Alex Battles'
Whisky Rebellion
The Whisky Rebellion is Alex Battles. The Whisky Rebellion performs original songs, by turns funny and bittersweet, in the classic country style. Battles writes these tunes with the help of his grandfather's tenor banjo. His major songwriting influences are Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Tom Waits and Willie Nelson. The Whisky Rebellion contains anywhere from 1-7 members, depending on venue constraints and the weather. In 2004, Battles founded and programmed the 1st Annual Brooklyn Country Music Festival to promote New York City's burgeoning country music scene. The 2nd Annual Brooklyn Country Music Fesival will take place in July of 2005. Battles is also the founder and host of JugFest, The CasHank Hootenanny Jamboree, The Brooklyn Winter Hoedown, and several other events throughout the city. The internet home to the large-scale events Battles promotes is www.brooklyncountrymusic.com. Battles lives in Brooklyn, NY. He things funny thongs.
CONTACT:
Email: alex@whiskyrebellion.com
Call: #1-718-208-6703
PRESS:
"Also, to add to the quality of the Friday, sometimes-NYSX contributor and singer/songwriter Alex Battles was playing in the Freddy's backroom and did a grand, a "garage" punk rock number called "Hong Kong Collision." More heartfelt than TSOL's "Flowers by the Door" and more upbeat than "Vagabonds" by New Model Army (coming to Park Slope, by the wayMay 7 at Southpaw), Battles and his Whisky Rebellion act has an easy hit in the making. A triple into the gap, I'd say."
-Spike Vrusho, New York Sports Express
"The concert was booked at Fez Under the Time Café and boasted a lineup of 17 ukulele players. TV and film actress Illeana Douglas (who got her first Uke several months ago) lent some star power to the evening by volunteering to serve as the event's emcee. There is no passive viewing at a uke concert. Almost every song is a sing along. The award for the best sing along would have gone to The Whisky Rebellion, or rather, Alex Battles, the band's most regular member and founder of The Brooklyn country Music Festival, JugFest and the CasHank Hootenanny Jamboree."
-Ross Tucker, The Black Table
"Oh darling you're the last thing I needed," sing Alex Battles and Lael Logan on May 13 in a sweet, Southern-drawled unison as the opry unfolds. "The last thing I needed was a girl/boy that I could love, but you didn't leave me feeling cheated." Love affairs, broken hearts, big-town boys and old, country roads echo throughout the evening, but what starts out slow eventually gives way to hand-clapping, feet-stomping beats that excite the tightly packed audience members.
-Chiara V. Cowan, The Brooklyn Papers
"Alex is the musical mastermind who will be playing his banjo among other instruments at the Barking Spider on Wednesday November 24th for all those who will be in Cleveland that day. If you close your eyes you might think that deep voice is a reborn Johnny Cash or something. Or what would happen if Johnny Cash was genetically recombined with Weird Al Yankovic."
-Craig Lyndall, Filtering Craig
"Alex has a knack for writing country songs just like grandpappy did. Well, my grandpappy didn't, but if he had..."
-Jenn Coonce, New York Live Music List
To see Alex's inclusion in the coolest underground comic strip around, click right here. (Look to the left of Minnie Pearl.) June Comics are the brainchild of the great Bill Alger.