Artist description The Wounded are back! Founding members Jerry Giddens and Michael Packard are joined by bassist Louie "The Lock" Ruiz to bring you the sound the L.A. Weekly called "pure diamond in the rough". The band recently wrapped up production on their first new record in many a moon, which brings us to this message from semi-legendary L.A. indie label Stonegarden Records: In February 2002 Stonegarden Records will release the fifth recording effort from Walking Wounded. The acclaimed outfit from Los Angeles, with ex-Oingo Boingo John Avila producing, have finished ten new tracks for artificial hearts. Jerry Giddens, Michael Packard, and Luis Ruiz join to deliver a new batch of songs that continue the band's chronicles of The New West. The band was joined in the studio by an all-star cast of west coast musicians: Ethan James of Radio Tokyo fame, Charlie Quintana of Social Distortion (formally of The Cruzados and Bob Dylan), Jerry Angel of The Blasters, Victor Bissette of Los Lobos, Sam Avila of Walter Trout, Dave "The Hawk" Lopez, and the mysterious Cisco. Giddens and Packard were last together on Walking Wounded's The New West, which Cashbox declared "a stunning debut". Luis Ruiz joined the band after his stint in 80's hitmaker Felony. The current lineup has been playing some shows around Hollywood this past year, working out the new material and planning on hitting the road for extensive touring in 2002. Respected rock journalist Chris Morris once wrote that Walking Wounded "play by their own heartfelt rules, and they combine a multitude of musical forms into something distincly their own". With influences ranging from folk, reggae, psychedelia, and punk, artificial hearts delivers a diverse yet cohesive group of songs that ROCK. The voices that inhabit the songs on this record will linger in your mind. They will beg to be heard above the din of traffic, the clatter of the ballroom, or the pounding of your heart.

Music Style Rcok n' Roll with folk, reggae, psychedelia, and punk influences

Group Members Jerry Giddens - vocals Michael Packard - guitars & vocals Luis Ruiz - bass & backing vocals

Instruments guitar, bass, voacls, drums, harmonium, hurdy gurdy, mandolin, lap steel, dobro, organ

Albums artificial hearts, Walking Wounded, The New West, Raging Winds of Time, Hard Times

Press Reviews "Three guys in a tiny room without a stage - Jerry Giddens and Michael Packard on acoustic guitars and vocals, Tom Lillestol on electric bass - played a woefully short 20 minute set to a small gathering, who packed a single doorway in an attempt to view the goings on. Not the ideal setting to celebrate the release of a record or get a sense of what the group was all about, right? Dead, dead wrong. Like hearing the Blasters for the first time at Club 88, this was pure diamond-in-the-rough. Giddens howled out the melodious morality play of "It All Depends On Love" like a desperate man, while Packard's tight harmonies held things down . . . if they can match this evening's intensity level in an electric setting, then they're potential restoratives for an often stagnant local scene." L.A. Weekly "Insightful lyrics and . . . intense committed vocals are ably backed by driving, chiming guitars, pistol-crack drums and fluid bass lines." Cashbox "Walking Wounded captures anger and determination in the same breath." San Antonio Express-News "Lead singer Jerry Giddens sounds like he would be very happy entertaining unemployed workers in the '30s or riding with Jack Kerouac in the '50s . . ." Bam Magazine "It doesn't happen all that often, but at least once a year I wander into a club, run across a new band, and leave wondering why people aren't talking about it . . . recently I ran across one of those relatively unheralded bands that surprises me on an irregular basis - a band with a powerful lead singer with miles of presence, a unique instrumental style, and something to say. The band is called Walking Wounded . . . Surprises in rock 'n' roll are as delightful as they are few, and I recommend Walking Wounded to the unjaded among you. They're a band who play by their own heartfelt rules, and they combine a multitude of musical forms into something distinctly their own." Los Angeles Reader "Mixing acoustic and electric, they represent some of the more intelligent rock coming out of the smog belt." Tucson Weekly ". . . Giddens seems to be something of a folkie in another element. His words reflect the human condition and plights so many people face in the streets today. His vehicle of expression is a voice that takes up every corner of the room." Dallas Observer "What do you get when you cross white boys with reggae? Country. That's just a theory. Walking Wounded are a band with a conscience and a political stance (as in reggae), but often with a country or folk approach. Oh, who cares: They write good songs, and lyrics like 'driving home with Jesus is better than driving home alone'." L.A. Weekly "Walking Wounded plays tunes that linger on, that hum around in your head with a rock 'n' roll kick . . ." Pulse Magazine

Location Los Angeles, California - USA

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