Search - Kill Henry Sugar :: Swing Back And Down

Born and bred in New York City, Erik Della Penna and Dean Sharenow perform as the drum/dobro duo Kill Henry Sugar, creating modern folk music from the roots of gotham. The two met playing around town and discovered a shared obsession with the city's corrupt beginnings and the frenzied ambition of its inhabitants. Kill Henry Sugar became the minimalist, streamlined vehicle for this ongoing discourse; think "Gangs Of New York" (book, not movie) meets "Metropolis" (movie, not book). Much of the material for their latest release was inspired by the epic timeline of life in the boroughs. Recording took place in the basement of Della Penna's grandmother's Bronx apartment, among silver gelatin prints of generations past. The songs are snapshots of New York life painted in stark, vivid tones -- the corruption of Tammany Hall politics; the muted spirit of the huddled masses; the power and paranoia of the modern metropolis. An early copy of the CD made it to folk icon Joan Baez. She described the recordings as "exquisite compositions, stunningly performed without a net," and was inspired to add two of the songs to her distinguished repertoire. Soon after, Ms. Baez saw the duo perform, and Kill Henry Sugar was asked to be the backing band for her 2007 summer tour.