magnolia summer bio

From Driveways’ Lost View is the second full-length from St. Louis’ Magnolia Summer. In contrast to the hushed, intimate quality of the band’s 2003 debut, Levers and Pulleys, Driveways reveals a louder, rawer, and more spontaneous side of Magnolia Summer, one that’s already quite familiar to fans of the live shows. Distorted guitars buzz and howl against the blast of drums and bass, but despite the aggressive edge, Magnolia Summer retains its distinctive grace and vulnerability. With a band that features stalwarts of the St. Louis music community including; John Horton (Bottle Rockets), Mark Ray (Waterloo), John Baldus (Waterloo), Greg Lamb (The Lineman), Joe Thebeau (Finn's Motel), and Kevin Buckley (Harmony Band), Songwriter-multiinstrumentalist Chris Grabau crafts songs of isolation and disconnect: a life caught between work and home, love and loss, heart and hope, thoughts and words.

Over the last few years, Magnolia Summer has shared the stage with The Minus 5, Grant Lee Philips, Glen Kotche, Bobby Bare Jr., The Court and Spark, Robyn Hitchcock, Ken Stringfellow, Marah, Richmond Fontaine, the Bottle Rockets, Will Johnson, Glossary, and Milton Mapes. The band was nominated in three categories in the 2004 St. Louis Riverfront Times Music Awards: “Best Americana Band,” “Album of the Year,” and “Artist of the Year.” Magnolia Summer was also nominated for “Best Americana Band” in the 2005 and 2006 St. Louis Riverfront Times Music Awards and recently nominated for "Best Americana Band in the 2006 KDHX music awards. Magnolia Summer recently joined the Bottle Rockets, Jay Farrar, and Fontella Bass to contribute new tracks for the Chuck Berry tribute, Brown Eyed Handsome Man: St. Louis Salutes the Father of Rock N’ Roll.

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No Depression - Review of From Driveways' Lost View
With the exception of the Bottle Rockets, Magnolia Summer is the finest band in St. Louis sill blending roots sensibilities with pure guitar rock. What their second album lacks in the expansive warmth of their debut Levers and Pulleys, it makes up for in tangled emotions and group coalescence. The taut, charging opener "Along For The Ride" and the rumbling "The Passing Days" have the electric stab and fedback blur (minus the eccentricity) of Satellite Heart era Flaming Lips, while "Words For The War" fuses the pain of oblique personal and political conflict over acoustic guitar and piano. Songwriter Chris Grabau sings with an urgent but sweet quiver; his images and melodies rise effortlessly through the stormiest arrangements, resulting in sometimes furious, sometimes plaintive, often exhilarating rock 'n' roll (Roy Kasten).

Harp Magazine - Review of From Driveways' Lost View
On Magnolia Summe's debut, 2003's Levers and Pulleys, the atmosphere was muted and personal, like a friend quietly sharing a secret. Since the, the quintet has evolved - a veritable who's who of St. Louis musicians, including Waterloo's Chris Grabau and Mark Ray, the Linemen's Greg Lamb, Ring, Cicada's Aaron Zeveski, and the bottle Rockets' John Horton - and discovered its inner rock band through relentless live work. The raucous results are all over the band's sophomore effort. There are still moments of relative calm, like the sedate "Casting Satellites," the mournful "Palindrome," and the Wilco-tinges "Words for the War." For the bulk of the album, however, Magnolia Summer combines the shimmery folk expanse of the first album with a rollicking Americana vibe that suggests Joe Pernice fronting Crazy Horse. And that's a good thing (Brian Baker).

RFT Music Awards Profile (9/6/06)
When roots-rockers Nadine fizzled out a few years back, Magnolia Summer stepped up as the city's leading makers of warm, introspective rock music. The recently released From Driveways' Lost View plays down the band's Americana leanings and pushes soaring guitars, cavernous drums and Chris Grabau's sweet, yearning tenor voice to the forefront. View builds on an already solid foundation and suggests that the best is yet to come from Magnolia Summer. (CS)

Emusic - Review of From Driveways' Lost View
The St. Louis group Magnolia Summer writes tense, quaking songs gilded with golden guitar jangle and topped with the raw, throaty vocals of Chris Grabau. They're not alt-country per se, but there's a definite twang and croon to their scuffed-up tunes that positions them close to bands like The Bottle Rockets. "Sum of All Fears" is a haunting slow burn, Grabau croaking out dire proclamations over plinking piano and dry guitar strum. "Sink or Swim" is sweeping and bright, anchored in a melodic guitar lead and driving, insistent percussion.

The Riverfront Times - May 10, 2006
"The end result is an engaging album that bursts with movement:… A little bit Wilco's ragged storytelling, sometimes Built to Spill's noisy-jumpy indie rock, often R.E.M.'s Out of Time-era regal jangle, View isn't afraid to smash expectations or transcend genres."

Playback:STL - May 2006
From Driveways’ Lost View, should cement Magnolia Summer’s reputation as a band of thrilling contrasts.

St. Louis Post Disptach - July, 2006
The music of Magnolia Summer swirls and lurches, meanders and stutters, dips and dives. It is a music rooted in pop forms, with melodic verses and choruses, yet not a music that sounds like anything familiar. Since the release two years ago of this St. Louis band’s debut album, “Levers and Pulleys,” Magnolia Summer has mutated onstage, developing into a louder, more focused, more direct outfit. But the melodies still float as if they were mists ascending from a river.

Where Magazine - March 2006
Part of the St. Louis Undertow Music umbrella of bands/producers/designers, Magnollia Summer crafts a pleasing blend of American folk and rock, with an ability to turn-up or turn-down with equal alpomb. Grounded by the vocals and songwriting of Chris Grabau, the four-piece band’s ably captured on the dozen-song CD, “Levers and Pulleys,” which showcases smart songwriting, fine production and a winning way with melody.

Sauce Magazine - April, 2006
Musically, it engages right away. The new, more "insurgent" version of Magnolia Summer seems to suit the band quite well.

Allmusic
With a strummy Americana sound somewhere between Son Volt and the Pernice Brothers, these songs slowly grow on you. Grabau's vulnerable, barely whispered vocals perfectly convey the music's delicate and intimate strokes. Like the sepia-toned graphics, the muted approach, especially during the final half, imbues the project with a soft, low-key, and thoughtful air that invites repeated spins.

No Depression
Just one spin of the signature song "Summer Moon" - all burnished twang, sweet fiddle melody and yearning vocals (a cross between Neil Young and Jeff Tweedy, Grabau has a boyish falsetto to make a Catholic schoolgirl swoon) - will have you gasping from the band's bright glow.A dedicated critic might be inclined to tick off crucial group stats - it's Grabau's baby; the sextet's members have played with (or do double time in) Waterloo, Ring Cicada, Mike Ireland & Holler, and Jay Farrar's band; that sort of stuff. But for me, well, the weather's turned warm, the Magnolia Summer looms, and suddenly the time feels right for dancing in the streets.

Metroland Online
Levers and Pulleys may be hard to pin down stylistically, but it’s unified by the strength of the writing and the sympathetic arrangements.

Mundane Sounds
While all of the songs are pretty--if not a little bit similar in places--it's this overwhelming feeling that the calming sounds of Levers and Pulleys are merely the calm before the storm. Grabau and company (featuring bandmates from Waterloo, as well as friends from other established bands as Nadine and Hazeldine) could really make an interesting blend of electronica-tempered country-folk that could send Neil Halstead running back to the barn with bong in hand. For a debut, Levers and Pulleys is a nice little start; over time, I'm expecting greatness.

The Riverfront Times (2004)
"Supergroup" isn't a term that gets tossed around St. Louis' music scene too often (unless a former member of the Urge is involved, of course), but Magnolia Summer may be this town's answer to the New Pornographers or, heaven forfend, Damn Yankees. Former Stillwater head Chris Grabau leads this ensemble-cum-recording project, which includes contributions from Waterloo's Mark Ray, Climber chanteuse Heather Moll and guitarist-about-town John Horton. Though these and other St. Louis all-stars help craft the sound onstage and in the studio, Grabau's gentle delivery and subtly beautiful lyrics are at the forefront. With the recently released Levers and Pulleys, Magnolia Summer has lovingly pieced together an album's worth of late nights, faded photographs and wistful recollections. After just a handful of live shows, Magnolia Summer has already got this town buzzing. Don't say we didn't warn you.

contact information

MAGNOLIA SUMMER:
John Baldus
Kevin Buckley
Chris Grabau
John Horton
Greg Lamb
Mark Ray
Joe Thebeau

Band Contact: info@magnoliasummer.com
U.S. BOOKING: chris@undertowmusic.com 314.306.4091
PR: rene@undertowmusic.com

U.S. RECORD LABEL:
UNDERTOW
po box 300553, saint louis missouri 63130
undertowmusic.com

MYSPACE: myspace.com/magnoliasummer

PUREVOLUME: purevolume.com/magnoliasummer

AUDIRI: audiri.com/magnoliasummer

magnolia summer bio

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