When the "Solar Motel" record was released in 2013, I had no band.
I'd relocated to Philly in 2009 and made the record in 2011 with what was essentially a pickup band of cronies from my Brooklyn oughts days - bassist Peter Kerlin, keyboardist Shawn Edward Hansen, and drummer Mike Pride.
As the first real "rock" record I had made after years of fringe improv and drone with the likes of trumpeter Nate Wooley and my Brooklyn-based trio Peeesseye, "Solar Motel" caught some new ears. There would be gigs on the horizon, and for gigs, I'd need a band.
Thus, I got together with guitarist Paul Sukeena (then of Spacin', more recently anchor of Angel Olsen's live band and collaborator of Mary Lattimore) and drummer Steven Urgo, who'd recently logged time touring with a pre-fame War on Drugs, plus future Sunwatcher Kerlin on bass, who commuted down I-95 from his base in Brooklyn.
Material came together fast and our first gigs as The Solar Motel Band came during a residency at fabled Philly jazz bar Ortlieb's, two sets every Thursday in June 2013. Tapers were present.
"Solar Live Vol 8: Ortlieb's" presents a selection of residency highlights, largely early stage deep cuts that would surface on my No Quarter releases "Intensity Ghost" and "The Rarity of Experience" over the next few years, and features some rarely heard slide playing, guest spots from Harmonica Dan and guitarist Don Bruno, plus snippets of the canned banter I often deployed in those days in lieu of actually speaking to the audience.
-CF
credits
released May 6, 2022
Chris Forsyth: guitar
Paul Sukeena: guitar (1, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Don Bruno: guiar (2)
Peter Kerlin: bass guitar
Steven Urgo: drums
Harmonica Dan: harp (4)
Recorded at Ortlieb's, Philadelphia PA, June 2013
Taper: Sebastian Petsu
Photo: Constance Mensh
“...a scrappy and mystical historian… His music humanizes the element of control in rock classicism (and) turns it into a
woolly but disciplined ritual.”
-NY Times
“...a near-perfect balance between 70s rock tradition and present day experimentation,”
-Pitchfork
“...one of rock’s most lyrical guitar improvisors,”
-NPR Music
supported by 54 fans who also own “Solar Live Vol. 8: Ortlieb's”
I really liked "Cosmic Cash" a lot but this album is even better. Eight out of twelve tracks are on heavy rotation in my playlists. Papa Jay (Radio Smorgasbord)
Twitchy, effects-heavy post-punk grooves give way to psychedelic surf-rock delirium on the Toronto quartet's dreamy-yet-doomy second LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 25, 2024
supported by 53 fans who also own “Solar Live Vol. 8: Ortlieb's”
Bright gray sheets of roaring and shimmering guitar held aloft by a delicate web of percussion. Post-rock, shoegaze, psych- rock and hints of bluesy folk, all audible and enmeshed. IlsaJ