FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Richard Bicknell and the Shameless Lovers will perform at Eddie's Attic Saturday, July 26, 2008. Bicknell has been a popular Atlanta performer since the late 1980s. His brand of folk-rock draws from the work of such Texas singer-songwriters as Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith and Eric Taylor. Texas singer-songwriter Lise Liddell will open.
Bicknell and his band, The Shameless Lovers, are currently at work on a fourth album. Band members include Kevin Andrews, base; J.R. Hawkins, drums; Spencer Kirkpatrick, guitar; and Walter Hinton, violin, mouth harp and mandolin.
The band's third album, Baby Lightning, released in 2003, features Bicknell’s songs, plus ones by Taylor, David Olney, Patti Smith, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Van Zandt. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Shane Harrison said the album "seamlessly blends folk, alt country and pop influences.
The Nashville Tennessean's Peter Cooper writes, "What stands out most on Baby Lightning are Bicknell's originals – particularly 'D.P.L.' and 'Sebastian at the Metro,' two songs that, for the first time, find him taking on gay perspectives in his songwriting. While Bicknell still doesn't want to be pigeonholed, it's this material that turns an otherwise strong album of rootsy pop into a truly unusual, original statement."
Several of the songwriters and singers whose work strongly influence Bicknell's own have contributed guest appearances to his records. These include David Olney, Eric Taylor, Robin and Linda Williams, Katy Moffatt, Kelly Hogan and Anne Richmond Boston of The Swimming Pool Q's.
Bicknell has opened for artists ranging from Elton John to Emmylou Harris, including Robert Earle Keen, David Olney, Katy Moffatt, Kelly Willis, Lucinda Williams, Robin and Linda Williams and Victoria Williams. He has performed at Center Stage Theatre, Cotton Club, Eddie’s Attic, The Freight Room, Smith’s Olde Bar, The Point, The Roxy and Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, as well as throughout the Southeast, including at Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Café.
One of six children of an Army major, Bicknell was born in Germany and grew up in New York, Hawaii and Georgia. He studied painting at the Atlanta College of Art, and his musical education was enhanced by a stint in Washington, D.C., as country, folk and bluegrass buyer for Tower Records. He returned to Atlanta in the late 1980s and started the Lost Angels, a band that combined rock with traditional elements such as accordion and fiddle. In the early 1990s, Bicknell began working with Geno Montgomery and Exocet Studios to record his first album, Sometimes Blue, and formed a new band with studio musicians Steve Boyes, Scott Patton and Sean O’Rourke. This partnership resulted in two more records, Mayflower and the critically lauded Baby Lightning.
For more information, see www.richardbicknell.com and the band's My Space page.
8 p.m.
Saturday, July 26
Doors open: 6:30 p.m.
Admission: $15.00
Eddie's Attic
515-B N. McDonough Rd.
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 377-4976
Tickets are available at www.eddiesattic.com.
Bass player and recording engineer Kevin Andrews (http://www.myspace.com/jrhawkinsdrums) also plays Chapman Stick, guitar, mandolin, Dobro and drums. He has performed with Elegy, C. Roxity, Meliane Hammett, The Cass Kennedy Group, Turbid Blue, Caroline Aiken, Matthew Kahler, Straw Village, Whatever, David Patterson Band, Bongo Wrench, Hoplites and others. Andrews has also written and played music for corporate projects, including for Siemens and BellSouth.
Drummer J.R. Hawkins (http://www.myspace.com/jrhawkinsdrums) began his career in 1985 with "Rocky Horror Live" with RuPaul. Over the next the 10 years, Hawkins performed in Broadway shows included "The Who's Tommy," "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Beehive" with Mary Wilson of the Supremes. In 1996, he was a drum instructor to more than 200 drummers from around the world for Atlanta's Olympic opening ceremonies music composed by "Grateful Dead" drummer Mickey Hart and conducted by John Williams. Hawkins' own band, Swami Gone Bananas, has performed in the Southeast for the past 10 years.
Guitarist Spencer Kirkpatrick (http://www.myspace.com/spencergtr) was part of the popular Southern rock band Hydra from 1969 to 1978. In its heyday, Hydra opened for some of the top headliners. The Atlanta band signed a recording contract with Capricorn Records and its self-titled album Hydra came out in 1974 and Land of Money in 1975. The band essentially disbanded shortly after its 1977 Rock the World album, but has performed several reunion concerts. Kirkpatrick has been a professional musician since he was 15 years old. His first band, the Atlanta Vibrations, won a Vox-sponsored Battle of the Bands to for the Beatles in Atlanta in 1965.
Local musician Walter Hinton (http://www.myspace.com/whinton) plays violin, mouth harp and mandolin.
Lise Liddell
Dubbed songwriter of the year by Houston Press in 2004, Lise Liddell is a regular on the Houston music scene and has played at Austin’s coveted SXSW and in Australia.
Following the critical acclaim for her third album, In the Wake, produced in 2004 in Australia by Mike Flanders, the pop- and folk-influenced singer-songwriter is beginning to tour more widely. Her debut album, White Heart, was released in 1999 and was followed by Lovers’ Moon in 2002.
For more information, see liseliddell.com and her MySpace page.
