Authentic Records » Dick Prall

Examiner : MOBFest 2009 – Dick Prall

LB — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Examiner : MOBFest 2009 : Full Article

Dick Prall – (June 19, Goose Island, 12:45 a.m.) – Iowa-born, Chicago-based singer-songwriter Dick Prall specializes in indie pop that’s at once clever, thoughtful and charming, with an adoration of classic acts such as Elvis Costello, The Beatles and Jayhawks put to good use.

Chicago’s annual MOBfest, set for June 18, 19 and 20, will once again bring a variety of local and national indie acts to the attention of record execs and the A&R community. The fest features a long list of live performances over its three-day run at venues such as Cubby Bear, Metro and Uncommon Ground. In addition, it includes a day devoted to music industry panels designed for networking and discussing music business trends set for June 20 at Elbo Room.

With past performances by bands such as The Killers, Disturbed, Kill Hannah and The Redwalls under its belt, MOBfest 2009 could provide the opportunity to check out some of rock’s future heavyweights before they become household names.

New Music Binge : Fearless Radio – Dick Prall

LB — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:53:00 +0000

New Music Binge : Fearless Radio : LISTEN

WGN – Dick Prall

LB — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:55:00 +0000

WGNtv.com : Full Article

Iowa-bred and Chicago-based Dick Prall never meant for his love of food to find its way into his songwriting talents. His albums have been called “a box of chocolates for your ears.” (Performing Songwriter Magazine). His tunes have even been likened to potato chips, “…wise, crisp and tasty.” (Momzine). And his early diet of melodic lyricists, from Buddy Holly to John Lennon to Elvis Costello, mixed with his brilliant storytelling and his love for the guitar, help define his own blend of songwriting. Shying away from critics’ placement into genres like “power-pop,” “rootsy” or “indie rock,” Dick Prall has triumphed in the creation of his own musical genre: porch pop. No everyday pop, this genre evokes the sonic midway between Bob Dylan and Andrew Bird, between Josh Rouse and Wilco, between chocolate and potato chips.

After releasing three critically-acclaimed albums – Somewhere About Here (1998), Dressing Up The Failure (2001), and Fizzlebuzzie (2005) – Prall has recently debuted, Weightless. This latest collection of tunes — sometimes cathartic, other times crass, but always catchy — shows you a side of Prall’s ability to craft an album with emotive power and sincere songwriting that bucks pretension. His carefulness in not taking the heaviness too seriously makes it easy to embrace the crisp chords and sweet croon wrapped around his simple sounding, yet complex and intricate songwriting. With an album as satisfying as Weightless, Dick Prall continues to feed our ears with tastemaking tunes.

Artist Update : Dick Prall

LB — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Ahhh the smell of newness…

Well, we have a historic election behind us and now the real work begins – preparing rock shows. We’re busting our bootys in getting ready for the next run of shows in December, which entails getting our new drummer, new lead guitar slinger, and new keyboard/sax/guitar/flute/whateverthehellelse player familiar with all the tunes. After only a couple o’ practices, I’ve been leaving rehearsals with a giant smile on my face ‘cuz this configuration is quite the boon. It’s pretty much the pinnacle of talent, and I’m the charmed lad who gets to share the stage with ‘em, folks.

If you’re in the Chicago area, then pop out to the Double Door on December 4th to see the inaugural performance of the new group. And for the Iowa contingency, we’ll be taking our wares to Des Moines’ People’s Court on December 12th and Davenport’s Redstone Room on December 13th. The latter a reunion with our dear mates the Nadas. (Extra livers will be packed.)

I hope the year is promising to end on a high note for all of you and I equally hope that you’re able to come see our looming antics…

Best,
Dick

Ink 19 Reviews Dick Prall’s ‘Weightless’

LB — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:50:00 +0000

Ink 19 :: Dick Prall

With a deft pop sensibility, Chicago-based singer/songwriter Dick Prall sings about the good, bad, and fugly moments he’s encountered in life and relationships, turning them into subtle parables that linger longer on the heart and go deeper than most surface-bound pop hits.

Like a vintage Ryan Adams song, sometimes cathartic, other times crass, and most of the time catchy, each track on Weightless (2007) shows you a side of Prall’s ability to craft and produce an album with emotive power and sincere songwriting that bucks pretension and doesn’t take the heaviness too seriously, making it easy to embrace the crisp chords and sweet croon wrapped around the simple sounding yet complex and intricate songwriting.

In “Halfway to Hollywood” he speaks to the struggling artist with a quaint guitar melody and soft swooning vocals, a solid hook within a straightforward rock song that builds and then delivers. On other tracks he showcases a quirky humor (“Cornflakes”), or in “Long Play” Prall shows that he can tell a darker story over an eerie violin if need be. The Iowa native pulls no punches when it comes to emotive power or his ability to merge a bit of wry Dylan with a stream of CCR melodic undertow to come up with a songwriting style that is, well… weightless, but still hooks and hits the heart pretty heavy.

Decorah and Des Moines – a message from Dick Prall

LB — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:46:00 +0000

I’m winding this summer down with one last stint in Iowa before the leaves make their colorful exodus and I’m able to once again sport my adored scarves, for which I must admit, I have a bit of an odd affection toward. What the fall also brings is a chance for me to begin holing up in the studio every few weeks to pop out a fresh song for your ears to (hopefully) warm up to. I’ll keep you posted when you can hop online and download them.

For the good folks in Decorah, IA and the surrounding area, swing out this Saturday night to hear yours truly open for the Nadas at Marty’s CyberCafe on the Luther College Campus. And for those fine people of Des Moines, I’ll be playing a solo acoustic show at AK O’Connors in Beaverdale on Sunday – your last chance to witness lil’ ol’ me in the area for a spell. And to watch me get over served. (It’s really not my fault. It’s that damn staff at AK’s.)

So, I hope you can make it out to the shows, and I’m happy to announce that you’ll be able to get your hands (or iPods – or is it more proper to say mp3 players?) onto some new music from the Dick Prall camp very soon. Hope you likey…

All the best… ~ Dick

Dick Prall, where are you?

LB — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:19:00 +0000

“I’m preparing for the Des Moines show this Saturday night, August 2nd, with The Envy Corps at the Simon Estes Riverfront Amphitheater. Very psyched to see and hear these guys – checked them out online and I’m honestly an instant fan. Extremely talented. Also, on Saturday morning around 9 a.m. I’ll be on WHO TV13 (Des Moines) to have a chat and play a tune. Let’s hope my sleepy voice has worked itself out of me. I’m gearing up to start touring more this fall and looking forward to releasing some new tunes for you all to hear as the months roll into the winter. I hope a new tune each month will keep folks satiated until any further full-length release. And thanks to Coca-Cola for having me on their jukebox for their mycokerewards.com promo.”

Dick Prall Update

LB — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:48:00 +0000

Hello, all… the summer is fairly tame and should continue to be so for a spell. Last year’s summer was full of recording and shows, so I’ve asked the powers that be to allow me a little down time over the next month or so to get my bearings, get back to writing, and to just generally live a brief sloth-like existence.

Folks have been receiving the latest record well and I’m anxious to venture into some new territory/venues this coming fall and to start rolling out what will hopefully be a new record in ’09. I’ve recently become obsessed with ‘70s Paul Simon stuff, baroque music, Imogen Heap, and the Arctic Monkeys (yes, I’m a little late), so who knows what is going to fall out of my head when it comes to writing and recording. Maybe manically orchestrated accessible acoustic pop that works best when driving really fast in a brand new Japanese car while playing your PSP as your girlfriend recites Sir Thomas Browne . . . yeah. maybe something like that. ~ Dick

Dick Prall featured in Starbucks!

LB — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:30:00 +0000

Dec, 2007: Dick Prall Featured in STARBUCKS!!!
Yes, we’re going corporate. Starbucks has come a’callin’ and wants to feature Dick Prall’s tune, “The Cornflakes Song,” in over 10,000+ Starbucks stores in 2008. Not only will you hear him overhead while you’re buying your coffee, but they are going to start rolling out plasma screens that display the name of the artists as they’re being spun. How’s that for a good start to a great ’08?

Dick Prall

LB — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 23:43:02 +0000

CURRENT AR RELEASE:
Weightless
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Based in Chicago and born in Iowa, singer/songwriter Dick Prall comes to his easygoing—and sometimes goofy—manner quite naturally. In person, he’s charming, often peppering his conversations with clever asides wherever possible. Though he readily admits to enjoying the embrace of company, it was Prall’s exploration of what he calls “autonomy” that brought a whole new spin to his latest work.

After the release of the critical and audience favorite Fizzlebuzzie in 2005, most of the musicians Prall recorded with went their separate ways. It was an amicable split, but one that put him in the familiar position of starting over.

His first album, 1998‘s rootsy Somewhere About Here, was recorded under the name The Dick Prall Band, but the group disbanded within a year. 2001‘s Dressing Up The Failure was a hard-driving pop record that found Prall recording with a different set of musicians under the name Starch Martins. Despite the new approach, he says the album left him creatively exhausted.

Though always quick to praise the musicians who help fuel his sharp, observational songwriting, Prall found himself turning away from the madness of crowds as he began work on his next album. No longer surrounded by the familiar, one might have expected Prall to write songs that explore all his inner demons. Instead, he found comfort in being alone, and sought to preserve that intimacy.

The product of that exploration is Weightless.

There‘s a restless energy coursing throughout the album, in part because of an immediacy of sound attributable to a change in Prall‘s usual recording style. “Rather than tracking all the instruments and then me coming in and laying my vocals down in sort of a ’studio karaoke‘ kind of way,” he says, ”I recorded my guitar and vocal parts first and then we built the song around those.“ This method allowed him to work at a feverish pace, writing half the album’s songs after the band began tracking it, “which is unheard of for me.”

And then there are the wanderlust lyrics, often dropping references to cars, the road, or a search for something, usually the truth, either about oneself or one’s partner. Prall says that in writing the album, he became interested in those who found themselves living lives they‘d never intended.

“Some of the song — I Took A Life, B&W, Devils — are about some less-than-attractive characters who don‘t necessarily feel held down by any guilt or real regret for their actions,” Prall says.

All this again hints at dark places and angst, but clever turns of phrase keep the whole production from drifting into an exercise in navel-gazing. A song about a dissolving relationship is titled The Cornflake Song, evoking just a hint of a smirk. Sidewalks are told to behave, and on the muscle-bound Side By Side, a lover is accused of “talking out your eyes,” though the way Prall sneers the last word leaves it sounding more like the part of your body that‘s used for sitting, not seeing.

The arrangements on Weightless carry the same light. There‘s violin throughout and a marimba-like instrument called a vibraceleste accenting the songs with a chiming ring. Plenty of space exists for guitar at the forefront and sing-a-long hooks. The crack group of musicians here, some of whom are bandmates involved with Prall‘s previous works, know when to add a swirling fill, and when to get out of the way. Most of all, the melodic voices of the characters in these songs float to the surface, recalling the album‘s title.

Prall has said that he relishes the very act of singing, and as he tours behind Weightless, one expects him to find a renewed sense of enthusiasm for crowds, finding that same old energy again. In the past, his albums have taken years to come into being. But now that he‘s found the same fire in an empty room, perhaps one can hope not just for his usual quality, but an increase in quantity as well.

Written by Scott Smith