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Bakelite 78

Rank #16 Seattle, WA Americana / Vaudeville / Jazz

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About

Members: Robert Rial: vocals,tenor and acoustic guitars, Erin Jordan: vocals, piano, accordion, Erik Reed: trumpet, flugelhorn, Austin Quist: Upright bass and sousa...

Sounds Like: Squirrel Nut Zippers, Asylum Street Spankers, Jolie Holland, Tom Waits, The Decemberists

Bio: Bakelite 78 was founded by old time music enthusiast Robert Rial.
Rial arrived in Chicago in 2000, eager to engage in the musical styles he loved most: dance orchestra music/swing, country-blues, dixieland, tin pan alley, rock and American folk. He played his guitar and tenor banjo and took solac... See Full Bio

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Status

Bakelite 78- What The Moon Has Done, is NOW available in CD and downloadable formats on THIS SITE: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bakelite783

Press

“Bakelite 78, "What the Moon Has Done" (Bakelite) Rial...has taken a leap with his new CD, a highly-arranged concept album brimming with bravura trumpet, dark tales of woe and Brechtian menace. Without seeing the jacket notes, you'd think the material had been retrieved from old records, but, remarkably, Rial and his musical partner, vocalist Erin Jordan, wrote these songs. They have an uncanny ability to get their heads inside antique styles. Bakelite doesn't just do old music, it seems to inhabit the past. "Monongah," a minor lament with stunning trumpet lines, regales that West Virginia mining disaster like it happened last week, "Tale of a Missouri Girl" revisits the midwest-lass-goes-to-Hollywood story line with affectionate good humor; and the macabre "World's Fair Hotel," in the voice of 1893 World's Fair serial killer, H.H. Holmes, resonates eerily. Tom Waits, anyone? Scary stuff, and though overarranged here and there, the music is delivered with conviction and panache. ”

— Paul De Barros, The Seattle Times

““…Rial, in shiny gray tux, bow tie, burgundy cummerbund, silver shoes and towering top hat, has a voice that goes from sleepy-balladeer tenor to a neo-Tom Waits growl with the turn of a phrase. He can certainly belt it out — but he can be silky-voiced, too, as he lilts his way through musical fare that ranges from New Orleans-flavored ragtime to gypsy tunes to Depression-era classics (“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”). And there’s a gleefully macabre edge to some of his original tunes."”

— Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times

““The first thing that knocked me back was Robert Rial’s voice. He has the voice of an intinerant minstrel: solid, strong, down-home yet with a range and timbre applicable to a stunning variety of occasions. He sounds like a crooner fronting a ragtime band on “When it’s Darkness on the Delta” and conjures the ghost of the legendary Phil Ochs on “Brown Recluse Girl”… this isn’t a compliment I throw around lightly. (Do note that the woodwind work on this track does help invoke the spirit of the late Ochs.) In between Rial exhibits his deftness with whatever blues, jazz, country or folk is thrown at him.” ”

— Jordan Bodewell, Sepiachord

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Recent Blogs

Bakelite 78-What The Moon H...
Sep 20, 2011
An album of dark music. [more]

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Songs

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Monongah

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What The Moon Has D…

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Dillinger Sang

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The World's Fair Ho…

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Lurid Lounge

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Shows

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Thu
Jun 27

The Crocodile
Seattle, WA, US | 7:00pm
The Crocodile
Seattle, WA, US
Thu Jun 27 7:00pm
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Details

The Crocodile & Silent City Productions present (One More) Vaudeville Show - 11 Years of Junkyard Cabaret with The Bad Things Featuring performances by: Sinner Saint Burlesque, Miss Mamie Lavona and her White Boy Band, Bakelite 78 and special guests throughout the evening. Hosted by Armitage Shanks, the Carny Preacher Thursday, June 27, 2013 at The Crocodile - 2200 2nd Avenue Doors at 7pm. Show starts at 8pm SHARP! $13 advanced/$15 day of show $1 of advanced tickets sales benefits the Victims of Cafe Racer Shootings Memorial Fund. This event is 21+ with ID www.thebadthings.com www.sinnersaintburlesque.com www.reverbnation.com/missmamielavona www.bakelite78.com www.thecarnypreacher.com www.caferacerlove.org
Mon
Jul 22

The Royal Room
Seattle, WA, US | 8:00pm
The Royal Room
Seattle, WA, US
Mon Jul 22 8:00pm
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- Tickets