Despite this penchant for the international, Massy Ferguson remains local to the bone, a fixture on the burgeoning Seattle roots music scene that has spawned the likes of Brandi Carlisle and The Fleet Foxes. With an approach that is decidedly more rock than the aforementioned groups, Massy Ferguson combines growling vocals with epic guitar riffs and banging piano to create a sound that is equally burly and soulful. Tracing their influences to bands like The Jayhawks, The Hold Steady and Bruce Springsteen, the group plays its own brand of blue-collar twang rock.
In 2008, Massy Ferguson released their full-length debut album, Cold Equations, which garnered rave reviews nationally despite being independently released. Music tastemaker Bruce Warren of WXPN Radio in Philadelphia made Massy Ferguson his Download of the Day, calling their album "an impressive record." Cold Equations also made waves in Seattle, getting serious spins on Seattle's highly influential non-commercial station KEXP and commercial station KMTT "The Mountain." Massy Ferguson was named a 2009 Artist To Watch by Skope Magazine, and in November of that year they were featured in a short documentary film about KEXP for MTV.com.
Additionally, the band has experienced great success with live shows, packing venues in the Pacific Northwest. They have headlined rooms ranging from Neumos to The Tractor to the Sunset Tavern in Seattle. They have opened for a number of national and international touring acts as well, including members of Phish and the Grateful Dead, The Bottle Rockets, Fastball, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, and Micky and the Motorcars, among others.
The band recently signed a record deal with Seattle's Spark and Shine Records and are working on their next album to be released in the summer of 2010. Their second album is much anticipated and should bring the band into greater prominence in Seattle as well as in far-off locations.
MF consists of Ethan Anderson, vocals/bass, Adam Monda, guitar/vocals, Tony Mann, keyboards and Dave Goedde, drums
ARTISTS THEY'VE PLAYED WITH:
Mike Gordon of Phish, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Billy Kruetzmann of Grateful Dead, The Bottle Rockets, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, Dusty 45s, Scott Kanneberg of Pavement, North Twin, Power of County, Scott Murawski of Max Creek, Mark Pickerel (Screaming Trees), Suicide Jack, Memphis Radio Kings, The Maldives, The Vagrants (Aus.), Atom Box (Neth.), The Bojitos (Germany).
CREDITS (among others):
2009 Artists to Watch -- Skope Magazine
2008 Featured Artist (Sept.) -- 78s Soundsystem (Germany)
Music for Troops -- Compilation CD
Seattle Weekly REVERBfest - 2008 slot
Noise for the Needy Festival -- 2008 slot
Choochokum Festival -- 2008 headlining slot
Barwon Club Hotel (Geelong, Australia) -- 2009 slot
You know only good things can come from a band that named itself after a
farm-equipment company. But they're not as hayseed as you'd expect.
Their songs are steeped in the classic Americana of the Blasters, the Jayhawks,
and the Backsliders. Rich with imagery of highways, truck-stop coffee, whiskey,
road-weariness, and bad motels, Massy Ferguson make cinematic music about the
blue-collar aspects of our nation. This is what Jay Farrar might sound like
without his thesaurus.
-- Brian J. Barr, The Seattle Weekly
Alt-rocker angst mixed with wry humor ... and some Seattle dive bar
name-dropping.
-- Mike Lewis, Seattle PI
They’re also pretty funny guys who, when there’s no other booze in the house, will do shots of Bud Light.
-- Kim Nowacki, Yakima Blogs
Massy Ferguson have put together an excellent mix of rock and country
twang on their very impressive debut record
-- John Richards
90.3FM KEXP Morning Show Host and
Associate Program Director