Venice Gas House Trolley
Madison, Wisconsin, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"Venice Gas House Trolley lean more toward Funkadelic.... [And] the band as a whole can keep up with [Flowpoetry's] eccentricity via slinky-funky bass and drums, flute, and a variety of careful melodic and atmospheric interjections. ...Flowpoetry's voice [is] raspy and heavy over the cool suspense-building [music of the band]." The Onion (Madison) A.V. Club
"The Trolley carves out a tribal, ambient, dreamy vibe.... They're a musical group that have finally arrived." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"Rhythm comes first [with Venice Gas House Trolley]. The band layers [Flowpoetry's] spoken word over jazz-funk-rock-jam." The Capital Times 77 Square Entertainment Section
"...a sound that doesn't shrivel when the meters swell into a rant." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"[Flowpoetry is] one of the most unique and riveting performers on the Midwestern musical and artistic landscape. The group [Venice Gas House Trolley] is on the cutting edge of the nationwide expansion of new forms of spoken word.... The band is unique, theatrical and musical." DeKalb Chronicle (DeKalb, IL)
"...very chill yet gripping. The band [Venice Gas House Trolley] is on a mission to bridge the gap between poetry and music and does so.... ...some hip jive cat daddy." Gapers Block Presents: Transmission (Chicago, IL)
"Words flowing over bass and drums thrumming jazz, groove, folk, country, blues, psychedelic, jam. Man!" The Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA)
"These are no frail photocopy-folk tunes, but rather legends and tales drawn from a deep well of historical experience; stories that place the listener into the leather boots of the prospectors and drifters they depict. When you hear music created by an American ghost, it gets you to your bones." Emmie Magazine (Madison, WI)
"[Flowpoetry's] verses find the right rhythm and pitch for every approach (and) he reads them with an ease that lets the music sing. …(The Trolley) makes the relationship between words and music feel new again." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"In my two years of working with the Homegrown Music Network, I have reviewed close to 50 different albums of varying range and styles. In those two years, I have never reviewed an album quite like 'Burst Open.' So, to call this album 'original,' only begins the discussion. The tracks on this album show flashes of 'jam rock' sensibility and fuse those flashes with an 'art rock' mentality, for lack of a better term. The tracks on this album fuse elements of beat poetry with other musical styles to make a truly exotic, one-of-a-kind album." J. Evan Wade, Homegrown Music Network
"The band (Flowpoetry on vocals, Tim Peeters on bass and vocals, Nikk Cramer on guitar and vocals, Josh Pultorak drums, and Dr. Beats on percussion) keep their groove taut and structured, leaving space for stories to unwind, but without forgetting the primal urge to move feet."
- Rob F, Leicester Bangs (UK) - Various
"Venice Gas House Trolley lean more toward Funkadelic.... [And] the band as a whole can keep up with [Flowpoetry's] eccentricity via slinky-funky bass and drums, flute, and a variety of careful melodic and atmospheric interjections. ...Flowpoetry's voice [is] raspy and heavy over the cool suspense-building [music of the band]." The Onion (Madison) A.V. Club
"The Trolley carves out a tribal, ambient, dreamy vibe.... They're a musical group that have finally arrived." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"Rhythm comes first [with Venice Gas House Trolley]. The band layers [Flowpoetry's] spoken word over jazz-funk-rock-jam." The Capital Times 77 Square Entertainment Section
"...a sound that doesn't shrivel when the meters swell into a rant." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"[Flowpoetry is] one of the most unique and riveting performers on the Midwestern musical and artistic landscape. The group [Venice Gas House Trolley] is on the cutting edge of the nationwide expansion of new forms of spoken word.... The band is unique, theatrical and musical." DeKalb Chronicle (DeKalb, IL)
"...very chill yet gripping. The band [Venice Gas House Trolley] is on a mission to bridge the gap between poetry and music and does so.... ...some hip jive cat daddy." Gapers Block Presents: Transmission (Chicago, IL)
"Words flowing over bass and drums thrumming jazz, groove, folk, country, blues, psychedelic, jam. Man!" The Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA)
"These are no frail photocopy-folk tunes, but rather legends and tales drawn from a deep well of historical experience; stories that place the listener into the leather boots of the prospectors and drifters they depict. When you hear music created by an American ghost, it gets you to your bones." Emmie Magazine (Madison, WI)
"[Flowpoetry's] verses find the right rhythm and pitch for every approach (and) he reads them with an ease that lets the music sing. …(The Trolley) makes the relationship between words and music feel new again." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"In my two years of working with the Homegrown Music Network, I have reviewed close to 50 different albums of varying range and styles. In those two years, I have never reviewed an album quite like 'Burst Open.' So, to call this album 'original,' only begins the discussion. The tracks on this album show flashes of 'jam rock' sensibility and fuse those flashes with an 'art rock' mentality, for lack of a better term. The tracks on this album fuse elements of beat poetry with other musical styles to make a truly exotic, one-of-a-kind album." J. Evan Wade, Homegrown Music Network
"The band (Flowpoetry on vocals, Tim Peeters on bass and vocals, Nikk Cramer on guitar and vocals, Josh Pultorak drums, and Dr. Beats on percussion) keep their groove taut and structured, leaving space for stories to unwind, but without forgetting the primal urge to move feet."
- Rob F, Leicester Bangs (UK) - Various
[Flowpoetry's] verses find the right rhythm and pitch for every approach (and) he reads them with an ease that lets the music sing. …(The CD) "Burst Open" (by The Trolley) makes the relationship between words and music feel new again. The Isthmus (Madison, WI, USA)
"In my two years of working with the Homegrown Music Network, I have reviewed close to 50 different albums of varying range and styles. In those two years, I have never reviewed an album quite like 'Burst Open.' So, to call this album 'original,' only begins the discussion. The tracks on this album show flashes of 'jam rock' sensibility and fuse those flashes with an 'art rock' mentality, for lack of a better term. The tracks on this album fuse elements of beat poetry with other musical styles to make a truly exotic, one-of-a-kind album." J. Evan Wade--Homegrown Music Network (USA)
"The band (Flowpoetry on vocals, Tim Peeters on bass and vocals, Nikk Cramer on guitar and vocals, Josh Pultorak drums, and Dr. Beats on percussion) keep their groove taut and structured, leaving space for stories to unwind, but without forgetting the primal urge to move feet." LeicesterBangs (UK) - Various (USA and UK)
[Flowpoetry's] verses find the right rhythm and pitch for every approach (and) he reads them with an ease that lets the music sing. …(The CD) "Burst Open" (by The Trolley) makes the relationship between words and music feel new again. The Isthmus (Madison, WI, USA)
"In my two years of working with the Homegrown Music Network, I have reviewed close to 50 different albums of varying range and styles. In those two years, I have never reviewed an album quite like 'Burst Open.' So, to call this album 'original,' only begins the discussion. The tracks on this album show flashes of 'jam rock' sensibility and fuse those flashes with an 'art rock' mentality, for lack of a better term. The tracks on this album fuse elements of beat poetry with other musical styles to make a truly exotic, one-of-a-kind album." J. Evan Wade--Homegrown Music Network (USA)
"The band (Flowpoetry on vocals, Tim Peeters on bass and vocals, Nikk Cramer on guitar and vocals, Josh Pultorak drums, and Dr. Beats on percussion) keep their groove taut and structured, leaving space for stories to unwind, but without forgetting the primal urge to move feet." LeicesterBangs (UK) - Various (USA and UK)
Discography
2012 "When In Rome (wi)" Live VGHT full length CD
2011 "HGMN 10" (placed a track on Homegrown Music Network's annual compilation of the top US jam bands)
2011 "Burst Open" a full length CD
2010 "Umbrella" (placed a track on Mine All Mine Records compilation of Madison, WI music)
2010 "Daydream Generation Vol 9" (placed a track on a British Compilation of Psychedelic Music)
2009 "Synapse Lapse And Reblast!" a full length CD
2009 "Daydream Generation Vol 7" (placed a track on a British Compilation of Psychedelic Music)
2009 "You Don't Sound Like We Do" an EP
2007 "Venice Gas House Trolley" a full length CD
Photos
Bio
Venice Gas House Trolley is the sound of a new creative generation that believes imagination is liberation. The band is jazzy, jammy, funky, and tribal with spoken word poetry and heavy grooves. VGHT's music is packed with psychedelic soundscapes and boundary exploring arrangements that whimsically deviate from the norm yet still provide enough hooks and thick grooves to keep audience's heads bobbing and feet moving.
Paving the way for a whole new genre of music, VGHT mangles musical boundaries and interlaces shared storytelling and poetic vibration into a communal and collective consciousness that unifies the ancient and future as one. The Trolley's appearances include festivals such as The Tall Tree Lake Music Festival (Goreville, IL), The Muddy River Jam Fest (Woodstown, NJ), The Overgrown Music & Arts Festival (Belmont, NY), The Michigan Peace Fest (Lacota, MI), The 40th Annual Midwest Harvest Fest (Madison, WI) and over 300 performances from Wisconsin to New York City.
Venice Gas House Trolley has been praised by the media and fans alike for their new approach to words and intense yet chilled psychedelic jam, and has held the position as the #1 Jam Band in Madison, WI on ReverbNation since May of 2011. VGHT was also voted as one of the top 3 experimental music groups in Madison's Isthmus Newspaper's "Reader's Favorites" poll. Madison newspapers (The Capitol Times and The Onion AV Club, to name a few) have selected VGHT as the Critic's Choice for music event of the evening more than 20 times. The band was recently signed to The Homegrown Music Network national distribution community of bands (the roster includes Keller Williams, Lotus, and STS9 among many others). The Trolley is groovin' down the tracks!
Venice Gas House Trolley features Flowpoetry, a finalist for the MNSWA "Urban Griot" International/National Performer of the Year and a three-time Madison Area Music Awards finalist. VGHT encapsulates the dirty 1960s rock of Jefferson Airplane, the slinky but aggressive and funky grooves of Claypool, the eccentric and experimental sounds of Zappa, the eclectic jam and fun attitude of Phish, the rockin' hip-hop and reggae beats of 311, and the flowin' words of Tom Waits. Through this creative mix, the band has released four full length domestic CDs and has placed tracks on British compilations.
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