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WHITMAN & PANTELL

Take a classical and East European folk music influenced singer/songwriter with a flair for puns and limericks, and pair her with an American folk and rock influenced singer/songwriter who was educated by Mad Magazine, and you have the duo of Whitman and Pantell.

Karen Whitman and Rick Pantell work with bowed and fretted stringed instruments to support Karen's warm, natural and versatile vocals on mostly original songs, reflecting the ups and downs of our times. Karen's clear, melodic and mesmerizing voice, complemented by her fiddle, is fortified by Rick's resonant, energetic, individual style on guitar, banjo and tambura, adding a fresh, bright sound. Their songs, written both individually and collaboratively, are enthusiastically received and appeal to a wide audience.

Whitman and Pantell have performed at numerous coffee houses and festivals in the New York City tri-state area. Festivals include The New Jersey Folk Festival in New Brunswick (with their then band, Paprikash), as well as at Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival. They have also been broadcast live on WAMC radio on "Dancing on the Air" with Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, as well as in concert with Pete Seeger and others.

Before teaming up, Karen was the lead singer of her Manhattan based band, the Balkanizers, performing at such New York venues as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as such out of area venues as The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, Rick was playing the coffeehouse circuit from Boston to Boise, for college kids and cowboys respectively (and respectfully)......Clearly, they were a perfect match waiting to happen!

They both moved to Woodstock, NY (Yes, the Woodstock!) where they eventually met through their mutual love of the visual arts. After showing each other (quite literally) their etchings, they discovered they could also make beautiful music together. They've been harmonizing ever since.

The music of Karen Whitman and Rick Pantell, takes you through a full range of emotions through their unique mixture of creative, heart-felt music that, to be honest, only these two could have conjured up!

WHAT THEY SAID...

"I've seen them perform live and just loved it ... I think you'll dig it, too." - Stuart Hall, WKZE 98.1 FM

"This immensely talented duo...gave us an extremely entertaining set with an international flair...They kept the audience mesmerized for the duration of the performance" - Red Rogers, Hudson Valley Folk Guild

"Whitman's voice has a pulse to it- The oncoming force of a wave - a pitch that carries and penetrates, yet retains a quality that's a pleasure to hear song after song...Pantell's guitar is its own force, his chorded backing resonant and lush" - Kitty Montgomery, Kingston Freeman

"Karen Whitman and Rick Pantell combine fiddle, guitar, witty lyrics, and poignant ones too, and a wide array of musical sounds to come up with their trademark sound." - Todd Mack, WKZE 98.1 FM

"It's not only good music, it's intelligent music" - Peter Martin, Taconic Newspapers

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Chicken Fat Pudding and Other Delights

After turning on audiences wherever they play, Karen Whitman & Rick Pantell have now released their long awaited debut CD, Chicken Fat Pudding and Other Delights, an ecclectic collection of mostly original songs that have become audience hits. Their songs run the gamut from the thoroughly thought provoking to the downright nonsensical. (Beware of the occasional tear-jerker, but you shall rise again!)

Windows Media Player audio clips (for those with dial-up)

1. CHICKEN FAT PUDDING

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2. SUMMER IS GONE

3. A WORLD WITHOUT WAR

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4. DVE SA MOMI (Traditional Bulgarian)

5. THE FRISBEE SONG

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6. TROPNALO ORO (TraditionalMacedonian)

7. KATHY

8. FIRE AND SMOKE

9. OF ELVES AND EDAPHOSAURS

10. HIGH SCHOOL QUEEN

11. EACH NIGHT I GAZE UPON MY LOVE

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12. A WORLD WITHOUT WAR - A CELEBRATION

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ABOUT THE MUSIC:

This acoustic/electric album takes the listener through a full range of emotions, not the least of which is laughter, with their title song Chicken Fat Pudding leaving both vegetarians and carnivores alike in stitches, starting with the opening line. The Frisbee Song, about a poor fellow who just can't seem to get away from the ruthless path of a particular frisbee, is a funny yet suspenseful show-stopper (humour-noir) with an awesome arrangement. And on the subject of laughter, there is also a 21st century drinking song, Of Elves and Edaphosaurs (complete with burp!!!).

CHICKEN FAT PUDDING and Other Delights has a dark side too, with a song of terrorism, Kathy, and a song of the end of the world, Fire and Smoke. This goes hand-in-hand with a prayer for world peace, A World Without War, which wouldn't be complete without a song to sing once world peace is achieved, A World Without War -A Celebration. The latter has the same melody as the former, but a faster tempo and an odd (7) meter, in the Balkan tradition, which Karen and Rick also share with listeners with their songs Dve Sa Momi (a stunning Bulgarian acapella featuring Karen) and Tropnalo Oro (a driving Macedonian dance tune, also in 7). And, of course, a song about a High School Queen! But wait - what about love? There are two love songs - one mutual, and one unrequited (Each Night I Gaze Upon My Love and Summer is Gone, respectively).
You can't beat that!

ABOUT THE INSTRUMENTATION:

Karen's vocals, the thread that so perfectly joins this rich and varied CD together, are warm, powerful, and melodic. Rick's cool, lush guitar (acoustic and electric) is the bed supporting the overall sound. Also included is bass, fiddle, tambura, banjo, drums and dumbek.

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WHERE WE'VE PLAYED (selected venues)

Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival
    Croton-On-Hudson, NY
SUNY Albany Theatre, Albany, NY
   (with Pete Seeger, Clearwater Crew)
Bearsville Theatre, Bearsville, NY
WKZE 98.1 FM, Two Spotlight Features     and Interview Off the Beat-N-Track     with host Todd Mack
Canal Festival, Rotterdam Junction, NY
First Night Albany, Albany, NY
First Night Saratoga,
   Saratoga Springs, NY
New Jersey Folk Festival,
     New Brunswick, NJ
   (with band "Paprikash")
Worldfest, Stamford, CT
    (with band "Paprikash")
   (International Music Festival)
Golden Festival, NYC
   (International Music Festival)
Looking Glass Theatre, NYC
The Parlour, NYC
Colony Cafe, Woodstock, NY
John St. Jam, Saugerties, NY
High Falls Cafe, High Falls, NY
Red Hook Inn, Red Hook, NY
Cuomo's Cove, Windham, NY
Cafe Mezzaluna, Saugerties, NY
Hudson Valley Folk Guild Folk Festival,
    Highland, NY
Center for Performing Arts,
    Rhinebeck, NY
Rhinecliff Hotel, Rhinebeck, NY
Music in the Grove, Walden, NY

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BUY NOW

Chicken Fat Pudding CD ............. $12.99

Purchase through

Visit Whitman and Pantell's Sonicbids Electronic Press Kit (EPK):

FOR MORE DELIGHTS, VISIT WHITMAN AND PANTELL'S VISUAL ART SITE:

www.bearsvillegraphics.com

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