PRESS RELEASE 07/21/08:
The Quahaugs (Kwah HOGS') are hard at work preparing to head into the studio this summer to record their long awaited follow up to their debut album - Venus Mercenaria. The new album, tentatively titled Atlantic Horizons, is slated to be released in the Spring of 2009.
The band's founder, Kaika Kale, has indicated that he has tweeked the line up a bit, adding some new talent while bringing back some of the usual cast of characters. Kale has also indicated that the new album will feature a more introspective, modern vibe.
Demos of the new material along with live performances will be posted on Kale's website in the coming months. For more information can be found at www.thequahaugs.com
PRESS RELEASE 08/22/06:
The Quahaugs are to release their fundraising single – "Weeds Amongst Flowers" – early on August 29th 2006 to coincide with the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Every download will go towards a donation to the Music Rising Foundation, an initiative to bring the music back to the churches, schools and communities in the Gulf Coast. The single will be released on the label owned by the band's songwriter and leader, Kaika Kale, called Bathmetric Records.
Kale visited New Orleans and the scenes of the enormous destruction in April 2006, and was moved to write about what he saw and the feelings it evoked. "Weeds Amongst Flowers" was the result, though the band has been working on material for their upcoming album, "Venus mercenaria", since last summer. "I was deeply affected by what this storm did to New Orleans. I revisited the city seven months after Katrina ravaged the area and I couldn't believe how bad things still were in what I like to think as my adoptive home town."
A teacher in a New Hampshire public school first and foremost, Kale has a wealth of musical experience as a writer, singer, guitarist and independent producer, who sees close parallels between the two professions: "They can both inspire, educate, and motivate people to do extraordinary things. I realized some time ago that teaching is not just confined to the classroom." He also has a personal connection to The Big Easy, having in-laws living in the city and a nephew as a student at Tulane University.
Kale also identifies the diversity of his life and educational experience as being important to an increasingly refined musical and lyrical sensibility. Graduate school sharpened his powers of observation and expression, and his variety of past jobs that includes service in the US Navy, a recording engineer and a wine seller, widened his experience and benefited his writing.
THE QUAHAUGS
It is in The Quahaugs' music that the writing experience and thoughtfulness of this self-defined storyteller flourishes. Kale defines the group's sound as a cross between The Gin Blossoms and London's own political raconteur, Billy Bragg, "with a little Matthew Sweet circa 1990 thrown in for good measure." This translates as some intelligent rock n' roll – the perceptive lyrics married to jangly guitars, memorable riffs and some occasionally frantic playing. The band comprises of four musicians, with Kale on guitar and lead vocals, Matt McGrail on guitar, backing vocals and percussion, Pete Weiss on bass and Sturgis Cunningham – formerly of The Patio Kings – on drums. The Gin Blossoms, Billy Bragg and Matthew Sweet were an inspiration to Kale. He even worked with Matthew Sweet in the early 1990's in a Manhattan studio, humorously culminating in a tactful brush off from the established artist: "You're going places man, just not with us!"
Sweet's words have become very much true. Kale has an iron will to get his music heard, despite a lack of major label funding, and a similar desire to help the unique community of New Orleans with The Quahaugs' upcoming releases. He intends much of the single's proceeds to go towards the Music Rising Foundation. The album is scheduled for release on October 3rd, featuring 10 songs. He is also keen to help others with their musical careers: "When people are having fun and enjoying themselves, it makes learning easier. So it is a natural progression to go from teacher to songwriter".
Kale and The Quahaugs are as musically enterprising as they are selfless in their ambition to help New Orleans, and with sufficient exposure they will go far in raising again the profile of the city's people as well as generally making some excellent music.
