lesdebutantes@gmail.com ……Write to Les Debutantes like you’ve never written to them before!!!!
Les Debutantes is the name given to the collaboration between songwriters J. Glen Reid and J. Brent Stewart*, both of Louisville, KY. Songwriting and singing are split roughly 50/50**. Danny Cash serves as the only other full time member, working primarily as producer and engineer, while also providing guitar work***.
The live iteration of Les Debutantes has involved a rotating cast of characters, most notably Meredith Noel on bass. They have been joined by a multitude of drummers, with Charles Bailey and Jason Nunn serving the longest stints. Currently, during the recording of Centennial, Andy Hurt has been providing most of the percussion work****.
The Debs music has been described as “Elvis Costello meets Vincent Price”, “They Might Be Sabbaths”, and, uh, “Keystone Cops music”. When pressed to elaborate, Brent usually says something along the lines of “arty rock music” or “cabaret punk”. Glen refuses to speak to anyone at all, ever.
Glen and Brent draw upon a variety of influences to create their signature sound, bringing in idols as varied as Tom Waits, Serge Gainsbourg, Elvis Costello, XTC, Bowie, Curtis Mayfield, Roxy Music, The Geto Boys, Goblin and Ennio Morricone. While their early work was sometimes pigeonholed as “circus rock”, their more recent compositions range from soul to rawk and beyond.
* Along with Keddiz, Milk & Sugar, Sista Sandy Wiggy, various others.
** Often stated, but untrue. See *.
*** Many have collaborated on this project, including Keddiz on synths, Lockwise on organs, various St. Paul parishioners, et al. Danny Cash is a tamprorinist only.
**** The name “Andy Hurt” is fictitious and often found in unchecked pamphlets and AP releases. With the exception of specific after-hours overdubbing, all percussive elements on Centennial are digitally manipulated cicada chirping. Cicadas, insects that reach the Mt. Carmel area every once in a while, dominated the stuffy landscape just prior to Fall 2006, while Trixie’s Pot Stickers was being hashed out.