Rotary Downs is an indie rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana. The band is made up of vocalist and guitarist James Marler, guitarist Chris Colombo, guitarist Alex Smith, bassist Jason Rhein, and drummer Zack Smith.[1]

Rotary Downs
Background information
OriginNew Orleans, Louisiana, USA
GenresRock, indie rock
Years active2002–present
LabelsRookery Records
MembersJames Marler
Chris Colombo
Zack Smith
Jason Rhein
Alex Smith
Past membersTiffany Lamson
Cory Schultz
Michael Girardot
Anthony Cuccia
Matt Aguiluz
WebsiteOfficial Website

History

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Rotary Downs is a two-time winner of the "Best Rock Band" category at Gambit Weekly's Big Easy Music Awards.[2] NPR's Morning Edition considers them "outsider artists" and characterized their 2007 album Chained To The Chariot as "a stunning collection of psychedelic art-pop songs that play like brilliant mash-ups of Neutral Milk Hotel and Odelay-era Beck".[3]

Chained To The Chariot was recorded in the months preceding and following Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans, as described in a feature on Current TV.[4] Some of the band's recorded work on the album was damaged by the flood, but later salvaged. In the wake of the disaster, band members described a sense of increased artistic collaboration and cross-pollination in the music scene in New Orleans.[5]

On March 9, 2010, Rotary Downs released Cracked Maps & Blue Reports, described by Filter magazine as "perfectly New Orleanian: both high and low, in and out, joyous and mournful."[6]

Discography

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  • Rotary Downs (2002)
  • Long After The Thrill (2003)
  • Quitters (EP) (2004)
  • Chained To The Chariot (2006)
  • Cracked Maps & Blue Reports (2010)
  • Traces (2014)

References

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  1. ^ Rotary Downs on Facebook, "Facebook", August 2011
  2. ^ "Right Time, Right Place - the Big Easy Foundation Announces Its Music Award Winners - News & Views - Gambit Feature - Gambit - New Orleans". bestofneworleans.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Top 10 Great Unknown Artists of 2007", Robin Hilton, Morning Edition, 28 December 2007.
  4. ^ Rotary Downs, Thomas Green, CurrentTV 24 November 2007
  5. ^ Remix: Juggled band arrangements have resulted in new music and a reinvigorated live local music scene. Alison Fensterstock, Gambit Weekly, 19 December 2006.
  6. ^ Rotary Downs - Cracked Maps & Blue Reports. Marty Garner, Filter Magazine, 25 March 2010.
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