Red Molly
With Special Guest Molly Venter
Everything Red Molly sings is delivered with tick-tight arrangements, crystalline vocals, and caramel harmonies. But what is most striking is the ardor they bring to everything they do, whether snuggling into the sweet parochialism of an old spiritual, or the gritty pathos of a Gillian Welch tune. They come on less like stars strutting for their minions than pals sharing their favorite songs. In the friendly world of the coffeehouse, that remains a starmaking quality."
-Scott Alarik, The Boston Globe On a July evening in 2004, at their campsite at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner and Carolann Solebello harmonized for the very first time. As they sang their campmates off to sleep, they knew they had stumbled into something extraordinary. Audiences seem to agree. Since that summer night, Red Molly has garnered a devoted regional fan base, and has begun laying the groundwork for national touring. These ladies have a lot of fun on stage, and it’s contagious. Red Molly consistently brings concert-goers to their feet with stunning three-part harmonies, crisp musicianship, and a warm, engaging stage presence.
The magic of Red Molly stems partly from the richness and diversity of each member’s “pre-Molly” experiences. Laurie (vocals, guitar, banjo) left a career in psychology to pursue her love of singing. She worked for several years as a backup singer, and also released two solo albums, These Old Clothes (1999) and The Things I Choose To Do (2004). Abbie (vocals, Dobro, guitar) has a background in jazz, bluegrass, classical and a cappella music. She released two solo albums, My Craziest Dream (2004), a collection of swing standards featuring her father Herb Gardner on piano, and Honey on My Grave (2006), a collection of acoustic originals. In May 2008, she released a duo album, Bad Nights/Better Days, with Anthony da Costa. Carolann (vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin) spent several years as a professional theater actor before releasing her solo album, Just Across the Water (2000). She went on to release two albums with power folk quartet CC Railroad, Smile Whatever (2001)and Black Horse Motel (2004).
In July 2006, Red Molly’s first full-length CD, Never Been to Vegas (2006), was released. Recorded on a December evening before a studio audience of fans and friends, Never Been to Vegas is a collection of fourteen carefully-chosen songs that span more than a century of great American songwriting. Never Been to Vegas quickly climbed into the Top 30 on the Radio & Records Americana chart, a rare accomplishment for an independent album. And listeners of WUMB radio Boston voted the CD one of the Top 10 CDs of 2006.
Red Molly's newest release, Love and Other Tragedies (2008), is their first full-length studio album. Produced by Ben Wisch, it finds the women of Red Molly adding a little spice to their winning recipe. The new album features a fuller, more “polished” sound than their previous releases, due in part to the contributions of guest artists Mike Weatherly (upright bass), Duke Levine (mandola, lap steel), and Jake Armerding (fiddle). In addition, the ladies incorporated more original songs into the mix this time. Songs written by Laurie, Abbie, and Carolann mingle admirably with songs by well-known contemporary writers Gillian Welch and Susan Werner, up-and-coming artists Amy Speace and George Wirth, traditional American gospel tunes, and standards from the bluegrass and jazz worlds.
