Weathervane Records Releases 10th CD by Boston-Based, Roots Rock Singer-Songwriter Kevin Connolly

BOSTON - Nov. 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Indie label Weathervane Records is pleased to announce the fall release of “Ice Fishing” by singer-songwriter Kevin Connolly, a “Best of Boston” winner, hailed by the Patriot Ledger as “a treasure worth discovering.” A 14-song compilation of all original songs (his first in five years), “Ice Fishing” has been a labor of love between two brothers who live on different coasts. Kevin in Boston and his brother, renowned “New Music” composer Jim Connolly in Santa Barbara, CA, traded files for three years to make a collaborative recording with 3,000 miles between them.

Says Kevin, “What started as an experiment very quickly turned into a serious recording project. As brothers we play intuitively when in the same room—the trick here was getting that same feeling in the recording.” While Kevin provided the guitar and vocal tracks, Jim would provide the borderline avant-garde upright bass, banjo, piano and percussion tracks. “I never knew what I was going to get back and we never really needed to talk about it other than letting him [Jim] go and have free reign,” says Kevin. “Ducky [co-producer] and I just picked and chose when mixing, which was really fun.” From the upbeat “Bus Station” to the raw and eerie title track, “Ice Fishing” represents a departure from a songwriter-with-a-band approach that Connolly has used on his last two releases. Swampy cuts like “Suitcase and a Rifle” set a certain outsider tone, while “Istanbul” is a character study of a man walking around in a Turkish desert. Direct personal songs like “Blow Them Away” about a daughter’s coming of age and the quirky “Thinking Bout Love” balance the tone of the record making it both personal and intimate. “From a musical tone and texture, I very much wanted this to be sort of my ‘Astral Weeks’ and I think we did it!” says Connolly. “And just to keep it light I also threw in a brother song (‘My Brother and Me’) to tie it all together.”

“Ice Fishing” was released digitally and in hard copy October 1st, kicking off a fall East Coast tour for Kevin and Jim that has included shows in Newport, Cape Cod, Boston, and New York City. More shows being added at http://kevinconnolly.com/shows.

“ICE FISHING” PRESS QUOTES

“Kevin Connolly’s seasoned and foreboding vocals drive the album every bit as much as a Stratocaster does Eric Clapton’s most renowned work. Connolly’s rich voice carries every emotion from pain to joy in such a way that elevates the lyrics from merely off the page, to directly into the heart of the listener. There’s real experience and integrity coming from them road-worn vocal chords….

Big brother’s upright slides and wraps around Kevin’s melody in a way that perks the listener’s ear and makes the tracks anything but predictable. The symbiotic musical relationship the Connolly men have is nothing short of magical.”

—Don DiMuccio, Motif Magazine (Full review: http://motifri.com/icefishing/)

“Ice Fishing starts at an old bus station and ends staring out at dusk on a broken pier: It’s an unlikely destination in an even more unlikely journey, an offbeat examination of isolation — what happens when it’s sought, and when it’s unwanted...The whimsy and the isolation intertwine here, allowing the persona to play the knowing outside observer with a sly wink. That whimsy falls away for a while as the album moves on to the title track, a stunning slow-burn still life of masculinity, brothers and fathers... One of the things that makes “Ice Fishing” an interesting album is that it doesn’t confuse isolation with alienation. Even when it’s poignant, this isn’t a sad album. And while it’s hardly unique that love is the thing that disperses that sense of isolation, Connolly handles it with a sweetness and lack of sentimentality that brings it to life... Throughout the album, everything hangs together like clockwork, with no discernable flaws... It’s a staggering moment of honesty, but as previously noted, this is not an album devoid of hope..."

—Victor Infante, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (“Kevin Connolly takes unlikely journey on 'Ice Fishing'”: http://www.telegram.com/article/20151105/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/151109665/101400)

BIO: KEVIN CONNOLLY

Writing and performing for over 20 years, Kevin Connolly has carved out his own way of writing American songs and earned a reputation as a passionate performer. Connolly has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe while maintaining a strong presence and tie to his New England roots. Working the college and coffeehouse circuit solo, Kevin has also played major festivals including Newport Folk, SXSW, Kerrville Folk and Bumbershoot. He has opened up for a long list of notable artists including Indigo Girls, Huey Lewis, Todd Rundgren and Joan Osborne. Kevin’s songs have also appeared on network television and in several motion pictures. Raised on Boston’s South Shore, Kevin comes from a musical family with composer/brother Jim Connolly, a fixture of the West Coast “New Music” scene. Early influences like John Prine, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan remain inspirations and guiding forces. Writing descriptive songs that capture something about regular life in America today has been a running theme and preoccupation.

"Connolly’s music cuts a fairly wide swath through pop music culture, touching on everything from blues to folk to country to rock — and often a combination of all four" ­­—New York Times

"A songwriter's songwriter, an uncompromising performer and an original personality" —Album Network

"A startlingly rewarding artist" — CMJ

“Among the nation’s front rank of songwriters” —Patriot Ledger

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