Woke on a Whaleheart | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 24, 2007 | |||
Recorded | November 2006 | |||
Genre | Lo-fi | |||
Length | 40:29 | |||
Label | Drag City | |||
Producer | Bill Callahan, Neil Michael Hagerty | |||
Bill Callahan chronology | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 76/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Pitchfork Media | (6.9/10) [3] |
Spin | [4] |
Uncut | [5] |
Woke on a Whaleheart is the first record released by Bill Callahan under his own name instead of his nom de plume Smog. It was released by Drag City on April 24, 2007, and released a week earlier in Callahan's home state of Texas. [6] A single, "Diamond Dancer," preceded the release of the album on March 20, 2007.
The arrangements of labelmate and former Royal Trux vocalist and guitarist Neil Michael Hagerty are featured on the album, and Callahan's band consists of vocalist Deani Pugh-Flemmings, guitarist Pete Denton, violinist Elizabeth Warren, percussionist Thor Harris, bassist Steve Bernal, and keyboard/lap steel player Howard Draper. The album was recorded by Jeremy Lemos, who previously recorded the Smog albums Rain on Lens and Supper . Woke on a Whaleheart's sound, according to Callahan, touches upon "gospel, tough pop and American Light Opera." [7]
Joe Grillo of the art collective Dearraindrop created the album artwork. [8]
All songs written by Bill Callahan.
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, the band comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound based on Gibbons' blues guitar style and Hill and Beard's rhythm section. They are popular for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the similar appearances of Gibbons and Hill, who were rarely seen without their long beards, sunglasses, and hats.
Glenn Hughes is an English bassist and singer, best known for playing bass and performing vocals in funk rock band Trapeze and in the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. He is known by fans as "The Voice of Rock" due to his soulful and wide-ranging singing voice.
Bill Callahan is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who has also recorded and performed under the band name Smog. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four-track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today.
Captain Beyond is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1972. Their eclectic style bridges elements of hard rock, progressive rock and jazz fusion with space rock.
Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn, who remains the only original member of the band. Machine Head's aggressive musicianship made it one of the pioneering bands in the new wave of American heavy metal. Its current lineup comprises Flynn, bassist Jared MacEachern, guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka and drummer Matt Alston. Bassist Adam Duce, guitarists Logan Mader, Ahrue Luster and Phil Demmel, and drummers Tony Costanza, Chris Kontos and Dave McClain are former members of the band; Mader and Kontos toured with the band in 2019 and 2020 as part of the 25th anniversary tour for its first album, Burn My Eyes (1994).
Golden Smog is an alternative country-rock supergroup of loosely connected musicians mostly from the Minneapolis area. At various times, members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs and Big Star have worked with Golden Smog. Given the fluid collaborative nature of Golden Smog the lineup has often changed, but relative constants who appear on all the recordings are guitarists Kraig Johnson, Dan Murphy and Gary Louris, along with bassist Marc Perlman.
The Red Chord is an American metal band from Revere, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The group comprises vocalist Guy Kozowyk, guitarist/vocalist Mike "Gunface" McKenzie, bassist Greg Weeks and drummer Michael Justian. The band gained a fanbase with its 2002 debut album Fused Together in Revolving Doors. The second album, Clients, was released in 2005 and sold over 50,000 copies in the U.S. They released their third album, Prey for Eyes in 2007, which sold between 4,000 and 5,000 copies and debuted at No. 198 on the Billboard 200 chart. Their latest album, 2009's Fed Through the Teeth Machine, debuted at No. 180 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom originally as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.
Silent Civilian is an American heavy metal band originating from Los Angeles, California. Following his departure from nu metal band Spineshank in 2004, frontman Jonny Santos felt he wanted to move in a different direction musically and start from scratch. Silent Civilian was thus formed and the band faced trouble from the start after experiencing several line-up changes and departing from their original record label Corporate Punishment Records.
Knock Knock is the seventh studio album by Bill Callahan, released under his Smog alias. It was originally released through Drag City in January 1999. In Europe, it was released through Domino Recording Company.
Red Apple Falls is the sixth album by Smog, released in May 1997 on Drag City and re-released in Europe in 2001 by Domino.
The Doctor Came at Dawn is an album by Bill Callahan, released in 1996 on Drag City. It was re-released in Europe in 2001 by Domino. Callahan's occasional creative partner, Cynthia Dall, appears on the album.
Stacy Glen Jones is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is currently the musical director and drummer for Miley Cyrus and Life of Dillon, and is also known for being the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter of American Hi-Fi, and as the drummer for Letters to Cleo.
Sewn to the Sky is an album by Smog, released in 1990 on Disaster Records. Most sources consider it to be Smog's first album, made after the release of several cassette-only recordings. It was re-released on Drag City in 1995. The experimental album combined home recording, substandard instruments and repetitive and noisy songwriting structures, and was an early example of the lo-fi genre.
Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Tilian Pearson and Jon Mess, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, bass guitarist Tim Feerick, and drummer Matthew Mingus. The band formerly included lead vocalists Jonny Craig and Kurt Travis, and the lineup has changed several times since their inception. Swan and Mingus are the only band members who have appeared on every studio album.
This a detailed discography of American singer-songwriter Bill Callahan. All of his work was released under the alias Smog, except where noted.
Thor Harris is an artist, sculptor, musician, painter, carpenter and handyman. He was the percussionist for Swans (2010–2016). He has performed with Shearwater (2001–2010), Bill Callahan, The Angels of Light, Lisa Germano, Yonatan Gat, Gretchen Phillips, Devendra Banhart, Rebecca Cannon, Xiu Xiu, Flock of Dimes & Amanda Palmer, Whalesong, and the Grand Theft Orchestra. He has recorded at least six instrumental albums with the Austin producer Rob Halverson. He also contributed to Ben Frost's 2014 album, Aurora. He joined the touring lineup of Xiu Xiu as a percussionist in February 2017 and he has enjoyed touring with Thor & Friends since 2015.
Neal Morgan is an American drummer, arranger of drums and percussion, and singer-songwriter. Morgan is best known as the drummer for Joanna Newsom and Bill Callahan.
Gold Record is a studio album by American musician Bill Callahan, released on September 4, 2020 by independent record label Drag City. It is the seventh studio album released under his own name, and eighteenth overall when including studio albums released as Smog.
Joe Grillo is an American visual artist based in Virginia Beach, VA. He was briefly a member of the artist collective Paper Rad, before splintering off to found the artist collective Dearraindrop with siblings Laura Grant and Billy Grant in 2003. His graphic work was published in the underground comics newspaper Paper Rodeo and Kramers Ergot. He has exhibited internationally as a solo artist at Nordiska Akvarellmuseet Museum in Skarhamn, Loyal Gallery in Sweden, and The Hole in New York City.