Artist description Psychedelic music with a marijuana pro-legalisation bent and a wide range of influences.

Music Style Rock/Folk/Psychedelic/Protest

Musical Influences Neil Young, Hot Tuna, Mose Allison, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, Rolling Stones

Similar Artists Neil Young, Faces, Black Oak, Dylan, Mojo Nixon, Steppenwolf

Artist History Formed as a vehicle for the original music of Mike Williams, the Swingin' Hemphills are now a six piece unit. While originally more of an acoustic-based band, the current line up is decidedly electric. We've recently released our second CD/Tape (spring '98), Swingin' Hemphills "Second Crop" and are very happy with the results. The THC-tinged rock/country/blues/metal/psychedelic/latin/jazz/alternative..... (what the hell, each song's a little.... uh....... different) hybridization of The Swingin' Hemphills' music takes some strange rhythmic journeys as each song is a bit off center. In fact, many are even over the top with suprising twistedness. We hope that you enjoy it and play a bit of it for the folks who may not have heard it yet. Also, be sure and check out our first effort: "What We Gonna Do" ('96). It has a slightly different lineup, and this debut was well-received by friends and fans alike. On the business end we're "Mothershocker Records", but in reality we just "signed" ourselves as we are wholly independent. A special thanks to all you Bloomington/Normal locals and students who attended our mini-twin-city tour of 1998 and 1999. We look forward to seeing you again soon and hopefully you'll bring a couple of friends. May you live the life you love and love the life you live...........see you at the shows!!!

Group Members Mike Williams (Guitar, Vocals) * Darrell Williams (Guitar, Vocals) * Pink Bob (Keys, Guitar, Vocals, Etc.) * Kurt Kelly-2nd Crop/Tom Sparrow- What We... (Drums) * Gary Hicks-2nd Crop (Harmonica, Vocals) * Shawn Samii-2nd Crop/Jeff Wilson-What We.../Larry Mondello (Bass) * Matt Seniff (Sound)

Instruments Many guitars; voices; keyboards; bass; drums; harmonica; guitar synthesizer; theremin; trumpet; sousaphone; trombone; slide whistles; ukes; kazoo; etc.

Albums What We Gonna Do? ----- Second Crop

Press Reviews POST AMERIKAN (Bloomington/Normals infamous underground press)WHAT WE GONNA DO?:"Upon the arrival of this CD I was rather pleased to see the familiar faces and names of some local musicians I haven't heard from in a while.....I couldn't even fathom how many years of local entertainment is on this CD w/ former members of (I'm sure among others)Stattic Attic, Naked Hippy, 13 Frightened Girls, Act of God, and even early Something Brothers.I couldn't wait to put it into the player; I mean, what the hell is this goig to sound like? What I found was a pleasant suprise. In general, the keyboards and basic "rockin'" tracks reminded me of an old faces album.The CD kicks off with a toe-tappin' country flavored tune called Find a Girl, which reminded me of a weird mix of Black Oak Arkasas and Uncle Tupelo. After that the excellent tuneage did not let up. Other outstanding tunes include I Hate To Go, which has a funky organ groove reminiscent of The Faces and growling vocalsreminiscent of Mojo Nixon Evenin Comes, has a neat accoustic and electric interplay and great solo.Hopin' and Prayin' is an upbeat folky pop song. My personal favorite was, You Can Be, because of its great vocals.The lyrics are your basic rock and roll fare with the exception of anti-prohibition songs like,The Emperor and What We Gonna Do.Great songs in their own right. Fuck it! I like basic rock and roll fare! Thanks guys for letting an old music buff know you're still out there kickin."--Kaz The Music Man.SUBNORMAL-#7 1999-Chicago based-nationally distributed.WHAT WE GONNA DO?-"If I were on my way to do a cross-country roadtrip, this would definitely be one of the cds I'd be taking along to jam out to...perfect tuneage kickin' back and rockin' out to in the style of Arlo Guthrie and Bob Dylan, with other influences of perhaps Johnny Cash, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, The Beatles, old garage punk rock and country. Hopin' and Prayin' is a great song with an Alices Resteruant kind of feel. Love Is Growing Stronger is a well constucted ballad with a simple yet unique and smart use of vocals......demonstate here why they are who they are..a quite extrordinarily band of inspired outsiders....Evening Comes is my all time Hemphills favorite, with killer guitar and brilliant composition. As with Dylan, Mikes voice is off key but cooly so, and when he wants to with it, totally lets it rip."POST AMERICAN-Feb/March 1999SECOND CROP:"The thing that makes the Swingin' Hemphills stand out from the crwd is that they seem like they are having so much fun when they are playing......Playing in a style that is hard to define (you'll find hints of the Grateful Dead, bluegrass, the blues and oddly enough punk) the Swingin Hemphills successfully incorporate many musical styles into thier songs. The instruments played are just as varied- you have electric guitars, keyboards, trumpets,harmonicas,kazoos,bass guitar, drums, theremin,synths of various origin.The result is a body of work that you'll want to hear over and over again, not just it gets your body shaking, but you'll want to pay closer attention to the entertaining lyrics."-towanda

Additional Info Visit and buy from us for bonus tracks -artsy liner info

Location Bloomington, IL - USA

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