My Cousin The Emperor

“This Brooklyn-band band creates Gram Parsons-influenced, rich country folk.” - AOL Music (April 2011)

My Cousin, The Emperor was The Deli's NYC Artist of the Month for April 2011. - The Deli Magazine

“ this sunny side up, harmony filled strumalong would probably brighten up most dull grey commutes... If all train journeys were this creative and inspiring even Bob Crowe and Boris Johnson might get along together.”
- Paul Villars, AmericanaUK - Americana UK

“Really sweet Americana... notably clean and well-imagined. This might be a good springtime roadtrip album.
Good crisp air and sunshine music.”
- Kim Ruehl, No Depression - No Depression

My Cousin, The Emperor may just be the band to make you reconsider your long-standing dismissal of country music. Winner of WNYC’s Battle of the Boroughs Brooklyn Throwdown, they’ve been converting rock ‘n rollers by filtering their classic country sounds through low-fi nuances, such as heavy guitar reverberation and lower-quality recording techniques to add the ‘alt’ to their ‘alt-country’ categorization. “Long Way From Home” won the Independent Music Award for best alt-country song, and features finger-pluckin’ quick enough to challenge any Appalachian band, and in “Montevideo,” lead singer/ songwriter Jason Reischel laments about lost love to the accompaniment of country music fundamentals pedal-steel guitar and banjo. - The Deli Magazine (NYC)

Congratulations to My Cousin, The Emperor - your choice to represent Brooklyn in the Battle of the Boroughs' Ultimate Battle at The Greene Space on June 18.

http://beta.wnyc.org/thegreenespace/articles/2010/mar/15/battle-boroughs-finalist-brooklyn-throwdown/ - WNYC

Hailing from the green pastures and rolling hills of Brooklyn, N.Y., My Cousin, The Emperor is a young band of country punks with a book full of ragged honk-tonk anthems. And you can hear the first chapter on A Long Way From Home, its debut album. Led by the singer/songwriter Jason Reischel, MCTE explores the usual issues
(love, loss, more loss), but does so with honesty and conviction. "Justine" gets about as funky as a cowboy tune can get, and
"Broken Bottle Blues No. 2" tells it like it is: "You can't break the bottle and give it back". - Relix Magazine April/ May 2010

Half the country music we call country music today doesn't quite fit. The sentiment is often "throw an alt- on that country and let it lie." Sure, there may be a twang or a heartbroken lyric here and there, but where's the desolation, the loneliness, and most importantly, the barn-stomping, string breaking fury?

Seems like all that pent up country music has been hiding in a band from, of all unlikely places, Brooklyn. The band's called My Cousin, the Emperor; the album is A Long Way From Home, filled to the brim with both alone-in-the-pouring-rain ballads and throw-me-another-whiskey barroom romps. But included in the whole mess is an influence most country bands, alt- or otherwise, would never touch—Nick Drake. Jason Reischel's voice, in his band's more introspective ballads, achieves a solemnity and isolation that hints at Drake's last-man-on-earth ache. Check out "There's Only You" and try not to hear Pink Moon.

Call these Brooklyn boys poseurs if you want — their debut sounds more honest than most of the dribble coming from Nashville, from the slow-paced, hauntingly beautiful "Montevideo" and the fullmoon-over-a-lonesome-highway cry of "I Cried For You" to the gritty, toy-piano hustle of "Broken Bottle Blues No. 2," expect to see the kiddies dancing/swaying/feeling My Cousin, the Emperor.

http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/2009/11/youll-never-know-how-much-i-love-you-so.html#comments - My Old Kentucky Blog

"If you think the name sounds pompous, rest assured that My Cousin, the Emperor makes happily gnarly music; the band’s debut album, A Long Way from Home, trades in rolling country rock & roll (singer Jason Reischel claims the band was attempting to create a new genre: country-R&B)."
- Time Out NY

The twangy Brooklyn alt. country quartet My Cousin, The Emperor recently released their ultra-charming debut LP, A Long Way Home. It's now available at various online retailers, but you can check out an exclusive preview above. The road-weary track on offer is inspired by the interesting life of Spanish classical guitarist Andrés Torres Segovia. Likewise, the lyrics portray a sad tale of loss: Segovia escapes the Spanish Civil War, thus separating him from the love of his life. He ultimately himself in the coastal city, Montevideo, Uruguay.

http://www.undertheradarmag.com/media/premiere_montevideo_mp3/

Singer-guitarist Jason Reischel captures the classic narrative with a high and lonesome falsetto that demands attention. (That pedal steel sure helps too.) With "Montevideo," My Cousin, The Emperor stands up for all that's still right with the genre of country.

Listen to more Americana goodness at the band's MySpace. In related news, A Long Way Home's road-warring title track has been nominated for a "Best Alt. Country Song" Independent Music Award. Vote here. Congratulations dudes! - Under the Radar Magazine

WHAT’S THIS SONG ABOUT? I was once on tour as a solo singer-songwriter across the US. I was living in North Carolina at the time. We were in Montana, and my friend was fly fishing. I was sitting on the river bank, enjoying the scenery when I realized how far we were from North Carolina. The song just kinda wrote itself from there. Those are my favorite songs, the ones that just come out of nowhere complete and with little effort.

WHY DID YOU SELECT THIS TRACK TO SUBMIT TO THE IMAs? It is the title track to our new record. It has been getting good reviews and seems to be a crowd favorite.

WHAT UNUSUAL INSTRUMENTS OR TECHNIQUES DID YOU USE ON THIS ALBUM? We recorded this track live in the studio. Actually, we recorded the entire record live. It’s just two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. Nothing unusual at all, just a great performance captured in a take or two.

DID FANS HELP FUND THIS PROJECT? No, the project was completely self-funded.

WHO IS SITTING IN YOUR AUDIENCE? Our audience is pretty diverse in many aspects. Because the music is not easily pigeon-holed by genre or style, it attracts a wide range of music fans. We seem to appeal to all ages from 14 to 64. If you like Rock, Country, Folk, Blues, Jamband, melodic Pop or love songs, then there will probably be some of our songs that you like. Live, we are very high energy. But, we do occasionally play acoustic shows to demonstrate our softer side.

WHAT MAKES YOUR FANS UNIQUE? I guess they are unique because they like us.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO PLAY? Juanita’s in Little Rock, Arkansas, Joe’s Pub in New York City, Monkeytown and the 12 Bar Club in London, England.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BAND’S MOST MEMORABLE ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE? I think our record release at Joe’s Pub was probably the most fun we’ve had so far. It’s such a great NYC room, and it’s nice to sell it out.
WHAT’S IN THE WORKS FOR 2010? We’re looking to release three or four EP’s this year.

FINISH THIS SENTENCE: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS….. a business.

WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF SUCCESS? My definition of success is being able to play music without having to worry about a day job or where the rent money is coming from.

WHAT’S ON YOUR IPOD THAT WOULD SURPRISE YOUR FANS? Duke Ellington & Rosemary Clooney’s “Blue Rose.”

NAME SOME ARTISTS YOU ARE CHAMPIONING:
Jaymay
Avi Vinocur
The Stone Foxes
Casey Shea
Midlake
Lauren Molina - Independent Music Awards

Entering Joe's Pub for my very first show at this venue I did not know what to expect. Could I weather the atmosphere; would I enjoy the acoustics; would my seat provide an enjoyable sightline? All these questions meant nothing compared to the two most important. Who the hell is My Cousin, The Emperor, and can they play?

My Cousin, The Emperor are a relatively new group by name, they have performed as The Populists since 2005.

The band was celebrating the release of their debut album "A Long Way From Home" with a packed house of seated enthusiasts and upright barroom barons.

Jason Reischel, the singer song-writer, infused his own southern/folk influences with a group of youthful veterans. Terry Quire on lead guitar provided inspiring licks be it from the subtle notes of an acoustic or a more infectious voltaic Gibson guitar. Chris Gogan's deep bass lines reverberated throughout the astutely seated audience, after a much needed instruction to the soundboard operator. Alex Wyatt sustained the back beat with his classic percussion style tapping and thumping an eight piece drum kit.

Admittedly, on a normal Friday evening my blood is boiling for some high voltage jams but after a long week I enjoyed taking a load off to some southern comforting R&B. After repeated songs, acoustic guitars can become too mellowing, which the group understood mixing in some electric guitar for the plugged in side of all in attendance. Regalo La Flor was among my favorites, a very up beat song that brought the viewers up a grade in their seats. Reischel's style gleemed with inspiration from varying artists, but when I wanted to pinpoint one in particular the next song would encapsulate my mind with another soulful great from folk's past. Many of the songs seemed to have a Dylan-esque style to them, but "Montevideo" made me close my eyes to envision Reischel as a nappy headed Robert Allan Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan) with an acoustic strapped to his shoulder. Towards the end of the performance, the group welcomed to the stage Jaymay tangled up in a tight blue dress that most certainly did not outshine her vocal performance. Concluding the show, the four members dropped their instruments and sang along to "Early Morning Show." Though there was a moment of confusion, the good spirited quartet continued into the next verse and departed to full-hearted applause.

In the end my questions were answered. Joe's Pub was acoustically fit for me to attend another performance in the future. Most importantly My Cousin, The Emperor were more talented than I expected.

All too often one hears a song online only to wish they had never seen the band in person.

This was not the case as My Cousin, The Emperor did not disappoint with their crisp mellow songs and, at times, heart-wrenching lyrics. Case in point, the opening verse of the up-beat title track "A Long Way From Home" reminds us all of that one person in our lives that got away. I suggest that you do not let this band get away, My Cousin, The Emperor will perform next at Fontana's on November 18.

http://thewaster.com/MAIN/Concert%20Reviews/my%20counsin%20the%20emperor/101609/101609.html - The Waster