Red Line Annie ‘Back to three’
Local band releases CD with Friday night bash
Word of mouth can be the best friend of worst enemy for a band trying to get its foot in the narrow doorway of the music industry.
Fortunately for the New Orleans band Red Line Annie, the word of mouth surrounding their debut album “Back To Three” has proven to be a powerful ally.
“I’m surprised at how quickly our sales have jumped since we released the CD,” said Red Line Annie’s guitarist Justin Monjure. “We’ve put up flyers around LSU. We sell the album out of the trunks of our cars, but basically we’ve been selling the album because people go and tell their friends about us.”
The word of mouth flame is indeed burning bright for Monjure and his bandmates, singer/drummer Michael Goodier and bassist Ryan Branch.
The trio intend to continue stoking that flame by throwing a CD release party this Friday night at 9 p.m. at Madigan’s Bar in New Orleans.
“The party’s open to friends, family and the public,” Monjuire said. “We just want to let people know the CD is out there. [Madigan’s] is gonna be playing the CD over the PA system, and hopefully we’ll sell some CDs and just have a good time.”
According to Monjure “Back To Three” was a long time in the making, and despite a few lineup changes, the core trio of Monjure, Branch and Goodier has grown more experienced musically as a result of the album making process.
“We worked for a long time on the album,” Monjure said. “It was definitely time consuming, but we are extremely pleased with the results. The whole experience of making the album was just incredible.”
With a sound reminiscent of bands like matchbox 20 and Train, “Back To Three” consists of 11 mid-tempo songs dealing mostly with the loving and heartbreaking aspects of male/female relationships.
“We don’t write songs just to be writing songs,” Monjure said. “We write to convey feelings, and we want our songs to be something people can relate to.”
A cross between Rob Thomas and Edwin McCain, singer Goodier’s voice intertwines nicely with Monjure’s and Branch’s laid-back guitar riffs.
The band’s effort in the studio shows through on the album, which is consistently good in all musical aspects.
But despite a solid studio performance, Monjure says fans will have to wait to see Red Line Annie perform live.
“Right now we’re focusing on pushing the CD,” Monjure said. “We spent a lot of time concentrating on our sound and making sure [the music] sounded professional. We plan to play some low-key acoustic type stuff from time to time, but for right now we want to see how people react to the CD.”
Like all upcoming bands, Red Line Annie has dealt with its share of frustrations, but the band’s resolve and love for its craft have inspired Goodier, Monjure and Branch to keep on rockin’.
“We were just some guys who began playing music because it was fun,” Monjure said. “We’ve had some people leave the band, but that core group of three has always been there. That’s why we called the album ‘Back To Three.’ It always came down to the three of us, [and] we just kept on playing.”
J. Colin Trisler