Gregory and the Hawk
""meet me, meet me, meet the perfect me" ~DH"
Location: New York, NY
Website: http://www.gregoryandthehawk.com/
Bio: FatCat discovered their newest signing Gregory and the Hawk entirely by accident, while out one night at a bar in Brooklyn. An unknown band came ... (more)
on stage and Meredith Godreau began to sing, instantly stunning everyone in the room. A month later, she was in the studio beginning work on her FatCat debut.
A native New Yorker with a captivating voice and a clear gift for songwriting, Godreau began playing both piano and violin from an early age, switching to guitar through high school and college. She began playing solo shows in small venues around New England, and made a few CDRs to hand out at shows, which proved incredibly popular. Word spread fast, and the 2006 heyday of MySpace added rocket fuel to the fire. When FatCat talked with her about working together after that first NYC show, they had no idea that some of her self-released songs had already sold 15,000 copies (and fast increasing); had not seen the 17 pages of Gregory And The Hawk cover versions other people had posted on YouTube; and had never been to any of her (more common) solo shows. Incredibly, with Gregory And The Hawk becoming a huge DIY success, Godreau is already living off her music.
The name Gregory And The Hawk was conceived in 2003, initially devised to avoid her being pigeonholed as a singer-songwriter (though, perhaps ironically, when pressed for a list of influences Godreau cites Nick Drake, Liz Phair, PJ Harvey). Godreau played alone as Gregory And The Hawk for a few years, until she met Mike McGuire in New York in 2005. The two played live shows together for several months before teaming up with bassist Jeff Ratner and drummer Adam Christgau (both of New York band Paper And Sand). Together, the four of them recorded the Boats And Birds EP, which they self-released in 2006. Further lineup changes ensued, and Gregory And The Hawk's 2007 self-released debut album In Your Dreams was recorded by the trio of Godreau, McGuire (who also engineered most of it), and Susan Ambrose.
The recording of Moenie and Kitchi was somewhat different; while McGuire, Ambrose and a host of others contributed, many of the instruments were played by the album's producer, Adam Pierce (Mice Parade), with most vocals and guitars recorded simultaneously in just one take.
The gentle, hook-laden songs of Gregory And The Hawk's mostly solo, acoustic sets have received much of their considerable attention through internet streaming and downloads, resulting in a groundswell of support that belies the fact that up until now, there has been no label, no manager, or indeed any other supportive network to help them on their way. Gregory And The Hawk has one major thing on their side – Godreau’s ability to craft spellbinding, idiosyncratic pop songs, that sound at once suggestive, familiar, and yet very much their own.
While occasionally recalling the likes of Elliott Smith, Mazzy Star, Marissa Nadler, or Regina Spektor, Moenie and Kitchi moves fluidly from the tender, stripped-back dynamics of simple guitar and voice to the more fierce and firey exhortations - sometimes within the space of a single song. An incredibly mature and irresistibly hook-filled album, it announces the entry of a major new talent.
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