|  |  |  |  |  |  | | | | | | Bio of the Artist | Paul Gurney guitars & lead vocals; Stuart McIntyre bass & vocals; Ron Stevens Hammond organ, keyboards, acoustic guitar & vocals and Michael Burrows drums.
The new album, Your Highway For Tonight (release date May 2, 2011) features 14 new DeSotos tracks. www.facebook.com/yourhighwayfortonight
The eariler album, Cross Your Heart as been described by one reviewer as '... a powerful blend of rock-infused country-blues'.
Track listing: '59 Cadillac, The Spirit, Greedy Men, Invisible, Offline, Lonely Star, Rollercoaster, Sat On A Mountain, Crazy World, Love Lost Time, Summer Wine, When You Dance, Goodbye.
Read a couple of reviews below:
Every once in a while, an album arrives and instantly commands your attention. Auckland band, The DeSotos is such a band.
From the very beginning, The DeSotos don't disappoint. They are illuminating with a powerful blend of rock-infused country-blues.
The musicians that make up this band – Paul Gurney, Rex McLeod, Stuart McIntyre and Ron Stevens – reveal a strong chemistry that celebrates a rockin' spirit of musical communion.
Tracks including The Spirit, Greedy Men, Invisible and Goodbye, are timeless, perfectly arranged and delivered in earnest and, at times, harmonic tones.
Other compositions, including Sat on a Mountain, with blazing harmonica from Midge Marsden and Love Lost Time featuring a lead guitar highlight recalling the late Duane Allman's Eat a Peach period, reveals The DeSotos have struck gold with Cross Your Heart.
One of the finest debuts I have heard this year.
Steve Scott. The Waikato Times: (House and Lifestyle, August 2008)
and....
Named after the classic car (and not presumably the explorer) this Auckland-based outfit peel off a substantial slice of professionally delivered, wide-screen country-rock which owes much to the Petty/Springsteen/Neil Young and Travelling Wilburys axis, and mostly kicks things up a notch from the Warratahs.
With a couple of writers in their ranks there is also a pleasing diversity here, although sometimes they reference their influences just a little too much for any accusations of originality to be thrown.
When they nail something of their own - the tense jangle of The Spirit, the tight churn of Greedy Men, the heartfelt Offline - they offer songs which are classy and fully formed.
From the opener 59 Cadillac through to the ballads in the closing overs, this is enjoyable rockin' country music full of twang and backbeat which sounds even better when a ribbon of highway stretches out ahead and you are in no hurry.
As the opener says, 'there ain't nothin' like rain on a two lane, driving fast with the radio on'.
Well, someone's already supplying the rain, The DeSotos have the soundtrack.
Graham Reid (NZ Herald; Time Out)
and...
This debut from The DeSotos is something of an aberration among current NZ releases - a waltz through Americana-tinged blues rock 'n' roll. Less bluesy than say Midge Marsden, and with an uplifting country twang and pop flourish, 'Cross Your Heart' nicely straddles the middle ground.The interweaving vocal harmonies of Paul Gurney and bass player Stuart McIntyre underpinned by a mix of Gurney's slide guitar, jazz-inflected beats from drummer Rex McLeod and the lush, swirling Hammond and Wurlitzer organ sounds of Ron Stevens provide a very distinctive palette. All very experienced musicians, these guys sound well at home in this territory. The Auckland-based four-piece cite Neil Young and Tom Petty as melodic influences, and to my ears, latter period Springsteen could be thrown into that mix as well. Album highlights include Sat On A Mountain (complete with guest harmonica from Midge Marsden), album opener '59 Cadillac, and the countrified melodics of Greedy Men. Recorded by Steve Garden this is a solid album, and if you're after something in a blues vein that runs well you could do a lot worse than picking 'Cross Your Heart' off the shelf.
The DeSotos: Cross Your Heart
By Sean McWilliams - (New Zealand Musician Magazine)
The catalogue details for ordering the album:
Cross Your Heart by The DeSotos - Tailgator Music / Ode Records 2008 - CDMANU5038 | | |
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