Richmond Fontaine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richmond Fontaine

Background information
Origin Portland, Oregon, United States
Genre(s) Alternative country
Years active 1994–present
Website www.richmondfontaine.com

Richmond Fontaine is a four-piece alternative country band based in Portland, Oregon, United States.

Contents

[edit] History

The band was formed in 1994. Richmond Fontaine first started out touring the Pacific Northwest live circuit on the back of their first three albums released on Cavity Search Records. They have worked with a variety of musicians and a few labels over their career.

Their first exposures abroad were a song on a Loose Records compilation[1] in the UK and the band's self-released fourth album, Winnemucca, which garnered attention outside of the U.S. The band signed with Decor Records in Europe during 2003. Their next two releases proved pivotal and received "Albums of the Month" in Uncut, which named both their fifth studio album Post to Wire (2004) and sixth The Fitzgerald (2005) "masterpieces".[2][3] U.S. critics have been generally complimentary but have also cited the band's musical similarity to Uncle Tupelo.[4][5] Like many bands in their genre past and present such as Willard Grant Conspiracy, The Gun Club, and Green on Red, Richmond Fontaine are more popular abroad than in their own country.[6]

Richmond Fontaine songs consistently evoke lyrical imagery of Reno, Nevada, Portland, the Western United States and Mexico while telling stories in a style that critics have compared to Raymond Carver.[7][8][9] Musically the group has cited influences such as Gram Parsons, X,[10] Green on Red[11] and Dave Alvin.[12]

Lead Singer and songwriter Willy Vlautin has recently published his first novel, The Motel Life, and the band's new album Thirteen Cities is receiving positive reviews across Europe.[13]

[edit] Current band line-up

[edit] Discography

  • Safety (1996)
  • Miles From (1997)
  • Lost Son (1999)
  • Winnemucca (2002)
  • Post to Wire (2004)
  • The Fitzgerald (2005)
  • Obliteration by Time (2006)
  • Thirteen Cities (2007)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview: Richmond Fontaine (Willy Vlautin) by Stav Sherez
  2. ^ Richmond Fontaine - Uncut.co.uk
  3. ^ Richmond Fontaine - Thirteen Cities - Review - Uncut.co.uk
  4. ^ St. Louis - Music - Richmond Fontaine
  5. ^ Richmond Fontaine: Lost Son: Pitchfork Record Review
  6. ^ Richmond Fontaine
  7. ^ http://www.richmondfontaine.com/discography/lyrics/index.php?cd_id=1
  8. ^ http://www.richmondfontaine.com/discography/lyrics/index.php?cd_id=5
  9. ^ allmusic ((( Miles From > Overview )))
  10. ^ Interview: Richmond Fontaine (Willy Vlautin) by Stav Sherez
  11. ^ Richmond Fontaine: Lost Son -Ink Blot Magazine
  12. ^ Willy Vlautin interview on the official website of writer, Laura Hird
  13. ^ Richmond Fontaine - Thirteen Cities - Review - Uncut.co.uk

[edit] External links

This article on a United States country music band is a stub. You can help by expanding it.