New Orleans singer / songwriter Micah McKee and his band Little Maker released their Patrons of The Saint CD during a Super Bowl-week gig at the Blue Nile on Frenchmen Street.
The CD earned raves from NOLA.com reviewer Alison Fensterstock, calling Patrons of the Saint:
” … a collection of passionate, joyful and crafty underground pop tunes that is, not for nothing, very much in keeping with what seem to be current national trends in that arena.
There are full, jazzy and lushly arranged parts for violin, organ and horns; hints of late ’60’s-style country-pop; a bit of the sort of subtle references to African jazz-pop that bands like GIVERS and Vampire Weekend make more overtly, and a sunny, Beatle-ish psychedelia that makes the sound swirl, but never get too freaky. (Indeed, the unabashed Beatles fan McKee slyly quotes the White Album track “Honey Pie” straightaway, in the album opener “Strangers Again”; the wistful, sad-romantic “Glendive” owes plenty to John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.”) The gently ecstatic “We Won The War” sounds like something you’ve heard already, in a hip indie film or a television commercial that’s licensed it specifically in order to sound more credibly hip, and indie.
Released in February 2013, “Patrons of the Saint,” shouldn’t be mistaken for an appeal to a national audience, at least not just that. Its production is tighter and more clean than any of McKee’s many other bands’ offerings, but that’s likely due to the hand of producer Jeff Beninato, the former bassist, late in the band’s career, for the tight ’80’s power-pop outfit the dBs.”
A Patrons of the Saint CD release in-store was held at Louisiana Music Factory (pictured at right) recently. The CD also debuted on Marc Stone’s WWOZ-FM radio show, with Wonder Days in regular rotation.
The band’s steady New Orleans gigs include Blue Nile Thursdays and Circle Bar Sundays, and Micah plays The Little Gem solo on Fridays. Stay tuned for tour updates. For bookings and media inquiries: contact@micahmkeelittlemaker
Download the tracks on iTunes by clicking on the shopping cart below:
Patrons of the Saint:
A New Orleans native, Micah has been a member of local bands Silent Cinema, Big History, Empress Hotel and The Essentials. Little Maker is his first solo project, and after a year in the studio Patrons of the Saint incorporates lush pop harmonies, and hooks reminiscent of timeless rock and roll. From powerful tracks Wonder Days, Chichen Itza, We Won the War, Miss You (Like Hell) and LA Story (Alright Too); to ballads Goodbye Little Light, Heavy Eyes and Strangers Again, the album has been a labor of love. Here’s the lineup:
Little Maker is:
Micah McKee: Vocals, Guitar, Songwriting
Greg Beaman: Trumpet
Rebecca Crenshaw: Violin
Patrick Fee: Drums
Luke Hudleston: Trombone
Mark Lamaire: Bass
Damien Louviere: Guitar
Patrons of the Saint Team:
Executive Producer: Allison A. Davis
Producer: Jeff Beninato
Engineer: Tom Stern
Mixed by Jeff Beninato and Tom Stern at Blue Velvet Studios
Mastered at Axis Studios by Misha Kachkachishvili
Tom Worrell: Piano on Chichen Itza
(Additional bass and guitar: Beninato and Stern)
Cover photo by Curtis Knapp
Little Maker: Rebecca, Mark, Micah, Greg and Luke performing at New Orleans museum series The Ogden After Hours.
Music curator David Kunian of WWOZ-FM interviews Micah McKee for Ogden music series.
