League of Inveterate Poets

By Mark Traphagen on April 16, 2009

….but now you have. If you like artists like Tom Petty, Springsteen, Dylan, Neil Young, The Byrds and early R.E.M., you will like this music. I am not steering you wrong here.

Bill Mallonee/Vigilantes of Love Bio Quotes:
Athens, Ga.
Americana/Folk-Rock/Rock/Folk

-Review Quotes-

Bill Mallonee: #65 in Paste Magazine’s “100 Greatest Living Songwriter’s” Poll

“The poetry and intelligence of Bill Mallonee’s songs rivals Dylan’s, and the spirituality and inspiration of them is like the timeless hymns. He’s one of my favorite all time artist.” -Buddy Miller (No Depression Magazine’s Artist of the Decade)

“…the best folk-rock act nobody’s ever hear of… – New York Press

Bill Mallonee… [has] remained fascinated with the shadowy emotional toils and struggles inherent in the American experience, compelling, insightful, [he] continues to probe through Americana rock and roll proving that sometimes the only story worth telling is that of the journey.”  – Rolling Stone

“Dylan-tinged vocal and introspective lyrics that spin out big-picture stories imbued with chilling small details.”  – Billboard

“Mallonee’s songs give words to shadowy fears of intimacy, of it’s loss, even of the value of what he feels compelled to do.” -USA Today
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A Review of Bill Mallonee’s Works Progress Administration-Volumes 1-3
by: Luke Johnson, Phantom Tollbooth

I’ve loved all things Bill Mallonee since I first heard the Americana-roots rocker Audible Sigh in 2001.  Let me make that disclaimer.  I’m unable to be unbiased, but frankly, who is when it comes to Mallonee?  Whether with the Vigilantes of Love or in his solo gigging, Mallonee always draws controversy, whether it is the subject matter of his songs, his divorce, his conversion to Roman Catholicism, it all seems to get people talking faster than a rumor at a Wednesday night prayer meeting.

It is curious, then, that Bill Mallonee has wandered in obscurity so long. It has confounded reviewers and fans alike for years now. It becomes all the more curious considering that both World Magazine and Christianity Today ran articles on Mallonee recently.  It’s as if everyone “in the know” were trying to keep him hush-hush – or everyone that got the recommendation couldn’t pick a good song out of the air if it tapped them on the shoulder.

Whoever dropped the ball along the way in getting the word out becomes irrelevant eventually.  You chalk it up to providence, and you move on.  In this case, without a record label for years now, Bill Mallonee continues to do the only thing that is logical: keep making music no matter the cost.  That’s what he was made to do, and he’s sticking to it.

There’s little secret that Mallonee has sold lots of gear to continue to make music. Ever the touring truebadour, you can arrange him to play in your humble home for a song these days – literally, almost.  In this, Bill Mallonee embodies very nearly what many of us consider to be the most pure motive for making music: the need of the soul and the ear of the listener.

Now, without coin and with conscience, he has embarked on the raggedy Works (in) Progress Administration.  I mean no disrespect in labeling such an undertaking “raggedy”. Moments of inspiration surface in such settings.  WPA is raggedy in the sense of Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska,” Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks,” or Neil Young’s “Harvest.”  The lovable object of familiarity can be gloriously raggedy.

The WPA is not one album but a series of EPs, numbering three currently, that Mallonee has recorded in the simplest form possible.  Bass and drums, if needed, are basic.  Vocals are warm but blurry occasionally, and guitars sound immediate as if recorded to a four track like you did back in high school.  This back to basics approach that has worked for such acts as The Mountain Goats and Bright Eyes also works for Mallonee.

You can accuse Bill Mallonee of many things but trickery, dishonesty, and artifice won’t make the list.  While Mallonee’s lyrics at times can be confusing, he never hides behind them.  Mallonee is synonymous with heart-on-sleeve songwriting and WPA continues such a tradition.
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Related links:
To hear Bill Mallonee/Vigilantes of Love work check:
Works Progress Administration: http://www.MySpace.com/worksprogressadministration
Bill Mallonee/Vigilantes of Love: http://www.MySpace.com/billmallonee

To purchase Bill Mallonee/VoL albums, including WPA projects:
http://www.VoLSounds.com
Bill Mallonee News ~ Web site: http://www.billmallonee.net/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/billmallonee
Booking Info: highhorsebooking@hotmail.com

Category: It`s All About Me
Tags: more-1510