The Little Compton Band

Being nominated for the New
England Music Awards’ ‘Best of
State’ is a big deal so members of
The Little Compton Band hopped in Atticus Allen’s Volvo
station wagon April 9 “and made
our way to Salisbury, Mass., not
really knowing where that was.”
“We got there late,” after the
awards had been handed out,
Mr. Allen said, “but in time to see
some great performances.”
Du
ring a final set, they were
talking to a woman who asked
where they were from.
When she learned Little Comp-
ton, she replied, “I think you guys
won — yours was the first award
given.” “She then escorted us back-
stage where the emcee presented
us with our award. We were taken
back — truly surprised.”
Winning is great, they said,
“but we would like to point out
that art is not about competition
or awards — there really is no
‘best band,’ there are plenty of
other Rhode Island groups that
we really dig, that put everything
they have into their work regard-
less of the amount of exposure
they'll receive. Its just about
making the music period.”
That said, Mr. Allen added, “We
can’t thank New England Music
Awards enough for the recogni-
tion and all the great work they
do ...These awards give artists
like us a platform to say thank
you to ... the fans that come out
to the shows and support us. - Bruce Burdett

The Little Compton Band from Little Compton RI. They have been one of my favorites acts that I have come across over the past year. Your all in for a treat! - WKKL 90.3

The Little Compton Band, named after their Rhode Island hometown, took home Best in State at the 2016 New England Music Awards, held April 9 in Salisbury, Mass. They also won the WBRU Rock Hunt Wildcard in 2015 and again this year with a sound that’s a little psychedelic country, with a roots-rock vibe.

The five band members are all 26 years old, all of them born and raised in Little Compton. They met in grammar school and started making music together at the home of Silas Peckham-Paul, bassist and singer, who lived on the seaside Wishing Stone Farm. The other members are Silas Campbell, on keyboards, guitar and vocals; Evan Poitras on drums and vocals; Atticus Allen on slide guitar and vocals; and Jimmy O’Connor on vocals and guitar.

They entered talent shows and performed together in various capacities early on in other bands, the Rhode Island Junior Philharmonic jazz ensemble, and their elementary school band. Because Little Compton doesn’t have its own high school, they all went to Portsmouth High.

They adopted the name Little Compton Band in early 2010 and began playing shows in their hometown, Newport and Providence. They released their first, self-titled, album in 2014, and a year later recorded their sophomore album, “Jalapeño Sky,” in a greenhouse at Wishing Stone Farm.

“The Little Compton Band embodies a new age of roots rock,” said Allen via telephone. “We’ve definitely developed a camaraderie, all growing up in such a small town. The commitment that we have to our music has moved us forward in our improvised musical journeys.

“Through the years, we’ve developed a sound that is remarkably classic in nature. We have a common infatuation with the musical languages of soul, jazz, country western and blues, coupled with their spiritual connection to the rural North, which helped us in creating a unique sound.

“Also, much of our work is done in-house, from poster design to all the production that went on for our album release show back in October. ... We were inside a brand new huge greenhouse on a seaside organic farm. It was a custom-built stage and bar area, built by local artist/carpenter Jeff Yorks. It was put together from found objects on the farm. We will be releasing a video from that event soon.”

They regularly headline major Rhode Island-area venues including The Met, the Narrows Center for the Arts, The Spot Underground and the Newport Blues Cafe, where they have had a residency for two years.

They’ve had the opportunity to support national touring acts like Dumpstafunk, Nth Power, Zoe Muth, and Girls Guns and Glory. Members have played alongside the North Mississippi All Stars and the Allman Brothers Band. - Providence Journal

The Little Compton Band, named after their Rhode Island hometown, took home Best in State at the 2016 New England Music Awards, held April 9 in Salisbury, Mass. They also won the WBRU Rock Hunt Wildcard in 2015 and again this year with a sound that’s a little psychedelic country, with a roots-rock vibe.

The five band members are all 26 years old, all of them born and raised in Little Compton. They met in grammar school and started making music together at the home of Silas Peckham-Paul, bassist and singer, who lived on the seaside Wishing Stone Farm. The other members are Silas Campbell, on keyboards, guitar and vocals; Evan Poitras on drums and vocals; Atticus Allen on slide guitar and vocals; and Jimmy O’Connor on vocals and guitar.

They entered talent shows and performed together in various capacities early on in other bands, the Rhode Island Junior Philharmonic jazz ensemble, and their elementary school band. Because Little Compton doesn’t have its own high school, they all went to Portsmouth High.

They adopted the name Little Compton Band in early 2010 and began playing shows in their hometown, Newport and Providence. They released their first, self-titled, album in 2014, and a year later recorded their sophomore album, “Jalapeño Sky,” in a greenhouse at Wishing Stone Farm.

“The Little Compton Band embodies a new age of roots rock,” said Allen via telephone. “We’ve definitely developed a camaraderie, all growing up in such a small town. The commitment that we have to our music has moved us forward in our improvised musical journeys.

“Through the years, we’ve developed a sound that is remarkably classic in nature. We have a common infatuation with the musical languages of soul, jazz, country western and blues, coupled with their spiritual connection to the rural North, which helped us in creating a unique sound.

“Also, much of our work is done in-house, from poster design to all the production that went on for our album release show back in October. ... We were inside a brand new huge greenhouse on a seaside organic farm. It was a custom-built stage and bar area, built by local artist/carpenter Jeff Yorks. It was put together from found objects on the farm. We will be releasing a video from that event soon.”

They regularly headline major Rhode Island-area venues including The Met, the Narrows Center for the Arts, The Spot Underground and the Newport Blues Cafe, where they have had a residency for two years.

They’ve had the opportunity to support national touring acts like Dumpstafunk, Nth Power, Zoe Muth, and Girls Guns and Glory. Members have played alongside the North Mississippi All Stars and the Allman Brothers Band. - Fall River Herald

Down a rural road in Tiverton, Rhode Island, music reverberates from behind a steel door. Marked with a “Little Compton Band” bumper sticker and trimmed with rust, the door separates the modern world from a practice studio buzzing with music inspired by another era. The songs, vibrating from the strings of Fender guitars and raspy vocal cords, are the creation of the local group fans refer to as the LCB, who’s sophomore album, titled “Jalapeño Sky,” will be released on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Coinciding with the album release, the LCB is set to host a release party to celebrate “Jalapeño Sky” at 6:30 p.m. from Wishing Stone Farm, the band’s scenic birthplace in Little Compton. The event is free to the public and scheduled to include farm-fresh cuisine picked directly from the Wishing Stone fields, a performance by Boston-based band Abadabad, psychedelic visuals inspired by the famous Joshua Light show, and, of course, a live performance by the Little Compton Band. Beer and wine will also be offered, as well as brand new band merchandise, including originally designed T-shirts, hats, stickers and copies of their new album.

Back at their practice studio the band rehearses for a slew of upcoming shows. Two fluorescent lights buzz overhead, illuminating a room which feels more like a ’70s era bar than a rehearsal space. Scattered about the floor are can tabs and empty beer bottles. On the wall behind the drum kit hangs a Marlboro sign and a Old Milwaukee mirror, promoting “On Tap” beer. If the band hired a bartender and wrapped the room in chicken wire they’d have a veritable Swayze-roadhouse. The music being rehearsed, which can be heard live at shows throughout the area, including the LCB’s monthly first-Thursday gigs at the Newport Blues Cafe, referred to as “Thick Thigh Thursdays,” fits the roadhouse setting equally well.

Everything the LCB touches, from their outward appearance to the sounds they pull from their instruments, seem to be relics from another time. Their influences, which include the Allman Brothers Band, Steely Dan and The Grateful Dead, are readily apparent throughout the new album.

Similar to their first album, a self-titled collection released in 2014, “Jalapeño Sky” was recorded and engineered by 27-year industry veteran Jim Landry. The new release consists of 11 brand new original tracks, all written collaboratively by the band’s five members.

“As we develop material, we all bring seeds of songs to rehearsal, which quickly become LCB songs, with everyone in the group putting their own mark on the song,” explains lead guitarist Atticus Allen. “By the time we released our first album, we knew we had another to do. There’s a lot of excitement about this new material.”

Allen’s influence is clear throughout the album, with his signature slide guitar echoing over tracks as if running over the open water that meets the shore of the band’s coastal hometown.

“We’ve had a rare opportunity to grow musically side by side throughout our most formative years,” says Allen, when asked what drives the band. “That’s a big factor behind our dynamics and why we make music together. We’re bubbling over with material for a third album as we speak, so I think it’s a trend that will continue for us.” - Newport Mercury

The Little Compton Band left wooden cutouts of themselves on the side of West Main Road this week to advertise their show at Crowther's Restaurant.

If you drove down West Main Road in Little Compton this week, you probably noticed a rock band gathered by the side of the road.

To promote its show tomorrow night, Saturday, June 4, at Crowther’s Restaurant, the Little Compton Band (LCB) placed life-sized wooden cutouts of the five homegrown band members at the intersection of West Main Road and Old West Main Road mid-week. One of the members, Atticus Allen, came up with the marketing idea based on his studies at the Art Institute of Boston.
“I’m a design major, so I’m always kind of under pressure to come up with things,” he said on the phone Friday morning, saying he was pressured to come up with a cool, yet old and traditional form of promotion. “We just didn’t want to do something dumb on Facebook.”

Allen said he got the thin pieces of wood and used printed plotters (an application used in printing blueprints with computer-aided design) used for architectural plans. One of the cutouts is eight feet tall while the rest are six and a half feet. Allen said he made wheat paste and affixed the life-sized cutouts using a jigsaw.

Allen said this is the second time the band is playing at Crowthers, after having a decent show in the winter.

“We packed the place,” he said. “It should be a good show. The Bruins will be on.”

LCB plays older rock ‘n roll, older country and some psychedelic genres. Allen plays rhythm guitar, mandolin, harmonica, pedal steel and other instruments.

The band consists of Allen, Jimmy O’Connor (lead guitar and main vocals), Sylas Peckham-Paul (bass), Sylas Campbell (keyboard and guitar) and Evan Poitras (drums).

Allen, 21, said the band has been playing together since they were sixth- and seventh-graders at . He said he'll swing down any time he can to practice with the LCB.

“We’ve stayed in contact through the years,” he added. “I’m graduating college next year.”
- patch

The Little Compton Band’s show on Friday night may be its "final performance," but only if those who believe in the Mayan Apocalypse are right. And if they’re not, all the better, but the guys aren’t taking any chances. "We thought we owed it to our friends and family to go out on a high note," said Atticus Allen, in an interview early last week.

Unlike the doomsday predictions that got all kinds of media hype last year, the end-of-the-world prediction for this Friday, Dec. 21, based on the fact that the Mayan calendar ends on that date, has been barely noted over the past few months. The band isn’t taking it too seriously though, and Allen promises they don’t have canned goods lined up just in case, but they’d still like to spend the Earth’s potential last day performing for friends and family. "Who knows, maybe a spaceship will come down to pick us all up," he said.

In a prepared release about the show on Dec. 21 at Crowthers Restaurant, Allen said, "If there’s one thing we take seriously it’s life in LC fallowed (sic) by Life on planet earth. So in preparation for all that is earthly we invite you to come blur the edges of your life with a pint and some friends. The Little Compton Band will provide the soundtrack to your final waking hours."

The Little Compton Band, comprising bass player Silas Peckam-Paul, keyboard/guitarist Silas Campbell, drummer Evan Poitras, guitarist Jimmy O’Connor, and Allen on slide guitar, plays a "mish-mash" of music from classic rock to southern rock to swamp yankee.

The show at Crowthers Restaurant, 90 Pottersville Road, begins at 10 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

If the hoopla about the Mayan Apocalypse is a bust, the band’s next area show will be at The Met in Providence on Jan. 12. - Herald news