendly Rock That, at Times, Channels a Sound Similar to Early Folk-Period Dylan"
With recent reviews comparing him to Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and John Prine, Indie rocker Sherman Ewing has earned continued raves for his new CD 'Single Room Saloon'. Ewing was recently covered by USA TODAY twice in one week, and via RELIX MAGAZINE as well - see clips below. Syndicated writer Nick DeRiso (SomethingElseReviews.com, NODEPRESSION, more,) praised Ewing's album as "a shattering tale of bad times and big dreams, all told in a redemptive voice that's, at times, quiet and still; at others, a braying rebuke." See the full write-ups, below, and listen to a streaming sampler, here: https://www.sethcohenpr.com/player/shermanewing/
Ewing will soon announce Summer tour dates. A June 9th NYC CD release party has already been confirmed:
Sherman Single Room Saloon CD Release @ Sullivan Hall -
Special Guests will be announced soon!
Thursday June 9th
214 Sullivan Street www.sullivanhallnyc.com
8pm Ticket price: $10 Ages: 18+ to enter and 21 to drink
SomethingElseReviews/
NO DEPRESSION CD Review
by Nick DeRiso 3/11
https://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/sherman-ewing-single-room
There are songs you listen to with one elbow jutting out a car window, the gas pedal cutting into the floor mat. Then there are the things that open up different vistas, albums that bring you around to quieter places - sounds that force you to stop and take stock. Sherman Ewing's rootsy new Single Room Saloon is the latter, a shattering tale of bad times and big dreams, all told in a redemptive voice that's, at times, quiet and still; at others, a braying rebuke. You'll find, across initial spins, a tidy familiarity to the record. Produced by Godfrey Diamond (Lou Reed, Aerosmith), Saloon deftly references Ewing's milepost influences in rock, pop and country music. (Longtime collaborator JoJo Hermann of Widespread Panic is also on board.) But, soon enough, the album's brutal honesty, its keening lyricism and deeply affecting losses, help Ewing find new purchase. Every story rings true. The smart, snarling wit of "Heaven Waits" sounds like Bob Dylan on a night when he gives a shit, whirling from one memorable specifity to another. (Liner-note nerds - OK, sue me - will also find both drummer George Recile and bassist Tony Garnier, Dylan's current rhythm section, on all but one song here.) Ewing's title tune - co-written with Phish lyricist Tom Marshall; it's desperate, almost palpably hungry - follows the interior conversation of guy who's stayed out so late that there's no place left to go. Both feature contributions that are by turns lonely and angularly challenging from trumpeter Michael Ray (Sun Ra, Kool and the Gang). "Grey Skies Blue," open hearted and then tough courtesy of a tart little riff from former Spin Doctors guitarist Anthony Krizan, subsequently howls with a country-rock optimism.
Single Room Saloon, already, had swept across an emotional gamut that most albums don't approach in their entirety. "Flatlands," which quivers like the scorched horizon on a dusty highway in the American West, finds Ewing downshifting through the Saloon's middle section - a brave turn. He warbles like a more polished (but not much) Keith Richards through "Walk On," a song that works at being a buck-up moment of inspiration but can't help sounding like a reassurance for Ewing himself, after his own series of damaging issues. He's searching, sometimes desperately, for the light in "Happiness" and then "Right Behind the Scars." And, if only by trying, you sense that he's getting closer. "Bye Bye America" then leaps out with a snapping charm, even if its lyric points to a darker future. Keyboardist Ivan Neville gurgles up like an inspiration from the middle of Ewing's chest on the John Prine-ish "The Mission," a shattering depiction of the gap between the haves and the have nots - and maybe the record's best track. "Marylin," this elegiac home-going reverie, doesn't so much put a bow on things as illustrate the inner strength that we all must have, if there is any hope in overcoming this world's slings and arrows: "Love comes slow," Ewing sings, "to a wounded heart." If you had any doubt, any doubt at all, Single Room Saloon has made the point by then. By Nick DeRiso,
https://somethingelsereviews.com/2011/03/21/sherman-ewing-single-room-saloon-2011/
Read DeRiso's syndicated Something Else! Interview with Sherman Ewing, here:
https://somethingelsereviews.com/2011/04/25/something-else-interview-roots-rocker-sherman-ewing/
Sherman Ewing's Single Room Saloon arrived with a sound that is at once intuitive and raw, but somehow well-worn and familiar, too. Some of that could be attributed to the folks featured on the new album, from producer Godfrey Diamond (Lou Reed, Aerosmith , Billy Squier) to John "JoJo" Hermann (Widespread Panic), from Tom Marshall (Phish, Amphibian) to George Recile (Keith Richards , Bob Dylan). It also has to do with the winding road Ewing took to get to this place.
Ewing attended Columbia University with Hermann, later forming a group together called Sherman and the Bureaucrats. He subsequently worked with a series of New York bands through the 1990s. By 2002, Ewing was ready to launch on a solo career. The resulting Bluemoon, quieter and more personal, brought him together with Diamond, Recile and Neville for the first time. But then another decade passed.
Single Room Saloon sorts out some of the challenges that Ewing faced: "having been brought up in Christian Science family and all that entailed ... virtually no medical care; childhood trips to the dentist where drilling was done without anesthesia; witnessing the excruciating death of both parents, who chose prayer over medicine in their losing fights with cancer; a personal battle with drugs that took me to the streets, and finally rediscovering my own spiritual path through recovery." But the record, released digitally earlier this year, doesn't surrender to the swirling darkness that sometimes surrounds it. Instead, Sherman Ewing walks determinedly forward.
We talked to Ewing about working with Dylan's rhythm section, watching a legendarily boozy performance by home-state favorites the Replacements, and how a life-long friendship with Hermann continues to inspire his work ...
Nick DeRiso: There are times when Single Room Saloon can be melancholy, even sorrowful, yet there remains a sense of rugged optimism. It seems to underscore how music helps us through the tough times.
Sherman Ewing: I was talking about that with a friend the other day, music and tough times. It all depends on the picture frame you put it in. If you expand the frame, then the picture looks a lot of different. Over the course of time, you come to see that the story is never really over. My first CD was pretty introspective. For the most part, this one is looking out into the world. I guess you could say it's more outrospective.
DeRiso: Being a Minnesota native, most people point to Bob Dylan as an influence, but I also hear Paul Westerberg, front man with Minneapolis' legendary underground punk band the Replacements .
Ewing: Oh, Westerberg was my hero! I saw those guys at The Ritz, two nights in a row. The first night, they were recording live on the radio and all the record execs were there. Bobby Stinson came out in his underwear; he could barely walk. He threw a six pack into the audience! (Laughs uproariously.) They played (Black Sabbath's) "Iron Man," and "Ben" by the Jackson Five . They stopped half way, right in the middle of the song, and then played it again. Then they played two more - and walked off. The next day, with all the radio and record people gone, they came out and just ripped it. They played a show that you'll never forget. A crazy bunch.
DeRiso: You've maintained a long-time working partnership with college buddy JoJo Hermann from Widespread Panic, both on Single Room Saloon and with an offshoot band, the Missing Cats. How has that relationship grown over the years?
Ewing: He's like my creative angel. I get goosebumps thinking about the question. We have always had a special bond. It kind of blew my mind a little bit that it all turned out so well for him. He's been so supportive of my music the whole time. Next spring, Widespread Panic is going to take some time off, and we're going to record again. ... What can I say about JoJo? I could talk about JoJo for five hours.
DeRiso: The tune "Bye Bye America" couldn't have come at a more appropriate time, as the country continues to struggle back from the economic downturn.
Ewing: When I wrote it, I thought it was going to be so timely. But the CD was taking a little longer than I had hoped. I actually wrote that song two and half, three years ago. It was sort of before the financial thing started falling apart. George Bush was in office, and I kept thinking, 'We've got to get this thing out.' I was really worried I would have an album with stuff that was no longer pertinent. It goes back to what I was saying about the picture frame, though. Who would have thought this would still be going on? That's not one of those songs that jumps out to a lot of folks, but it's particularly meaningful to me. It's something that I feel had some value to it.
DeRiso: You've had a chance to work with Bob Dylan 's rhythm section. How did that contribute to the new album's core sound?
Ewing: I'd also like to put a plug in for Godrey Diamond, who produced the CD. This album is all about the people who were on it. He knew (drummer) George (Recile) and George knew (bassist) Tony (Garnier). When I walked into the first rehearsal, and they were all there and I'm showing them the songs, and they were so locked in and focused. With those guys, I feel like I put a bunch of dots on the canvas and they did the painting. I can't imagine it was possible for them to be any more professional. It was such an incredible thing to see. Such a thrill. Then, beyond that, to see how focused they were on the music. It was not a big money gig, I guarantee you that. (Laughs.) But they gave me everything they had. I would just go home and listen to the bassline and drums. I could have just kept that.
DeRiso: Did that have something to do with that outward perspective you talked about? You tend to look beyond yourself when there are other voices in the room.
Ewing: I think so. We let these guy go in and do their thing, to really put their signature on it. That was one of freeing parts of the process. It was kind of weird, because it was so easy. There were times when I was concerned that it wouldn't sound cohesive. But that's there the writing comes in. That's the common thread.
DeRiso: Single Room Saloon was issued digitally in January, with a CD to follow this spring. What's next?
Ewing: We'll have a release party in June, then book some dates in the north and then the south. I'd like to do five- or six-city runs every month or two and build it from there.
DeRiso: After such a lengthy process in putting it together, the album received a series of early positive notices, including a nice write up in USA Today. That must have made it all worth while.
Ewing: There was a time when I was really caught up in results - probably because I didn't have any. (Chuckles.) I would use it to be harsh with myself. But when I finished this record, I really didn't have those expectations. I thought it was as good a record as I could put forward. It's nice to put something out and not have those expectations, and then have it be well received. I didn't have a lot invested in results. I was just happy when it was done. It seemed to make sense; it said something I believed - and the process of working with the people involved with it was just a gift. When you talk about a dream coming true, that was it.
Other recent coverage:
USA TODAY - Print Edition - 3/1/11
Listen Up Music Pick - By Elysa Gardner
https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2011-03-01-listen01_TB_N.htm
The Mission, Sherman Ewing: A wry, mournful edge belies the deceptively catchy melody of this standout track from Ewing's Single Room Saloon.
USATODAY.com - CRITIC'S PICK CD REVIEW 2/26/2011 By Elysa Gardner https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2011-02-26-listen-up_N.htm
Seeking sound advice? USA TODAY's music critics spotlight spin-worthy current albums bubbling beneath the hyped hits.
Sherman Ewing, Single Room Saloon
ROCK
It's widely believed that all contemporary singer/songwriters owe some debt to Bob Dylan, but few acknowledge it as unabashedly as Ewing does. That's in large part because of the younger troubadour's voice, a rough-hewn, keening instrument that grasps like a desperate lover for the higher notes, sometimes in vain. But Ewing's rootsy, accessible tunes also have a wry lyricism that suggests a hard-won emotional integrity - and make Saloon's sentimental flourishes not just pardonable, but endearing. - Elysa Gardner Download: Heaven Waits, Happiness, The Mission
RELIX MAGAZINE - CD Review MARCH ISSUE - by Sam Davis
https://www.relix.com/reviews/cds/2011/03/07/sherman-ewing-single-room-saloon
Single Room Saloon is the product of an artist with a troubled past, told through a voice that is truly genuine. Sherman Ewing's traumatic life has included the death of both of his parents and a battle with drugs. But through his music, he moves forward-emerging as a triumphant storyteller with a soulful brand of pop-friendly rock that, at times, channels a sound similar to early folk-period Dylan with an upbeat twist. On his second release, Ewing attracts an impressive list of guests including longtime collaborator JoJo Hermann (Widespread Panic), Michael Ray (Sun Ra, Kool and the Gang), Phish lyricist Tom Marshall and more. The album also features jangly country guitar lines from former Spin Doctors' guitarist Anthony Krizan ("Grey Skies Blue") and Ray's climactic trumpet hooks ("Heaven Waits," "Single Room Saloon").
Ewing wrote or co-wrote all 10 songs on the album, which features a notable community of musicians - including Bob Dylan, Phish, Keith Richards, Widespread Panic, Spin Doctors, Sun Ra and Hank Williams, Jr alum.
The acclaimed CD is available digitally now via iTUNES, Amazon and CDBaby (https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shermanewing2,) and will be released via brick-and-mortar this Spring, to coincide with a series of U.S. tour dates - details will be announced soon. Ewing evokes John Hiatt, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, The Beatles and others with his upbeat and eclectic mix of country, rock, pop and singer-songwriter tracks...Surprises abound, as Ewing opens songs with country guitars and then unabashedly shifts to soulful trumpet, delivers dreamy harmonies on 'Flatland', and crafts killer hooks on tracks such as 'Grey Skies Blue'. Ewing's processed vocals and understated, tense grooves drive the title track to its trumpet crescendo, and on the anthemic 'Walk On,' he reflects on the night of his mother's death. Ewing is a winning storyteller, and his down-home lyrics have an inviting quality that draw the listener in.
WILDYSWORLD - CD Review
2/16/2011 By Wildy Haskell
https://wildysworld.blogspot.com/2011/02/sherman-ewing-single-room-saloon.html
Sherman Ewing - Single Room Saloon
2011, Okindalia Records
Sherman Ewing walked through hell and lives to tell the tale. Tell it he does on his latest album, Single Room Saloon. The Columbia University grad, who once played in a band called Sherman And The Bureaucrats with John "Jojo" Hermann of Widespread Panic, grew up in British boarding schools during the birth of the punk movement. His songwriting evokes some of that attitude infused into a blend of pop, rock and country. With an all-star band at his back (members have worked with Bob Dylan, Spin Doctors, Hank Williams, Jr., Phish, Keith Richards and Widespread Panic), Ewing opens an emotional vein for all the world to hear.
Single Room Saloon opens with "Heaven Waits", an intriguing commentary on materialism and the corruption it breeds. Ewing points to a light in the distance in a delicious blend of country guitars and sophisticated rock n roll. "Single Room Saloon" has a distinctly urgent feel; imagine the Beatles playing in an Americana style. The result is an edgy sound that will stay with you. "Grey Skies Blue" is catchy, but its Ewing's guitar work that most stands out. It's a tune about that one person who makes even the darkest day bright, and brings to mind some of the better works of Wilco. "Flatlands" is a dreamy Americana blend that's as pleasing to the ear as it is pointed in message.
"Walk On" is all about making your way in the world and finding your place. It's a delicious bit of soulful, buzzy rock and roll. Things slow down for a couple of songs, but Ewing gets back on track with "Bye Bye America". Ewing laments those who would stand by and watch America's decline as long as they get what they feel is coming to them. Ewing keeps up the social commentary on "The Mission", delving into the growing gap between rich and poor and the inability of the latter to keep up. Ewing closes with "Marilyn", an inconspicuous final track that plays like an epilogic vector.
Sherman Ewing shows a distinctive ability in the crafting of songs on Single Room Saloon. The material presented here is, for the most part, cogently written and melodically sound. Ewing's special talent is in the musical details, which he wraps around the melodic core in layers both distinctive and refined. Not all of the songs here work on all levels, but there's more than enough here to make Single Room Saloon worth your time.
BLOGCRITICS/
NO DEPRESSION
https://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/music-review-sherman-ewing
https://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-sherman-ewing-single-room/
BY JACK GOODSTEIN - 1/7/11
If you are unfamiliar with the name Sherman Ewing, the digital release of his second album, Single Room Saloon on January 11 may well remedy that. This ten song rock, pop, county collection runs the gamut from haunting bluesy social commentary to introspective soul searching, from upbeat swinging melodies to anarchic cacophonies. His lyrics are personal and emblematic of a generation. Ewing is a singer-song writer with something to say and he says it with a raw honesty that will remind you of early Dylan. The world he describes is not particularly pretty. It is a place where people fall, sometimes to rise again, sometimes not. More often than not his music is as harsh as that world, and when it isn't, when it seems melodic and tuneful, the lilting melodies are in ironic contrast to the disturbing lyrics. This may be pop music, but it is pop music as art.
"The Mission" has a lilting melody, but it is a song about the need for change in a society where people are on the streets dying from the heat, where people are fighting for the right of the road. The mission and what it stands for not only don't help; they stand in the way. "Angel," the chorus demands, "Burn this mission down." "Flatlands" has a sweet folk song vibe with a pulsating rhythm, but it describes 40,000 children wasted in the sand, with the vultures ready to pounce. The sweetness of the music morphs into the sadness of a dirge. "Heaven Waits" is a melodic old style folk rocker that looks at the idea of heavenly rewards with a somewhat jaundiced eye. Its opening guitar measures belie its message. Ewing has a way of using the music to lull the listener into a false sense of serenity, only to pull the rug away from anyone paying close attention to the lyric.
"Single Room Saloon," the title song, co-written by Tom Marshall, on the other hand uses a dissonant musical setting to echo the dissonance of the singer's relationship to a world that is like a single room saloon. He's still here, but he's "slightly out of tune," more than slightly in the light of some of the sonic distortion. It also features some rocking guitar work and a blasting trumpet solo. "Happiness" and "Right Behind the Scars" both seem to look at the chances for redemption after a misspent past. "I can hear the river calling," he says in "Right Behind the Scars," "will you let it take you out to sea?" In both, the music echoes the sense. "Walk On" is a classic anthem with a passionate guitar riff. "If you're lost in the night, you will find that there's love on the other side; walk on," directs the chorus. It ends with a gospel like coda featuring a guitar solo interspersed with chants of "walk on."
According to the bio on his website, Ewing is no new kid on the block. A 40 year old native of Minnesota, he went to boarding school in England. It was the time of the Punk revolution and as Ewing told Tipitina's John D'Aquila in an online interview, "Everyone was into the Sex Pistols." He came back to the States to go Columbia University, where he met "Jojo" Hermann of Widespread Panic. They began to play together in a band called Sherman and the Bureaucrats, and he continued playing around New York through the nineties. In 2002, he teamed with producer Godfrey Diamond
on his first solo album, Blue Moon. Among the influences on his music he mentions in the D'Aquila interview are Neil Young, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin and Bruce Springsteen. Bob Dylan, he says, "started me getting into the guitar." While his music is truly an eclectic mix, these singer-songwriters are clearly there in spirit.
Ewing collaborates again with Diamond and Hermann on this new album. Others included on the CD are Ivan Neville, drummer, George Recile and bassist, Tony Garnier. Zak Soulam and Jimbo Walsh help out on guitar and Michael Ray handles the trumpet work. Ewing's core band is made up of guitarist Anthony Krizan, Rob Clores on keyboards and a rhythm section of John and Kevin Hummel.
Click to see more recent coverage, here:
MELODIC.NET
Read the interview Q&A, here:
https://www.melodic.net/interviewsOne.asp?interviewId=353 By Rickard Holmgren, 1/12/11
EXAMINER.COM - News
Sherman Ewing album to feature Bob Dylan's rhythm section By Harold Lepidus
https://www.examiner.com/bob-dylan-in-national/sherman-ewing-album-to-feature-bob-dylan-s-rhythm-section-listen-to-samples-1
JAMBANDS News
Jojo Hermann, Tom Marshall and Michael Ray Join Sherman Ewing's Single Room Saloon
https://www.jambands.com/news/2010/11/19/jojo-hermann-tom-marshall-and-michael-ray-join-sherman-ewing-s-single-room-saloon/
More about 'Single Room Saloon':
The album is Ewing's commentary on his life's journey from trauma to triumph, and his observations into what he observes as a world gone crazy. Devastation...Tenacity...The will to survive under brutal circumstances...A battle for personal salvation - these themes resonate for Ewing. In addition to being shipped to an English Boarding school, against his will, at the ripe age of ten, he recalls the following as a backdrop for the album: "having been brought up in Christian Science family and all that entailed...virtually no medical care; childhood trips to the dentist where drilling was done without anesthesia; witnessing the excruciating death of both parents, who chose prayer over medicine in their losing fights with cancer; a personal battle with drugs that took me to the streets, and finally rediscovering my own spiritual path through recovery." In fact, addiction and recovery are addressed in the title track and in 'Happiness', respectively. In 'Heaven Waits', Ewing jabs at our superficial world and finds dark humor in the concept of living simply in order to die and reach heaven. 'Flatland' imagines children as our soldiers...
'Single Room Saloon' was produced by Godfrey Diamond (Lou Reed, Aerosmith,) and contributors include Jojo Hermann of Widespread Panic, Dylan/Keith Richards drummer George Recile, Dylan bassist/Musical Director Tony Garnier, Phish lyricist/keyboardist Tom Marshall, the renowned Ivan Neville, NY rock guitarist Zak Soulam, trumpeter Michael Ray (Sun Ra, Kool and the Gang,) guitarist Jimbo Walsh and Ewing's core band, which features guitarist Anthony Krizan (formerly of Spin Doctors,) keyboardist Rob Clores, and the rhythm section of John and Kevin Hummel. Sherman Ewing wrote or co-wrote all tracks, and performs vocals and guitars.
The band throughout the CD is George Recile drums, Tony Guarnier bass, Zak Soulam on guitar (with the exception of 'Grey Skies Blue', which features Ewing's gigging band Anthony Krizan on Guitar, Rob Clores on keys, John Hummle on drums and Kevin Hummle on bass.) Ivan Neville appears on The Mission and Walk On; Jojo Hermann co-wrote Flatlands and plays keys; Jimbo Walsh does not play on CD, but co-wrote The Mission, Happiness, and Highway America; Tom Marshall co-wrote the songs Single Room Saloon and Marilyn; Anthony Krizan plays guitar and co-wrote Single Room Saloon, Walk On, Right Behind The Scars, Grey Skies Blue, and Marilyn, and has several featured guitar spots on the album.
