Pete Molinari

Recorded at Playground Sound Studio in Nashville, Produced by Adam Landry & Justin Collins and featuring contributions from The Jordanaires and Chris Scruggs, A Train Bound For Glory is the third album by Kent born singer-songwriter Pete Molinari. His debut album Walking Off The Map (2006) had been recorded and produced live by Billy Childish in his kitchen, while Molinari's adventures on the Guardian backed Big Bertha label had brought him public attention thanks to regular updates in that newspaper courtesy of would-be music mogul Will Hodgkinson. His second album A Virtual Landslide (2008) was produced by Liam Watson at Toe Rag Studios, both released on Damaged Goods Records, received widespread acclaim and led to Radio 2 recording sessions for Mark Lamarr, Bob Harris, Janice Long, Aled Jones and Radcliffe & Maconie (who also bestowed Record of the Week status on two singles released from the album). Other radio highlights at this time included guest appearances for Robert Elms, Sean Rowley, 6 Music, Radio 4's Loose Ends and long time supporter Ralph McLean's BBC Ulster show (who was to make the record his Album Of The Decade). It was soon to become a musicians' album", with the likes of Ray Davies, Paul Weller and Richard Hawley all singing its praises, while Molinari also received a Mojo Honours List nomination as Best Newcomer and to help launch Mojo Honours List, Pete played live at the HMV flagship store in Oxford Street, alongside the legendary The Fall. The album also finished the year ranked number 18 in Mojo magazines '50 Best Albums Of 2008'.

Molinari had first made a trip to Nashville during a break from touring A Virtual Landslide and while there had hooked up with producer Adam Landry & Justin Collins and a number of local musicians. His reputation as a songwriter and vocalist of some note had already made it Stateside thanks to the British music press, but to see and hear him perform in the flesh was a revelation to the locals and it was not long before he was holed up at Playground Sound with new admirers The Jordanaires to record a collection of covers that was to see the light of day on the Today, Tomorrow & Forever EP. For a man brought up on many of the classic records that these legendary performers had sung on, the experience of working with the vocal group was mindblowing.

"The Jordanaires came in, listened to the tracks, wrote down parts, gathered around one mic, started to sing, and my jaw dropped," recalls Molinari. "I didn't want them to leave."

Spurred on by the success of these recordings, Molinari decided to stay on in the States playing the bars and coffee shops of Nashville, New Orleans, San Francisco and New York, just as he had as a young kid when first crossing the Atlantic [Pete had previously based himself in Greenwich Village for 18 months, playing shows and honing his trade and stagecraft in front of some very tough and unforgiving audience who were all just waiting for this young pretender from the UK to trip up by all accounts he never did]. Having spent almost two years touring the UK and mainland Europe as both headlining act and as support to the likes of Richard Hawley and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, this extended road trip not only gave him a much needed break from a rigorous schedule but also allowed him the chance to rediscover the country he had first fallen in love with back home in Chatham, Kent via the works of Kerouac and Guthrie and the impressive record collections of his older brothers and sisters; factors that would prove to be hugely influential to a boy with a classic case of the small town blues.

Molinari: "As a kid I was given two books that made as big an impression on me as anything could. They were by Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac and along with the songs and music that were later handed down to me, they helped convince me that my life should and would be some kind of journey on the road that some call bound for glory and others the road less traveled by".

Many of the songs on A Train Bound For Glory were already written (at least in part) before he headed back to the States, but by immersing himself in and being subtly seduced by cities such as Nashville, New York and a defiant New Orleans towns that for Molinari remain not only the birthplace of but also the catalyst for some of the greatest pieces of music ever written they became fully formed and, thanks to incredible performances from all involved, took on a life of their own.

Press:

"One of the most distinctive voices of his generation..."**Phil Alexander, editor MOJO

A Train Bound For Glory Americana Album of the Month June 2010Uncut

A Train Bound For Glory is, by some way, the best Americana record by a Brit so far this year; the sound of Gods own jukebox, no less.The Independent

This singer is bound for glory. 4.5/5The Sun

"Streetcar Named Desire" Single of the WeekThe Sun

There are not many artists who could cover the range of influences so convincingly. For all its historical conviction, it remains an outsiders take; the product of adoration and immersion, not imitation. Its fantastic. (10 out of 10)AmericanaUK

Molinari clearly has an ear for the classic verities of soulful country music as sharp as practised aficionados of the craft as Nick Lowe and Elvis CostelloAllan Jones, editor Uncut

"Molinari's voice and haunting melodies left me feeling that the musical void in the British music scene will most definitely be filled. He can follow in the footsteps of Dylan and Guthrie" NME

"A singular talent....his distinctive voice and guitar establish him as a Medway Hank Williams. Worth investigating." UNCUT

"The soul of American music distilled into the voice of a Cuban-heeled greaser from the Medway Delta" THE GUARDIAN

"An extraordinary new British talent...4.5/5" * THE SUN*

"A spellbinding, wondrous voice....an amazing album STOOL PIGEON

"Young, finger-picking, country-blues marvel Molinari has a thrillingly ambiguous voice...Virtual Landslide is an actual triumph" TIME OUT

"A superbly realised piece of folk blues heartache"MOJO

"Sweet-voiced blues-folk...a cherishable artefact even before you fall under the spell of the actual music" NME

To Read More, follow the links :

http://www.petemolinari.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/petemolinari