Press: Wayne Robbins & the Hellsayers

[LaurieBlue]

Asheville by way of Wilmington songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Wayne Robbins, by day an English professor at Western Carolina University, apparently had a lot of time to let his mind wander on his migration from the beach to the mountains.  The Lonesome Sea, the album he's made with his band the Hellsayers, sports lyrics that frequently sound like the results of a creative writing exercise conducted in the middle of a fever dream, and the whole enterprise is one of the most gradually engrossing, genre-blurring records to come out of North Carolina in a while.  It's tempting to reach for some usual-suspect comparisons (you know, here a "subdued and rustic Flaming Lips" and there a now ubiquitous "Wilco-esque") or apply a customized tag ("psych-folk sea chanteys"), but it's probably best to just award the four E's:   eclectic, earnest, enigmatic and eccentric.  Throughout, layers of guitars, both acoustic and electric guitar, lap steel, keyboards, drums, and the random autoharp blend, resulting in a high-altitude Lambchop.  (Damn, another comparison snuck in.)  And when the band crashes in at the 2:30-minute mark of "Jesus," it's like your high-strung cat interrupting an afternoon nap with a giddy pounce.  Compared to the lulling build-up, it's the sound of all hell breaking loose, and it's just one of many moments that will keep you returning to The Lonesome Sea.
Rick Cornell - The Music Monitor - Feb. 2005

[biscuitbobo]

thanks, Laurie.  You guys are the best.  Is that morning dj ready to kill Don yet w/ the lonesome sea requests?  We're playing on April 18th @ the Grey Eagle in Asheville w/ Magnolia Electric Company.  check 'em out.  Jason Molina's (songs:ohia) rock band that rocks.  Please come up, you two!!!  You have a place a stay, and we want you to hear the new demos.  I'll pass this along to Jeff and Wayne and the others.  thanks again for your support and we'll be seeing you soon!!!! Jonas