SEMI-TWANG

  • CURRENT RELEASE

    CURRENT RELEASE
    • Release
      THE WHY AND THE WHAT FOR
      March 26, 2013
      BUY

  • Upcoming shows

    No shows booked at the moment.

    • CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HI-RES BAND PHOTO & ALBUM COVER ART

    When Semi-Twang reunited in 2009 to play the twentieth anniversary of Shank Hall, the premier showcase club in their hometown of Milwaukee, they showed up to help celebrate a venue they’d played on the club’s opening night. Expectations were modest – do a couple of rehearsals, show up, have fun & go home. However, the gig turned out to be an incredible experience for both band and fans and the group decided it was too good to stop.

    Rewind to 1988: Semi-Twang thought they’d taken their best shot with Salty Tears, their Warner Brothers debut album. That record generated tons of critical acclaim but little in the way of sales. Soon after its release, other opportunities beckoned and the band members went their separate ways. Friendships survived, but the band was history. For John Sieger, the songwriter and main vocalist, Nashville, TN seemed like a good idea. Dwight Yoakam was one of many artists who found Sieger’s songs and producers like Pete Anderson and Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads) were finding slots for his tunes. Guitarist Mike Hoffmann stayed busy producing other artists and the other fellows in the band – Mike Sieger (bass), Bob Jennings (multi-instrumentalist), Bob Schneider (drums) and Jason Klagstad (guitars) –  were soon scooped up by other groups around town.

    After the ’09 Shank reunion, the band decided a new recording was in order… the one they should have made first. Unlike their debut, (a major label project with a budget just this side of a NASA launch) the band recorded on the sly, mostly at Hoffmann’s House Studio and Sieger’s Room w/a VU — small, Pro Tools equipped, comfy and cozy. The pace was relaxed with sessions every few weeks for most of 2010. The atmosphere was loose but unwavering in its vision – get in, make the best record you’ve ever made, get out — what’s so hard about that?

    In March of 2011, Wages Of Sin, their first album in 23 years, was released to overwhelmingly positive response from critics and fans alike, along with heavy local airplay. Semi-Twang had always harkened back to classic artists like Dylan, The Beatles and The Band. This approach paid off handsomely on Wages, an album that dares you to put a time-stamp on it.

    Which brings us to 2013: On March 26th, the band will release their third full-length project, The Why And The What For, a recording that ups the stakes as it traverses through the musical geography of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and New Orleans with passion and conviction. It’s topical and personal with a bit more soul influence — it even includes a few throwbacks to the duckwalk days of Chuck Berry. Oh, and you’ll also be rewarded with one or two of those unclassifiable yet familiar songs you’ve come to expect from Semi-Twang.

    Semi-Twang’s The Why And The What For will be available March 26th on CD and digital formats.
    Spring and summer tour dates will be announced soon!

    The Why And The What For Tracklisting:
    1. The Wrong Side of the Tracks
    2. 52 Jokers
    3. Au Contraire
    4. The More She Gets The More She Wants
    5. You Love Everybody
    6. Dark Out
    7. Love Interest
    8. Making Everybody Cry
    9. Miss Watson
    10. A Handsome Man
    11. Contents Under Pressure
    12. Foghorn

    FOR MORE INFO ON SEMI-TWANG:
    http://semi-twang.com

    FOR MEDIA AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
    Tony Bonyata
    Pavement PR
    p: 262.903.7775
    e: tony@pavementpr.com
    https://pavementpr.com

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  • SEMI-TWANG “THE WHY & THE WHAT FOR” REVIEWS

    • "When it comes to rock and roll for sonic boomers, there is nothing semi about Semi-Twang. They're ready to take you all the way anytime or anywhere." - Bill Bentley / THE MORTON REPORT
    • Semi-Twang is one of the top 30 bands right now! - THE ALTERNATE ROOT
    • [5 STARS!] On Semi-Twang’s The Why and the What For John Sieger’s warm, slightly husky tenor recalls vocals by Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Mick Jagger. His pinpoint phrasing and stylistic tweaks are underscored by immediate instrumentation. But Semi-Twang’s ultimate ace, and the reason it should continue to play until its members die, is Sieger’s songs, three of which were co-written with Michael Feldman. His melodies are uncommonly engaging; incorporating his experience of several genres in addition to roots music. The verses leading into those melodic refrains could be taught in a master class on ways to mount a chorus with the subtle differentiations that keep things fresh. Semi-Twang takes those songs to places that are accomplished, convincing, and timeless enough to bring the Band, Wings, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers into the conversation.. - BLURT MAGAZINE
    • Milwaukee-based Semi-Twang’s third full-length studio album, The Why And The What For, is an engaging concoction combining Southern rock with Memphis boogie-twang. Influenced by disciples of American roots rock like The Band, the release’s 12 tracks are decorated with infectious slide guitar, honky-tonk piano, and doo-wop backing vocals. Two-step across the dance floor with “The More She Gets The More She Wants”; stomp your heels to the Lynyrd Skynyrd-flavored “Contents Under Pressure”; and groove to the shuffle of “Foghorn,” complete with a bodacious horn section and a tasty guitar solo. - ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER
    • The angst-y vocals and smoky guitars of "Contents Under Pressure" and the blue-eyed soul of "A Handsome Man" on Semi-Twang's The Why And The What For recall Neil Young and Van Morrison, respectively - but they're so solidly constructed, it's not hard to imagine the greats recording the songs themselves. - Piet Levy / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
    • [4 STARS!] From the get go on Semi-Twang’s new album “The Why & The What For” the band are firing on all cylinders with a delightful mix of Tex-Mex, Alt-Country and even a large dollop of classic R&B all mixed together to create a party sound that should be blasted out of the speakers of a red Corvette or some kind of battered truck. – Alan Harrison / NO DEPRESSION
    • Think Delbert McClinton, think of Levon Helms' Arkansas roots, think of whatever blues-tinged Southern country rockers you like, and you will find that Semi-Twang fit right into that stable. Their third album “The Why And The What For” has lots of blazing guitar, Sieger's soulful vocals and the spirit of every Southern rock city from Memphis to New Orleans, not to mention the spirits of folks like Chuck Berry and Ronnie Hawkins. - John Hyland / WHEN YOU MOTOR AWAY
    • Rare is the band that actually improves after years of absence, but Semi-Twang certainly falls into this category. Semi-Twang is better the second time around. - David Luhrssen / SHEPHERD EXPRESS
    • Semi-Twang's new record The Why And The What For kicks off with a Chuck Berry/Rolling Stones-style rocker, "The Wrong Side of the Tracks," and dishes up high-octane Sieger songs that run back and forth between rock and roll and country, but always bear the songwriter's trademark wit and skill at turning a phrase. - Bobby Tanzilo / ON MILWAUKEE
    • Veteran Milwaukee band is at its best 25 years after debut. - Tyler Maas / MILWAUKEE MAGAZINE
    • The Why and the What For is Semi-Twang's third and dare say it, best album to date. They drill deeper into the roots of Memphis soul, New Orleans Acadian rhythms, swampy Delta blues and rhythmic country rock. The players are the same, the signature sound in tact but this older, wiser version of Semi-Twang only leaves us wondering how much great music was missed during a 20 year break. - THE ALTERNATE ROOT
    • Semi-Twang's new album "The Why And The What For" is great. - ALT.COUNTRY.NL
    • Semi-Twang comes on strong with its self-released third record, the roots-leaning The Why and the What For… much to savor. “ – CAMPUS CIRCLE
    • The rootsy rockers feature ex-Kenoshan John Sieger’s quirky, intelligent and whimsical lyrics and vocals backed by a Milwaukee who’s who of players. Trust me when I say these cats are tight, they are hot and after being signed to and immediately ignored by Warner Bros. 20 years ago, they are better than ever. – Paddy Fineran / KENOSHA NEWS
    • Semi-Twang's name basically says it all; they do that folk-rock type of thing that has been ruling Milwaukee for the past year or more, with perhaps a bit more of a country influence than most of ‘em, all made possible by the songwriting talent of John Sieger. - WMSE RADIO
    • Since reforming in 2009 to play the 20th anniversary celebration of Shank Hall, the members of Semi-Twang have found it easy to slide back into the band they started in the late ’80s. Some of that ease is due to top-notch musicianship and a prolific writer in Sieger. - Joshua Miller / THE ONION's A.V. CLUB
    • If you need a rock’n'roll fix, Semi-Twang's new single "The Wrong Side of the Tracks" is for you. - DANCING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE