2008 Woodie Awards
The Vinyl Addicts Speak From the Heart of the Bottom of Manhattan
Brian O'Connor
Issue date: 4/6/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Almost everyone has a friend from high school that was in a band; many can remember those few gigs rife with misbehaving equipment, poor amplification, and even poorer crowds as bands played their hearts out for shows that never paid. Most of those high school bands begin with the greatest intentions, and end with little more than a sliver of satisfaction. While The Vinyl Addicts began from basement practices, open-mic nights, and pro-bono performances, the dedication to broken hearted love songs, rollicking piano rock, and Dylan-esque harmonica solos have propelled the band into the limelight of Greenwich Village's new music scene.
"I'm so psyched to be here," said Pianist/Singer Benny Gammerman, the second half of The Vinyl Addicts' songwriting duo completed with vocalist Brian Murray. After years as a duo, the band included Drummer Sean Perman and Bassist Anthony DeFeo for what was arguably the biggest show of their career. Headlining Gallatone Records' Volume 2 compilation show at the historic Bitter End club in Greenwich Village, the newly expanded group steamrolled through ten songs about love, heartache, nostalgia, and a bit of partying. In front of a standing-room only crowd, The Vinyl Addicts showed their mettle as an emerging band with songs and melodies that surpass expectations.
With songs rich in style, substance, and harmony, The Vinyl Addicts provided songs with both emotion and musical crescendo, and emotions anyone could empathize with. Murray and Gammerman sang songs alluding to pain and loss wrought from years of a misled life, even though the duo are not even old enough to walk across the street after the show to drown their miseries in a bottle of booze.
During "Interview," Murray sings, "I ain't got no cigarettes... And I ain't got no reason to dream anymore" with the resignation of a man twice his age. Throughout the night, The Vinyl Addicts both played and sang with the talent and insight that surpasses their age, showing incredible wisdom and experience unexpected for an age marked by naivety and fleeting love, at one point singing "It's not about who you are, but who you've had."
"I'm so psyched to be here," said Pianist/Singer Benny Gammerman, the second half of The Vinyl Addicts' songwriting duo completed with vocalist Brian Murray. After years as a duo, the band included Drummer Sean Perman and Bassist Anthony DeFeo for what was arguably the biggest show of their career. Headlining Gallatone Records' Volume 2 compilation show at the historic Bitter End club in Greenwich Village, the newly expanded group steamrolled through ten songs about love, heartache, nostalgia, and a bit of partying. In front of a standing-room only crowd, The Vinyl Addicts showed their mettle as an emerging band with songs and melodies that surpass expectations.
With songs rich in style, substance, and harmony, The Vinyl Addicts provided songs with both emotion and musical crescendo, and emotions anyone could empathize with. Murray and Gammerman sang songs alluding to pain and loss wrought from years of a misled life, even though the duo are not even old enough to walk across the street after the show to drown their miseries in a bottle of booze.
During "Interview," Murray sings, "I ain't got no cigarettes... And I ain't got no reason to dream anymore" with the resignation of a man twice his age. Throughout the night, The Vinyl Addicts both played and sang with the talent and insight that surpasses their age, showing incredible wisdom and experience unexpected for an age marked by naivety and fleeting love, at one point singing "It's not about who you are, but who you've had."