Satch Kerans - Elliot Street

'...a vibrant solo debut... a jangle-infused power-pop collection that recalls early Tom Petty and Dwight Twilley.' Jonathan Perry The Boston Globe Elliot Street opens with the title track, a barn rattling rocker that evokes the Exile on Main Street era Stones. This album packs grade A licks and double espresso energy to match Kerans' provocative lyrics-and that's just on the fast songs...you really can't argue with his great songs and old fashioned chops.' Jeff May The Noise 'In short this is a little gem...Sometimes Kerans' sound is slightly reminiscent of the vagabond rock troubador style of Willie Nile with elements of Petty and Mguinn - which is high praise not criticism'. Phil Suggitt Shindig Magazine 'With a drawled 'awwllriite', Satch Kerans, a Boston based music veteran opens this fine collection of self penned songs, launching into the title track with a swagger befitting vintage Jagger. Toting a Rickenbacker, he veers towards Tom Petty territory for much of the album with echoes of the Byrds (Raven Haired Girl) and 60s garage bands to boot. The aforementioned Raven Haired Girl could serve the same purpose that Petty's American Girl served all those years ago if McGuinn decided to give it a go. 'When Push Comes To Shove' maintains the once removed Byrdsian connection as one can imagine it nestling within the grooves of the first Long Ryders album. There are some sublime jingle jangle moments here, the opening of 'Don't You Even Try' captures them perfectly but Kerans can also get down and dirty. 'The Last Lullaby' snakes like a bitter twisted offspring of the bands that made Nuggets what it was. Having said that there's nothing retro here and his songwriting manages to take these influences onboard without losing his own distinctive voice.' Paul Kerr americana-UK.com 'Kerans is pictured on the cover of this CD with a Rickenbacker 6-string guitar (ala Monte Warden), and this instrument of choice is easy to recognize on many of the disc's tracks. 'Raven Haired Girl' is a strong contender for my 'Song of the Month' honors. 'Don't You Even Try,' 'Well Traveled Man,' 'When Push Comes To Shove' and 'Hey, Don't Quit On Me Babe' are other chiming treats. The title track reminds me of the great power pop released by the Canadian band, the Kings; but it is hard for Kerans to escape comparisons with Tom Petty, Pete Droge and Comanche Moon. There's even a bit of a Turtles/60s garage-rock sound on several tracks. Long may you run, Sir Satch!' Eric Sorensen fufkin.com 'These songs last. Color us impressed with this confident, striking debut. Flawless as this type of release goes. Extremely highly recommended.' Bruce Bodeen notlame.com 'Longtime Beantown rocker finally gets around to releasing his solo debut! And a jangly guitar-driven, roots-pop affair it is!' Kool Kat Music 'In 'Elliot Street', Kerans offers a welcome throwback to rock and roll when the music mattered...the characters in a Satch Kerans song will never go down without a fight.' Christopher J. Stephens North Shore Sunday 'Kerans has a flair for jangling pop rock numbers that stick with you like a good home cooked meal. Whirring keyboards, vibrato laden guitars, four on the floor rythymns and Kerans' emotionally charged vocals accent these finely written songs.' Douglas Sloan Metronome Magazine 'Classical American songwriter with an easy country touch.' rocktip.de Satch Kerans is a singer, songwriter and guitarist drawing on such influences as Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, Peter Case, The Rolling Stones, and Graham Parker. The founder and front man of the now defunct Boston based band The Catalinas, Kerans has opened shows for national acts including Little Steven Van Zandt, The Outlaws, NRBQ, Charlie Sexton, and South Side Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. In fact, Kerans opened up for Roy Orbison four days before the legendary singer's untimely death. In the 1980's The Catalinas developed a strong local following and garnered extensive airplay on WBCN, the major Boston rock station of the time, as well as numerous college stations throughout the country. Pulse magazine declared the Catalinas, 'One of the most wrongfully overlooked bands in Boston.' Recorded at Witch Doctor Recording, Elliot Street marks the first solo effort by Kerans who, in addition to handling all of the vocals, guitars and playing harmonica, served as producer. His longtime band mates Ron Chane and Lenny Dunn join him on bass and drums. Additional musicians include Russ Lawton, coming off of a Trey Anasstasio tour, on percussion, Mike Maciver on Hammond B-3 organ and Steve Kerans on tambourine. In addition, Doug Major, former music director of The National Cathedral in Washington D.C., plays piano on the ballad 'I'm Gone'. The CD has recieved rave reviews and the title track has recently been featured on NPR's 'All Songs Considered-Open Mic'. Kerans describes the songs on Elliot Street as being about characters that are, ' down on their luck; just barely hanging on to jobs, relationships and society, yet still finding hope.' Some of the songs have been staples in his live set for nearly a decade while others were written as recently as the summer of 2004. The CD will be available at live shows, local record outlets, CD Baby.com, and satchk.com. While promoting this record, Kerans is writing the songs for his next project tentatively titled The Fourth of July which deals with the Elliot Chambers rooming house tragedy in 1984. He is also working on songs for a screenplay that he has written entitled "Landlords". Satch lives on Cape Ann with his wife Michelle Alekson Kerans. THE JOURNEY: The first rock and roll record I can remember hearing is "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys. A year or two later my parents let each of us choose a record from their mail order record club and I chose "Beatles VI". I guess that's where the journey begins. I learned my first chords on guitar when I was around 10 but I didn't really pursue it. I did all the normal suburban stuff-little league baseball, CYO basketball, high school sports, proms, blah blah, woof, woof . But when I turned 19, music became my thing. First I was in a duo with my friend Bobby C. Then I was in a band called Razz. In 1981 I started a band called the Catalinas. In 1983 Lenny Dunn and Ron Chane joined the band; they played on this disc as well. I think that's pretty cool. Anyway, we released a record that got played on WBCN in Boston as well as a lot of college stations all over the country, and we played in the 'BCN rumble in 1987. We also opened up shows for some of our idols: Little Steven, NRBQ, South Side Johnny and The Asbury Jukes as well as every notable Boston band of the time (The Neighborhoods, The Stompers, Robin Lane etc.). My all time thrill, however, was a solo gig I played on December 2, 1988 when I opened for Roy Orbison at The Channel (a now defunct Boston club) four days before his untimely death. Incredible. But the journey also includes far less glamorous gigs. Playing in front of hookers, Hells Angels, Mafia club owners and every conceivable VFW, Italian American or Knights of Columbus hall from the North Shore to New Hampshire; I played Sunday nights at Grover's (kind of a biker bar) in Beverly,MA for five years. In 1993 I decided to go back to college (having dropped out) to pursue a career in education. I've been a special education teacher for the past eleven years. But I've always gigged. Two years ago I got the bug to release a CD. So, here it is. It's named "Elliot Street" which was the name of an old rooming house in Beverly (near Grover's) that burned down a number of years ago. One of the songs, Pretty Raven Haired Girl, was written when I was twenty-two years old. Most of the others were written just a couple of months ago. It's a kind of a risk because for the first time I played all of the guitars, sang all of the harmonies (in addition to the lead vocals which I have always done) and handled the production. It's a bonafide solo effort that points to where I'm headed next on this crazy, unpredictable, unexplainable, "journey". Think of it as a little window to my soul and I'll see you at the next gig. Much Love Satch Kerans.

1) Elliot Street
2) Hey Don't Quit on Me Babe
3) Raven Haired Girl
4) When Push Comes to Shove
5) Don't You Even Try
6) Heartbreak Road
7) Well Traveled Man
8) You've Got Your Mind Made Up (About Me)
9) The Last Lullabye
10) Vagabond
11) I'm Gone