Meet... The UpSouth Twisters!

The UpSouth Twisters are not a new band but a group of seasoned veterans who have been playing together for years under the name Lucky 7. The band’s founder and leader is accordionist-keyboard player-singer- songwriter Kenny Margolis, www.kennymargolis.com, an ex-member of Mink Deville. Also percussionist Boris Kinberg (Willy DeVille Band) is a member of this band that plays Americana, original greasy, Southern-fried-with a side of salsa, rockin’ Cajun-Zydeco, blues and rockabilly and dance party music.

The UpSouth Twisters by The UpSouth Twisters © Copyright - UpSouth Recordings / UpSouth Recordings (824190003623) Genre: Rock: Americana Release Date: 2008

The UpSouth Twisters are not a new band but a group of seasoned veterans who have been playing together for years under the name Lucky 7. The decision to change the name coincides with their first full length CD release in a decade. The CD, self titled, will be released this winter of 2008 on UpSouth Recordings. The CD features the band’s signature sound including accordion, electric and acoustic guitars, upright bass, harmonica, mandolin, drums, rub board, timbales and other percussion, piano and organ plus the guest appearance of Levon Helm’s horn players Erik Lawrence and Steve Bernstein on several tunes. Music critics have had a field day trying to describe the band’s music, dubbing it Cajun rockabilly, Rockin’ Zydeco, roots rock with a squeezebox and a New York mix of Zydeco and rockin’ roadhouse Americana. Just about the only certainty is that no two-or three-word label fully encompasses the range of the band's musical gumbo. By drawing from Elvis-era Rock’n’Roll, Cajun, Zydeco, delta blues, classic country, and even Latino salsa plus Tex-Mex, this New York based quintet has challenged the descriptive talents of the music press, while at the same time earning its praise. The UpSouth Twisters are New York based but their music wins listeners across the heartland, as Austin American-Statesman critic Michael Point observed at a Texas show, “The group's seamless set was solid and substantial, full of prime party-time dance music underpinned by a resilient rhythmic thrust that pushed and pulled the music in consistently interesting directions."

The band’s founder and leader is accordionist-keyboard player-singer- songwriter Kenny Margolis, an ex-member of Mink Deville, who's also toured with and appears on albums by Cracker, The Smithereens, Freedy Johnston, and The Silos among others. Billy Roues (guitar/mandolin/vocals) and Steven “Muddy” Roues (standup bass/harmonica) have brought their songwriting and experience producing, writing, playing and recording with roots artists as diverse as Jo-El Sonnier, John Lee Hooker, Carl Perkins, Lonnie Mack, Lenny Kaye, Wayne Kramer and Stax & Muscle Shoals soul greats Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. Percussionist, Boris Kinberg has played with Mink DeVille and Robert Gordon. Rounding out the band is the solid drumming of Nyack’s own, Bill Rankin. After honing its style in sweaty New York clubs, the Twisters (under their former moniker) won favor on a series of European and Canadian tours earning praise as "a heavenly party band" (Sweden's Expressen) and "pure fun!" (Germany's Musick Szene). Toronto's Now said, "No doubt about it, New York's Lucky 7 is among the most fun, freewheeling live acts going." An awesome show at the Montreal International Jazz Festival won over thousands of new fans.

Several songs from the band's repertoire have landed in feature films and also on compilation albums including the Margolis/Roues instrumental, "Holiday Depression” which was in the soundtrack to one of James Gandolfini's first movies, "Italian Movie". It was also released as part of a Swedish compilation called "Rockin' At The Barn" on Dusty Records (1999). Most recently their cover versions of Dave Alvin’s “So Long Baby Goodbye” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Valentine’s Day” were included on highly acclaimed tribute CD’s to their authors. (Blastered: A Tribute to The Blasters on Runwild Records and Light Of Day: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen on Schoolhouse Records.The latter song is included in their new release. The UpSouth Twisters are back with a vengeance, playing their greasy, Southern-fried-with a side of salsa music. Kenny Margolis says he doesn't mind the southern comparison. "A lot of our music does have roots in the South," he admits. "But growing up in New York, we have interpreted it differently than a Southern band would. Sort of like the British Invasion bands of the Sixties like The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and Cream interpreting Chicago blues." [source: www.cdbaby.com/cd/upsouthtwisters]

Also... One Way Track by Lucky 7 © Copyright - UpSouth Recordings / UpSouth Recordings (048691300825)