09 August 2010 - 0 Comments

THE ERICA MILLER EXPERIENCE

SHAYNE CARTER'S MUM RELEASES HER DEBUT ALBUM
‘RECONSIDERED’ IS OUT AUGUST 16

"Reconsidered’ is a lounge lizard's dream.. an at times spooky and always heartfelt interpretation of some great tunes" (METRO Magazine July 2010)

So my mum's made an album of Elvis covers...  Friends invariably have greeted this news with a raised eyebrow and a polite "Aw yeah.."  But it's so much better than that sounds, I'll say, usually to the same underwhelmed response.  I've found the best trick is just to play people a couple of tracks.  They usually change their tune after that.

Yeah I'm biased but I love "Reconsidered".  I love it because it has got soul and because it's gritty and real.  Erica has waited 63 years to make this record and it shows.  The music has a resonance and a depth that a 23 year old could never create - there's a whole lifetime behind this record.  These may be cover versions but it's like the singer has lived the tunes and the truths behind them - the record becomes the one person's story and, knowing my mum, i could guess the emotional space behind nearly every song here.

Our catchcry during recording was "No Karaoke, No Cheese" and there's none of that.  This is white person soul music straight out of Brockville.  To me it conjures up images of wandering into some dimly lit community hall in Dunedin, Saturday night sometime in the 70's, an unknown party, the whiff of fondue, echoes of "The Ice Storm", the smell of Speights rising off half stacked crates in the corner - maybe a hint of "Twin Peaks".  The band is set up on the floor and they're going hard whether people dance or not.  The vocals are running through an old H and H amp with the reverb cranked to ten - old favourites floating like ghosts around the hall's wooden walls, tunes that have always been there, timeless and universal...

The work of Elvis Presley pretty much gave us unlimited scope when it came to selecting the tracks because Elvis covered nearly the entire spectrum of Western popular music during his career.  Being a family of Elvis heads we knew where to look - obscure gospel sides and overlooked album cuts as well as the odd inevitable gazillion selling hit.

But really Elvis is just the denominator - the true story of "Reconsidered" lies elsewhere.  You don't get many debut albums from 63 year olds with this sort of commitment, this sense of personal investment, this sort of uniqueness.  "Reconsidered" has soul.  The Erica Miller Experience totally gives it up.  It's a big reminder how you should always listen to mum.

Shayne P Carter Auckland 2010   

About the album....

Erica Miller is a Dunedin born and bred mother and grandmother.

‘Reconsidered’, a collection of tunes first performed by Elvis Presley, is her first record and it's a true family effort being funded by husband Laurie, convened by her daughter Natasha, recorded and mixed by son-in-law Dale, filmed and documented by her son Kris with eldest son Shayne chipping in on vocal production and harmonies.

‘Reconsidered’ features a talented and disparate collection of musicians including guitarist Tom Healy (Jen Cloher band, The Verlaines), drummer Marcel Rodeka (Mother Goose), keyboardist Aidan Fraser and saxophonist Paul Young (both from Dunedin dub/roots band Koile) as well as extra guitar and backing vocals from Shayne Carter (Dimmer/Straitjacket Fits) and solo artist Hannah Curwood.

Producer/engineer Dale Cotton has a formidable track record with Dimmer, Die! Die! Die!, Collapsing Cities, Bachelorette and HDU amongst his credits.

The record was recorded one spring week at St. Leonards on the Otago Peninsula and the vocals were done the week Erica came up to Auckland to see Shayne inducted into the New Zealand Rock N Roll Hall of Fame with his band Straitjacket Fits.

Read more and hear the music at: 

www.myspace.com/theericamillerexperience 
www.facebook.com/theericamillerexperiencefacebook.com/theericamillerexperience

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