BiografieAfter nearly 10 years, 5 albums on 3 international labels, over 1,000 shows across the U.S., armfuls of ´best of´ awards, and more hooks than a tackle box full of musical lures, Dreadnaught has become a veritable New England institution. "For most people in the music industry, doing what you really, truly want to do just isn´t an option," says bassist/composer Bob Lord. "But we´re not most people."

Damn straight. At once steeped in American tradition and yet thoroughly forward-looking – kind of like a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon hurtling through a wormhole, or a steel cage match at the local VFW hall on the moons of Saturn – Dreadnaught (Lord, guitarist/composer Justin Walton, and drummers Rick Habib and Tim Haney) has bended and busted rule after rule after rule with its music, and each album has always proved a galactic leap from the one that preceded. From the sunny groove-rock of DREADNAUGHT (1998) and the rustic, experimental UNA VEZ MAS (2000) to the earthshakingly progressive opus THE AMERICAN STANDARD (2001, Red Fez Records) and the avant-garde tour-de-force MUSICA EN FLAGRANTE (2004, Big Balloon Music), Dreadnaught has displayed an obsession with "pushing the proverbial envelope right down the shredder" (Progressive World). "We´ve always felt that composing music is a completely wide-open process with no restrictions whatsoever, and recording provides an opportunity to let those ideas fly and not worry about the practical application of performing in a live setting," explains Walton. "We sweat that out later!"

But Dreadnaught´s esoteric orchestral approach to studio production – in which violins, loops, horns, and general chaos are often just as prominent as guitars, basses, drums, and (sometimes!) vocals – contrasts sharply with its blue-collar, humorous, and refreshingly straightforward live shows. The band´s latest release, the colossal double-disc LIVE AT MOJO (2005, Comet Records), ups the ante yet again with 30 tracks from the Dreadnaught repertoire and tunes by Jerry Lee Lewis, Frank Zappa, Dick Curless, and more performed live in a completely stripped-down, bar-band fashion: "Country-rock, avant-garde blues, prog-funk, experimental rock – any and all of these labels are accurate, yet each only begins to brush the surface of the band´s style. Daringly different." (All Music Guide, )

The passionate accolades haven´t always been there, but the work ethic has: five, six, seven, eight nights of gigging each and every week of the year. National tours in rotten old Chevy vans. Rehearsals and writing sessions squeezed into any and all free moments. A LOT of Days Inns. Gigs with John Entwistle (The Who), NRBQ, California Guitar Trio, Thanks to Gravity, Percy Hill, and a very odd fey fellow who lip-syncs his own material named Valkyrie, in opera houses, rough-and-tumble bars, and even a basement or two. And through it all, they´ve kept an overwhelming and overriding sense of fun, joy, and sheer love of the game.

In addition to their work with Dreadnaught, the individual band members maintain busy careers on their own. Bob Lord is an in-demand composer for film, tv, video games and other media, and has created audio for companies such as Scripps TV, Universal, San Francisco Chronicle, Sweet & Doggett, and Pioneer TV; Lord runs the indie label Red Fez Records and is PR Director of the classical label MMC, flagship of the renowned American composer William Thomas McKinley (student of Aaron Copland and collaborator of Richard Stoltzman, Dexter Gordon, and Stan Getz). Bob also makes a mean rack of lamb.

Justin Walton is a prolific composer and maintains an active recording and performance schedule both as a solo artist and session man with acts such as Coby Carlucci and Tractor Trailer; the Maine native and Berklee grad is a fisherman par excellence, can gut a catch in less than 3 seconds, and is feared tremendously by more than a dozen varieties of trout, bass, and perch. Drummer Tim Haney is a member of the acclaimed experimental jamband SeePeoples and has performed with artists such as Howie Day, Pete Keys (P-Funk), and Dana Colley (Morphine); Tim has been mistaken for Animal (The Muppets) from time to time. Rick Habib, a founding member of Dreadnaught along with Bob in 1996 and now again performing with the band, has gigged regularly with artists such as Ed Jurdi, Tom Yoder, Ethan Bessey, Marc Hickox (Dragonfly), and Dave Marshall (Big Chicken); Rick possesses a limited sense of taste, smell, and is, in fact, almost completely color blind.

Upcoming projects include a stint as house band for the NHPR/Music Hall live broadcast series “Writers On A New England Stage” (featuring Doris Kearns Goodwin and other prominent authors), new studio recordings, film work, and a possible cookbook release. Duck for cover. Head for the hills. Here comes Dreadnaught.
Quelle: http://www.dreadnaughtrock.comDiscografie2005 Live At Mojo

2004 Musica En Flagrante

2001 The American Standard

2000 Una Vez Mas

1998 Dreadnaught


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