Brooklyn's six-piece root-rockers The Morning Pages have just recorded an alt-country take on Lady Gaga's "Telephone" along with a grainy lo-fi stock photography-esque video complete with slide guitars, cowboy hats and tin cans on strings, answering the question "How would "Telephone" play out in the 1850s?". The ubiquitous song caught the attention of lead singer Grant Maxwell who decided to cover the song because "a great song is a great song and indie music doesn't have to be all dissonant and obscure and depressing all the time and on the other hand pop music could stand to sound a lot more organic and musical. My thought was they maybe we could combine the depth of roots music with the visceral enjoyment and popular appeal of mainstream music and get the next revolution started....also, I just couldn't get that song out of my head!" You can watch the new video here on YouTube.
With their 2007 EP The Company You Keep, The Morning Pages immediately stood out from other Brooklyn acts by tracing their roots back to country and folk influences such as Willie Nelson, Gram Parsons, Waylon Jennings, and The Band. It was this EP that caught the attention of Russell Simins of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion who went on to produce their upcoming debut full length Rising Rain.
The album's standouts include joyous foot-stompers like "With The Lord," "Move To The Country" and "This City Keeps Me Down," as well as plaintive ballads like the album's first single "My Name Is Lion."
The Morning Pages New York Dates:
April 9th – Brooklyn, NY @ Spike Hill
May 6th – Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo
May 20th – New York, NY @ Rockwood Music Hall
May 27th – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom (Dylan Fest 2010)
