North Lawrence Midnight Singers: Press

Concert Preview for Last Great Saturday Night Release Show:

"The band we come to praise, though, is North Lawrence Midnight Singers, the rootsy quintet fronted by singer Jamie Olson (and featuring Arnold), whose sharply and smartly written Last Great Saturday Night is an impressive set of welcoming and warm melancholic tunes that evoke Nashville Skyline-era Bob Dylan and the easygoing, country-leaning Grateful Dead. And that's a good thing."

"Fresh and invigorating rootsy rock’n’roll

Even the smallest hint of something new or different in the hydra-headed monster of a genre that calls itself Americana is to be welcomed, so the second album from Philadelphia’s Midnight Singers is the proverbial breath of fresh air. It may be rooted in the classics—southern rock, classic rock’n’roll singles, even a hint of doo-wop, as well as the more expected rootsy rock’n’roll—but it’s what they do with those well worn items that counts, and what they do is make music that has a freshness, a youth to it, something that sounds like it was knocked up by a group of teens who’ve just formed their first band and are having a go in a garage. Not because it’s rough and ready, far from it, but because it captures that joy of exploration and just playing, and because it doesn’t have that world-weariness that is fine when it’s done well, but is too often overdone. The album is only thirty minutes long and gradually ups the tempo as it progresses, with the driving roadhouse rocker All Night Rain adding a bit of Tom Petty and My Way Is Lost providing plenty of torch and twang, but the band save their best for the closing title track, which has serious anthem potential and is both elegiac and forward looking. One love leaves, another arrives, everything changes, everything stays the same. One thing is for sure though, there should be plenty of great Saturday nights in store with the Midnight Singers."

Inquirer Pop Music Critic selects new NLMS CD "Last Great Saturday Night" as 10 best local CDs for 2010!

"Last Great Saturday Night (self-released): Impressively confident set of country-rock-flavored originals by the outfit fronted by Jamie Olson, whose voice recalls Nashville Skyline-era Dylan."

Press in anticipation of NLMS' first NY/Brooklyn show at Union Hall...

"Classic southern rock hasn't died; it's just been waiting for North Lawrence Midnight Singers to bring it back. They may come from the decidedly northern territory of Philadelphia, but their new album Last Great Saturday Night goes to the core of what truly makes classic southern rock indelible. The warm, shuffling title track explores young love in a wistful, unpretentious way just like their forefathers used to do. The guitar work has the twang of an Allman brother, and the voice behind it all is reminiscent of some genetic crossbreed of Neil Young and Tom Petty. Have a good old time with these old-fashioned but never dated dudes."

Deli preview of 4/1/11 Show at The Station:

"Tonight the North Lawrence Midnight Singers will be pulling into The Station for a night of folk and Americana of yesteryear. The Midnight Singers are a well-oiled harmonizing machine both live and on record, producing sauntering ballads that go great with a Southern sunset and a stiff cocktail. Each song for these folk chameleons highlights a different influence from Presley and Petty to contemporaries like Vetiver and Magnolia Electric Co. Last year they released the well-received Last Great Saturday Night, which was one of Philadelphia Inquirer’s Dan DeLuca’s Top 10 Local Releases for 2010."

Preview for CD release party at Johnny Brenda's...

"Saving one of the best for last, the title track is effective poetry, backed by a swirling sea of lap steel, piano and splashing drums that give it a hazy, rocking feel. It's as good an argument as any that the great Saturday nights of earnest rock 'n' roll are far from a thing of the past - they're real, and they're happening right now, thanks to bands with big hearts like NLMS."

Preview for NLMS' show at the Sundrop Arts & Music Fest:

"Impromptu festival? Okay, let’s do it! The Sundrops Arts and Music Fest is yet another gathering of nearly all of Philadelphia’s musical movers and shakers. The three-day event blossoms out beyond the stage of The Fire on Saturday, but the kickoff concert is fully musical. Featuring performances from local favorites like Hezekiah Jones, the North Lawrence Midnight Singers and Sisters 3, the Sundrops Fest is sure to become a yearly happening, if only to bring these beloved performers together."

"Local heroes: The sound of Philadelphia? As Bob Dylan once said, "It used to go like that, and now it goes like this." Ex-Cordalene singer Jamie Olsen's North Lawrence Midnight Singers purvey complex, country-tinged retro-pop gems. They team with the similarly inclined Sean Lee of Amnesia Star Hotel at 8 p.m. at the North Star."

On The Record, 30 second CD review:

"Local quintet of twang-loving folksy rock that’s baked in sun, soaked in bourbon and radiating with old timey blues on their second strong full length."

Tonight's Concert Picks:

"North Lawrence Midnight Singers are a local band through and through. Named for the address where the five-piece was founded, these rockers are firmly rooted both in Americana and Philadelphia. They’ve been compared to Bob Dylan; their sound is a kind of cross between The Jayhawks and Roy Orbison. Beyond an attachment to classic Sun Records releases, North Lawrence is very much a Philly band. Both North Lawrence records were made in Philly (one with Bill Moriarty of Dr. Dog and Man Man fame), and their most recent effort was named one of 2010’s best local albums by the Inquirer’s Dan DeLuca. North Lawrence Midnight Singers perform with The Spinning Leaves and Birdie Busch at 6:30 p.m. at Penn Treaty Park; tickets to the all-ages show are free."

Preview for CD Release party at Johnny Brenda's:

"The band’s latest offering, Last Great Saturday Night, transplants the Singers’ setting from the Jersey shore to a Tupelo saloon, and they happen to be the swaggery house band with a charismatic lead singer. Tune in below to “Another Night” and pay close attention to vocal vibrato carrying the song. Totally Roy Orbison. Totally Buddy Holly. Totally Elvis Presley. North Lawrence Midnight Singers celebrate the EP’s release tomorrow, Nov. 19, at Johnny Brenda’s."

Concert Pick from The Key on WXPN.

Best Local Album for 2010!

Weekend Concert Pick from XPN's The Key (Release Show)

Umm...Drop: Review of 1st Release "And that Old Time Living Room Sound":

"Country is criminally absent from Philly these days, and it's refreshing to hear how much love North Lawrence Midnight Singers have for the genre's story-heavy songwriting and bittersweet wryness. At a time when retro-minded bands are primarily rehashing '60s psych and garage, these guys are reaching back even farther."

"And that Old Time Living Room Sound" makes Doug Wallen's Best of 2008.

"Ever since their self-titled debut was named one of the top ten best local releases of it’s year by beloved Philadelphia Weekly’s Doug Wallen, who praised the band for their "shambling country-folk goodness culled from the oldest of schools," North Lawrence Midnight Singers have been raising some ears. Their blend of roots music and Americana does a good job of bringing everyone together in a satisfied hoe down."

Concert Preview for Khyber show.

"On their song "All Day All Night" Philly fivesome North Lawrence Midnight Singers call to mind the Replacements when they went down to Memphis to record with Jim Dickinson: whiskey-and-cigarette-shaped vocals from a punk heart merging with rockabilly backbeats, country guitar twang and a potent dose of classic R&B soul. The ghosts of Sun Studios live in several of NLMS' other tunes, and when they say they're fond of "all the cats who made up the Traveling Wilburys," they're not kidding, though they certainly handle those collective influences with care."

Soundadvice: "This young Philly band knows the secret to straddling the classic/jam/indie divide: It's gotta be catchy, like sing-along-everybody-now-c'mon catchy. Peppy beats, twangy guitars and Jamie Olson's moonshine vocals help North Lawrence Midnight Singers hit you the same place the Wilburys or the Connells used to."

Review of "And that Old Time Living Room Sound":

"Together, the boys create a rich, rollicking take on old-fashioned rock, rolling together the big, booming harmonies of Buddy Holly with the winding guitar work of American Beauty and the witticisms of Bob Dylan."

Review for 'Gordon Brown Dog' Benefit.

Recommended Albums for 2009 by American Music ("And that Old Time Living Room Sound"), local radio show in Belgium playing great Americana music.

[Scroll halfway down page to see our album, which received airplay on this Belgium station]