NYC’s Cole Quest & The City Pickers Share Original Single “I Ain’t” Today Ahead of July 18 Album Homegrown, Coming Out the Week of Guthrie’s Birthday
–Ketch Secor, Old Crow Medicine Show
“Skill and savvy. And Quest, like his grandfather, has the ability to convey those feelings with care and compassion. Woody would be proud.”
–-American Songwriter
“While he embraces much of Woody’s legacy, Cole is very successfully forging his own path in music.”
–John Platt, WFUV
“Keeps you coming back for more.”
–Tony Trischka
“This album reflects their musicianship and brilliance in making everything they play their own.”
–David Amram (Joni Mitchell, Jack Kerouac, Thelonious Monk, Hunter S. Thompson, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Odetta)
Though they may be led by Woody Guthrie’s incredible grandson on vocals and guitars, Cole Quest & the City Pickers are a true ensemble collaboration, sporting buoyant harmonies and virtuoso harmonica, Dobro, and banjo playing and with multiple members singing lead. And like Cole’s grandfather, the folk and bluegrass group calls NYC home. In fact, Quest didn’t even play folk and bluegrass music until one day when he wandered into a pub in Astoria, Queens, to hear a band playing one of his grandfather’s songs.
Cole Quest & The City Pickers have shared bills with Billy Strings, Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, Della Mae, Tony Trischka, Michael Daves, earned spotlights from Folk Alley, WFUV, and American Songwriter, played a packed sets at the Brooklyn Folk Fest, Otis Mountain Get Down Festival, and Caramoor’s American Roots Music Festival, and have toured Germany twice.
Their first album in four years, Homegrown (July 18 / Jalopy Records) features three Woody Guthrie songs (including Woody’s iconic “Pastures of Plenty”), a Woody Guthrie/Arlo Guthrie co write, and songs by Peter Rowan and John Hartford as well as new songs written by Quest, that draw on the tradition but come from his own life experiences. The original song “I Ain’t” starts off humorously but soon becomes poignant, in wishing for a better world and listening and allowing space for others to speak. “I Ain’t” is out today as the first single.
Above: Cole Quest & The City Pickers, credit: Eli Smith
Quest writes: “During the pandemic, the world was grappling with the early stages of Trump-ism, while numerous activist movements were fighting to protect their rights. At the same time, I had experienced a health issue that forced me to completely change parts of my lifestyle and diet. Clearly, things were shifting—and I needed to learn how to adapt.
I asked myself: What does the world need from me right now? and What do I need from myself right now? My answer: Stay out of the way! I realized my role was to give space to others who truly needed it—to be active by being passive, to listen instead of speaking. At best, this approach could serve as quiet leadership. At worst, it would at least avoid adding more chaos to an already turbulent time.
I decided to make a list of things I wanted to do to make these changes, or rather, things I wanted NOT to do to make these changes. Changing the perspective from a “To Do” list to a “To Don’t” list seemed like an approach I could get behind and so I ran with it.
The song, I Ain’t, provides a humble reminder as I move forward in these continuously evolving times. I may not be able to tell you exactly what I plan to do about the future, but I have a few ideas of what I won’t be doing.”
Homegrown was produced by four-time GRAMMY Award-winner Steve Rosenthal (The Rolling Stones, Blondie, Lou Reed, Woody Guthrie, Natalie Merchant, Ollabelle, Dave Van Ronk, Laura Nyro, Erroll Garner and Alan Lomax. He was the owner of the Magic Shop studio and NYC’s famous venue The Living Room.
The album traces Quest’s journey in life and music, kicking off with Pete Seeger speaking Woody Guthrie’s words before launching into a fantastic, harmony-laden rendition of the latter’s iconic song “Pastures of Plenty,” a request from Nora Guthrie. Led by the powerhouse vocals of Christian Apuzzo, and featuring dobro, the arrangement starts with inspirations drawn from Jerry Douglas and Dan Tyminski and goes on to feature driving banjo and dialed in harmonica.
“Since I was little I’ve been surrounded by, what I believe to be, some of the greats of American folk music,” says Quest, continuing, “I’ve grown up with their words, their music, their ideologies, their perspectives. Homegrown is a collection of material that is sincerely close to me and where I come from. It’s the music of my roots – our roots.”
Quest then sings about New York — where Woody also spent two decades — in the original, Guthrie-esque, observant, funny “Where I’m From.” Chris Apuzzo takes lead vocals on John Hartford’s melancholic waltz “In Tall Buildings,” about being trapped in an office job.
“Só Pra Variar” presents an incredible showcase for the brilliant harmonica-playing of Brazilian Matheus Verardino, who sings it in Portuguese. It’s a cool fusion of bluegrass instrumentation with Brazilian music. The album wraps with the band’s radiant harmonies on Guthrie’s “Philadelphia Lawyer,” Peter Rowan’s “Dust Bowl Children,” and Quest’s solo rendition of “My Peace” with lyrics by Woody and music by Arlo Guthrie.
Quest plays resonator guitar and pedal steel and alternates acoustic guitar and lead vocals with Christian Apuzzo. Matheus Verardino illuminates the harmonica, Mike Mulhollan handles the banjo and Craig Akin the bass. Label mate and guest Wyndham Baird provides organ.
Cole Quest & The City Pickers Tour Dates
June 14 – Great Barrington, MA – The Guthrie Center
August 1 – Brooklyn, NY – Jalopy Theatre
September 13 – Silver Bay, NY – Silver Bay’s Mountain Music Festival
September 20 – Pearl River, NY – Rockland Conservatory of Music
Cole Quest & The City Pickers – Homegrown track listing and credits
Side A
There’s A Feeling In Music
Words by Woody Guthrie, Spoken by Pete Seeger © Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)
Pastures of Plenty
Woody Guthrie © Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
Where I’m From
Cole Quest Rotante © Cole Quest Publishing (ASCAP)
In Tall Buildings
John Hartford © Sony / ATV Melody (BMI)
She Talks A Lot (And I Like It)
Cole Quest Rotante © Cole Quest Publishing (ASCAP)
Só Pra Variar
Azeredo, Costa, Seixas © Warner Chappell Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
Side B
I Ain’t
Cole Quest Rotante © Cole Quest Publishing (ASCAP)
Early Morning Dew
Words by Cole Quest Rotante, Music by Daniel Romano © Cole Quest Publishing (ASCAP) & King of Mosey (BMI)
Philadelphia Lawyer
Woody Guthrie © Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)
Dust Bowl Children
Peter Rowan © Sea Lion Music (BMI)
All Work Together
Woody Guthrie © Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI)
My Peace
Words by Woody Guthrie, Music by Arlo Guthrie © Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI) & Arloco Music (ASCAP)
Audio clips of Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie provided by the Michael Kleff Research Collection / michaelkleff.com
Recorded at The Carriage House in Stamford, CT.
Mixed at Studio E in Brooklyn, NY.
Overdubs at Bentley Meeker Recording Studio in New York, NY.
Artists
Produced by Steve Rosenthal
Recorded by McLee Mathias and Henry Elkind
Studio Assistance by Luke Volkert and Nolan Galushaa
Mixed by Tom Camuso
Mastered by Jessica Thompson
Album art by Corey Cavagnolo
Resonator Guitar, Pedal Steel, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals: Cole Quest
Acoustic Guitars, Vocals: Christian Apuzzo
Flatfooting, Harmonica, Vocals: Matheus Verardino
Banjo: Mike Mulhollan
Bass: Craig Akin
Fiddle, Harmony Vocals, Penny Whistle: Jack Devereux
Organ: Wyndham Baird
Drums: Konrad Meissner
Special thanks to Ted Rotante, Nora Guthrie, Anna Canoni, Dana Manon Filsinger, Michael Kleff, Moira and Arthur Apuzzo, Kasielis Molina-Velez, Kaylee Canoni, Alexis Canoni, Lylablu Swan, Ellyanna Swan, Sky King, and Richard Leavengood.
