October Records Bio (10-97)

Within months following the release of SHE (October Records) in Fall 1996 Willie Wisely had compiled thirty new and unrecorded originals. Was it already time to record again? To us it was obvious what to do.

Whatís been happening?

So much excitement had been generated by Wisely's first CD for October; most notably, showcases at every major music conference nationwide including CMJ and performances as a finalist in two NARAS Grammy Showcases in Chicago and Los Angeles. Phone calls and e-mail from famous names both at home and overseas came pouring in, hailing the praises of SHE. Radio celebrated by charting it at both CMJ and AAA, and the press gave glowing reviews in publications ranging from FMQB, The Album Network, Option and scads of dailys and weekleys. SHE is a blend of pop song craft and production that is adventurous and intimate. So much so that it's hard to imagine the record ever sounding dated. A CD for ALL TIMES.

What about the newest CD?

And so it came to pass that Turbosherbet arrives in your hands, and quite a rainbow it is. Easily a companion piece to SHE but also the most defining moment to date for both the artist Wisely and the producer John Strawberry Fields. It's a dense, personal album containing subject matter less whimsical than perhaps Willie fans are accustomed to. Still we meet characters we recognize, faced with all the irony and contradiction of life, but this time in darker quarters. The song titles tell the story: "Two Charcoal Hearts", "Complicated Friend", "Bygones", and "Drunken Young Men". The lyrics make for a great read all by themselves.

TurboSherbet proves that Wisely is to be one of our greatest new generation songwriters. His ability to bring such theater and drama into rock is remarkable. John Strawberry Fields, or StrawB as he is known to friends, was virtually THE studio band for this wonderfully produced CD.

TurboSherbet will be kicking up quite a storm into 1998 and beyond. Of course after every deluge comes a rainbow, this one for you to enjoy, on Willie's terms in blinding Technicolor TurboSherbet. Another October Record spins.

October Records Bio (10-96)

Songwriter. Performer. Band leader. Four-track guru. Touring addict. Film composer. Screenplay writer. Born in St. Louis, raised in Minneapolis. Recorded SHE for October Records.

How he got this far: the young entrepreneurial years

"Ninth grade was the big year. The White Album didn't leave the turntable, I sang for my friend's talent show rock band, told my mother there would be no more piano lessons, was loaned a guitar, and wrote my first song in 1980. It took until 1982 to first record a bunch of my songs for a school project, which I duped 50 times and sold. The rest of the story can be handily inferred."

Further still, in the Dodge with the trio

Willie's most publicized project to date has been the Willie Wisely Trio: "We put 250,000 miles on my Dodge, and released five recordings, playing a blend of pop rock and (my favorite four letter word) jazz. Coast to coast the press adored it and we had fun, dazzling the cops in San Jose, the sisters in Omaha, the pimp in Des Moines (it's not what you think), breaking and entering in Boston, and getting my lights knocked out in a fist-fight with an elderly lady in Kansas City. It's all there, between the numbers on the odometer."

What about the new CD?

While sleeping, you dreamed that you heard a record, but you woke and it vanished in the pounding of an alarm clock. You now have the opportunity to rewind and enter your splendid dream state once again. Willie Wisely¹s new October Records disc SHE is the CD you could never play...until now, and not just in black and white.

He did all that?

• Composed and recorded original film score for Tromeo & Juliet, Cannes Film Festival Œ96
• 1994 Songwriter of the Year, Minnesota Music Academy
• Walker Art Center commissioned composition for Sculpture Garden tour
• 1995 and 1996 ASCAP Special Recognition Award Recipient
• Performer for the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, '93 and '94
• Conference appearances: SFO '95, SXSW '93 and '94, MRMF '94 and '95, CMJ '94
• Production credits for: Cher UK, National Dynamite, Whippoorwill, Brownstar
• Compilations of note: Stuck on AM '96, Minneapolis Does Denver '95, Du Huskers'94, Auron 1 '93, Garage Sale '83