Artist description 100 Watt Smile fuses aspects of rock, pop, symphonic principles, and good books.

Music Style alternative pop rock

Musical Influences Beatles, Pixies, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin,

Similar Artists Cardigans + Breeders +

Artist History New Hampshire, 1989. There was a bonfire in the snow, steamed mussels, fried chicken, a bunch of stir-crazy writers, and a football. Jonathan Richman singing through the trailer windows. Harry Belafonte. Mussel shells flew. Chicken bones flew. The football. A little dancing. Then, before the spring thaw, for one reason and another, four of the writers—three guys and a girl—taped together coffee cans, dusted off Dad’s ukelele, Dad’s guitar, resurrected a violin, and started a band. Time flew. The songs told stories: death, sex, food, love. A little dancing. More time flew. Four albums, eight national tours, in Fords and Oldsmobiles. Relocation to San Francisco. Cult followings and college radio from coast to coast. The fans liked fried chicken, too.New Hampshire, 1994. A back porch this time, closer to town. Another guy says to the girl, “So what’s next?” It was time for “what’s next.” Time had flown. “I’ll be the drummer,” he said. Okay, yes. Back to San Francisco. Burritos, work, burritos, work, more work, a concept of a rock orchestra unfolding. The songs still tell stories, but there’s electricity now, drums and amplifiers, harder edges and sharper hooks. A couple of demos . . . but the girl and the drummer still need the right players. Back in New Hampshire, a baker/bass player rides the pipeline to Seattle and drops through the back door to San Francisco: a perfect fit. One day, the drummer is building a kitchen in a recording studio in downtown San Francisco. A guitar player from Detroit is running the console. Burritos for lunch. Talk flew. They all play: the fourth and final perfectfit. The rock orchestra is a rock band now. Another rock band. Death, sex, food, love. Time flies. They make a record: And Reason Flew.

Group Members Carrie Bradley writes the lyrics and plays guitar and violin. With Ed’s Redeeming Qualities, she recorded 4 records and toured extensively, including bills with Robyn Hitchcock, The Throwing Muses, Jonathan Richman, King Missile, Cake, and Yo La Tengo. She also played with San Francisco alternative country band The Buckets, and has recorded and toured the U.S. and Europe with the Breeders. Influences include Beethoven, Leonard Bernstein, David Byrne, Tom Waits, Styx, Queen, and the Beach Boys.Scott Greiner plays guitar and does all the recording and mixing for the band, as well as reigning as Producer guru. Along with other formative banding experiences, he recorded/engineered and performed with Liz Phair during his Chicago years. Influences seem to change weekly.Michael Hart plays the drums and build kitchens and stuff. He’s played and toured extensively with many other bands and projects but prefers to keep the details quiet. Influences include Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and Cheap Trick.Scott Houston plays the basses he assembles at home in his kitchen. Perhaps the greatest baker in rock, he has supplied bread and pastry as well as bass lines for several New Hampshire bands. Influences include Wings, Stevie Wonder, and Robyn Hitchcock.

Instruments Guitar, Bass, Drums, Violin

Albums And Reason Flew Trocadero Records, Dusseldorf

Press Reviews “It is springtime, and [with And Reason Flew] you realize with surprise that after months of cold slush and puddled snow there is actually something colorful and fresh springing up from the earth.”—Uncle Sally’s, May 1998“100 Watt Smile is still an insider’s secret, but And Reason Flew will change that. These eleven compositions are like an alternative shooting star in the rock-pop sky.”—Die Neue, April 1998“The music of 100 Watt Smile is simply beautiful; it weaves itself around the listener, works itself under the skin, and reaches the heart.”—Onstage/Musikmagazin im Internet, April 1998“Rock without cliché, pop without sugary fluff, epic song structures, and beautiful melodies—in short, good modern guitar music with intelligence and heart.”—Audimax, April 1998“Violinist Carrie Bradley’s voice casts a spell, the melodies are a magnetic force, and the lyrics discuss Death, Sex, and Life with sophistication.”—Die Neue, April 1998“A shot in the arm of alternative rock—beautiful melodies and grooves for your hips.”—Medienmarkt, April 1998“Again and again, the carpet of pure rock is picked up, tilted elegantly, turned upside down, and given a vigorous beating.”—Dresden Neue Nachrichten, April 1998“The sharply articulated lyrics grow out of the American poetic tradition . . . Carrie Bradley extends an invitation to her personal vision in a manner reminiscent of Dylan.”—Intro, May 1998“An aggressive violin player who sings as well as she plays, Carrie Bradley puts 100 Watt Smile in the ranks of bands whose female presence is not just a voice, but a person who knows what she wants and how to make it happen.”—Dresden Neue Nachrichten, April 1998“The band switches elegantly from light-footed pop harmonies to complex rock arrangements—hard-hitting but still topped with melody—to make these songs so very distinctive.”—Musik Express, April 1998

Additional Info 5 Song Rooster CD

Location San Francisco, CA - USA

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