The Bootleg Remedy

From All Music Guide
The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist and ethnomusicologist David Gould, the Bootleg Remedy have quickly gained renown among fans of traditional old timey string band, bluegrass, Dixieland, and Western swing. Reminiscent of acts like the Squirrel Nut Zippers and R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders, as much for their free-wheeling fun spirit as for their exemplary musicianship, the band has few obvious rivals in their masterful mixing
of revered American forms.

Formed in Brooklyn in 2000 by banjoist Gould, violinist Amanda Kapousouz, lap steel guitarist Michael Gomez, guitarist David Yantorno, drummer Jim Mansfield, Andrew Innes on saxophone and musical saw, and the acclaimed horn section of trombonist Michael Arenella, clarinetist Eric Kay, and tuba player John Simonetti, the Bootleg Remedy draw from a variety of musical backgrounds to form an incredibly vibrant homage to past sounds. Their first release, a self-titled romp through bluegrass and early jazz covers and a smattering of originals, garnered the band their first major critical breakthrough, as the band became one of New York City's only outlets for true downhome roots music. The follow-up, 2002's Cutting Time, further established the band as the leading lights in the re-creation of most joyous sounds of a bygone era, with Gould mixing in a few more originals and turning out a similarly focused and impeccably rendered set.
-by Matt Fink

Discography

Originals – DAG 0802 – Release 11 November 2008 Purchase on iTunes   Foreshadows of The Inner Banks, whose personnel evolved from this group, can be heard in these recordings of original material from 2001 and 2002: dark, moody pieces drenched in Americana. This collection, which offers Bootleg Remedy for the first time via download, starts slow and builds to a dixie-swing frenzy.

Press

The New Yorker
"The ethnomusicologist, composer, and banjo player David Gould leads this Brooklyn-based band through a rousing set of bluegrass, Dixieland, and Western-swing songs in honor of its sophomore album, 'Cutting Time.' Tubas, trombones, violins, and kazoos are promised. Good times are assured."

Dirty Linen
"The Bootleg Remedy is one of those delightful bands that keeps on shifting like a kaleidoscope, refusing to remain in any one particular genre or style . . . All the musicians (14, in various combinations) have excellent technique and work together with precision, fun, and energy."

The Village Voice
". . . Covering an eclectic range, from tuba and fiddle to saw, with especially fine lap steel and clarinet. Their sound has been compared to Bill Monroe and Louis Armstrong, but closer in their gutty resolve, I think, are once-removed cousins of the masters, like the Band and the Mekons."

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