Joe Gande and The Godsend Sessions-Will touch your heart. It's really hard to believe they posess so much talent and versatility. Soulful, Rock-Blues, music of the finest quality. Joe Gande is an amazingly talented artist. He could move anyone with his voice and guitar. It would be hard to listen to this music and not walk away thinking about what you just heard. "Addictive". "An emotional journey into your soul". The Godsend Sessions are immensely talented and bring to life sensational sounds that touch the heart and stir the soul. With songs like "Been So Many Years", which is one of those songs that make you stop what you are doing and listen. Definitely the song to make you feel. "Brighter Day", a blues/rock tune full of heart felt sound.
Joe and The Godsend Sessions may just very well be some of the best music you add to your cd collection....As hard to describe as his voice is the music that he and Ostberg (along with Kevin Bregande on drums, James B. Gately Jr. Guitar, Craig Shrawder on Keyboards) create. The music that is unbelievably unique. I was describing one song to a friend, and explained the cool melody and heavy riff, and then explained how a muted trumpet pops out of the right speaker. He smiled and0 said, "Cool" but I know he was thinking, "huh?" It's like Sly Stone singing with the Black Crowes. There is also a part of the sound that can only be described as "New York". It's a jazzy, fretless vibe that mixes in occasionally that makes you smile at such a collaboration (and then makes you wonder why you didn't think of it first). By the last song you're going "this is so TGS."
Joe and crew did something very smart. They saved (and saved) their pennies and went to a top line studio, got it mastered, and mixed so that you will have to ask yourself multiple times, "This is an indie band?" The songs are mature, with phenomenal arrangements, and do something else (with a complimentary nod to the 70's) they spread their stereo W I D E. You got a left and right speaker. Why not use them? After you get done listening to the car on the way home, put on a pair of headphones and listen again. It's very cool.
The band is currently preparing for some spotlight shows in New York. Most importantly go to http://www.wired4soundrecords.com and buy their CD so you can say "I knew them before they got signed." On a side note, if you are looking for places to list your band, I would check out their mp3 site, as Joe has been busy listing them everywhere.Amongst all of the many clubs and things to do on a New York Friday, I found myself at the right place at the right time on April 13, 2001 when, at the request of a friend, I went to see The Godsend Sessions play at the Cutting Room. First of all, The Cutting Room is quite a find on its own. Small with a big feel – tight but open enough for all to cut loose. The setting was just right for my first encounter with The Godsend Sessions.
Rock and Roll? Nope. Rock, Roll, and Soul. The Godsend Sessions brought back decades of influential themes while infusing modern day angst and grit. Led by singer/songwriter Joe Gande, the band pounded out truly original cuts. The vibe of the band and the music was familiar and intimate, yet the band was huge! The horn section spilled off the stage onto the floor with the audience.
On stage something electric was happening: bass, rhythm guitar, keys, jazz-style drumming meshed with soulful, lead vocals and well harmonized backing vocals, then sprinkled with the flavor of the horn section that came and went appropriately. It was a musical feast that a band like Pink Floyd would attempt and pull off, and The Godsend Sessions distinctly did the same. However, The Godsend Sessions were strictly music – no gimmicks – original and heartfelt. Musicians without the pretensions, Rock Stars without the egos. The Godsend Sessions rely on the strength of Joe's music - and what wonderful music it was! ‘Brighter Day’, ‘Shelter Me’ and ‘Lost Her Head’ were the most amazing songs I’ve had the pleasure of listening to in a long time. Members of the audience were actually singing along to ‘Can’t See My Life’. The crowd was with the band that night.
My note to the band: I wish you could have seen the expressions on the faces in the crowd during your last song (‘The La-La Song’). Every instrument was climbing the scales– a tangled musical frenzy reaching an orgasmic high. And then . . . it stopped. Complete silence. The air echoed in that silence until broken by applause. And THEN-YOU DID IT AGAIN! Another explosion of music that again stopped abruptly and anticipatory. The crowd LOVED it and I LOVED it.
On my first listen of "Lost Her Head" I hear a blending of many styles. The Godsend Sessions definitely know their classics. I hear distorted guitar, the vocals are relaxed and somewhat gruff, and the trumpet is a very good addition. The trumpet really nails everything down, while the driving energetic beat forms the backbone. The vocals are delivered in a slow, detached and stylish manor, while the music is deliberate and controlled. "Lost Her Head" stylistically sounds like a mix of Blues and Classic Rock.
To: Joe
“I’ve listened to your Cd at least 5 times in the last few days and felt the need to write, I like it more every time. Tuesday night on the train it had me crying. I once told you that I could be moved to tears by Mozart or Chris Cornell and your music did that to me too.
You can feel the heartfelt emotion with which it was written.
It reminds me of great music of the ‘70’s. I love the way you’ve combined various musical influences. It’s quite impressive that you wrote the entire thing. The lyrics remind me of the sincere guy I remember talking to one night a year ago. This Cd should bring great success to you. I wish you the best!"
Take care,
DNR