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Citizen Cope
The Rainwater LP
With THE RAINWATER LP, Citizen Cope offers the clearest distillation yet of his distinct musical approach, a laidback gumbo of acoustic blues, singer/songwriter rock ‘n’ roll and deep soul grooves. Born Clarence Greenwood, but known to friends and fans as simply “Cope,” the Brooklyn-based artist has crafted an album redolent of such classic tunesmiths as Randy Newman and Stevie Wonder – both major touchstones for his emotively penned songs. As such, it’s virtually impossible to put a finger on Citizen Cope’s idiosyncratically inimitable sound.
“The only way to explain my music is to say you gotta listen to it,” Greenwood says. “I don’t think there is any easy description of it. Somebody once said something about ‘urban folk,’ which I wasn’t mad at.”
THE RAINWATER LP comes nearly four years after Citizen Cope’s acclaimed 2006 third album, EVERY WAKING MOMENT. Not that Greenwood wasn’t busy – the hard-touring troubadour spent much of that time on the road, introducing fans new and old to his already substantial body of work.
“It was longer than I’d expected between records,” he says, “but it was like a culmination of all the records getting into peoples’ psyche. I just kept on touring, doing songs from all three records, and then I started getting ideas for songs. I got inspired to make another album and put it out myself.”
Since making his official debut, Cope had released three fine albums on three different labels, an experience which proved frustrating, to say the very least. Having been through the industry mill, this time Greenwood was determined to take the bull by the horns and release the album himself.
“A lot of labels wanted to put it out,” he explains, “but I kept hearing things like ‘Retail’s gonna need you to do this’ or ‘The artwork has to be like this.’ I don’t want to be led into those confines anymore. I want to be able to do it my own way. Being able to operate efficiently, not having to move buildings to do anything, just seems so basic for any artistic endeavor.”
Like the music therein, THE RAINWATER LP – as well as Citizen Cope’s new RainWater Recordings, Inc. – takes its name from a number of deeply personal sources. “It’s pure,” Greenwood says. “It’s also the name of someone that was close to me when I was growing up, so it just made sense.”
Cope further points out that the “LP” in the album’s moniker is no accident. Including just 10 songs in the era of excessively long CDs was a very conscious artistic move, as well as a way of paying homage to the “jaw-dropping” 1970s works that continue to inspire him.
“I wanted the record to have an LP feel,” he says. “Vinyl can only have a certain amount of songs. It takes you on a journey and then when it’s done, you can go, ‘Cool. Let me check that again.’”
Memphis-born, DC-raised, and now Brooklyn-based, Greenwood’s musical journey began in the mid-1990s, when he first drew local acclaim for both his intimate songwriting and unique sonic fusion. His official debut album, CITIZEN COPE, was released in 2002, while THE CLARENCE GREENWOOD RECORDINGS followed two years later. The road to THE RAINWATER LP also included guest appearances on blockbuster albums by Santana and Dido, while Citizen Cope songs such as “Let The Drummer Kick” and “Bullet And A Target” have been featured in a wide array of films, television series, and advertisements. But Greenwood doesn’t like to compartmentalize his work, preferring to see each effort as but one aspect of his overall oeuvre.
“A record should have the potential to be around for a while,” he says. “I don’t look at my records as representing just one year or whatever. It’s part of the lifespan of an artist and all the records contribute to the whole.”
The latest stop on the Citizen Cope trail was recorded over the course of 2009 at both Brooklyn Recording in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn (obviously) and The Document Room in Malibu, with extensive periods of touring in between sessions. Like the last two records, Greenwood produced THE RAINWATER LP himself. Among the musicians accompanying him this time were such studio stars as bassist Preston Crump (OutKast, Organized Noize, Raphael Saadiq), keyboardist James Poyser (D’Angelo, The Roots, Jill Scott, John Legend), percussionist Bashiri Johnson (Whitney Houston, Donald Fagen, Madonna), legendary go-go bassist Michael “Funky Ned” Neal and top DC-scene go-go drummer Paul “Buggy” Edwards.
“There are people I like to play on my albums that are difficult to get on the road,” he says. “What you try to do is make an album that sounds like a band, but that’s a lot harder than just putting a band in a room.”
On songs such as “Keep Askin’” and “Jericho,” Citizen Cope and Co. create a hazy and elemental sound that melds such disparate inspirations as classic rock, jazz, hip-hop, and go-go, the interactive laidback funk sound pioneered by the great Chuck Brown in Greenwood’s home turf of Washington, DC. His lyrical tack is equally freewheeling, veering from the personal (“Healing Hands”) to the political (“The Newspaper”) without ever sacrificing poignancy or power.
“The songs are just representing me as a person,” Greenwood says. “Some people just want to write about love, other people just want to write about politics, but I think being conscious gives you an understanding of all kinds of things.”
A remarkably charismatic live performer, Citizen Cope has been a committed road warrior, introducing his music to the people by traveling America’s highways and byways, often performing in places where other major artists fear to tread.
“When you do the major cities, people come from all these other places and say, ‘Come to this town,’” Greenwood says. “So the next time you tour you think, ‘Okay, let’s try Tulsa, Oklahoma or Oxford, Mississippi or Fayetteville, Arkansas.’ It’s been amazing, every year it just gets bigger and bigger.”
Having taken his time readying THE RAINWATER LP, Greenwood is already plotting his next move, with plans including another Citizen Cope album or perhaps a side project with a like-minded artist whose identity remains a secret. As always, Citizen Cope follows his own individual inspiration, making music without concern for trends or fashion, believing the best way to assess his art is through the fans he meets along the way.
“Somebody once said I was the People’s Champion,” Greenwood says with no small pride. “I like that.”
CITIZEN COPE ANNOUNCES NATIONAL SUMMER TOUR WITH O.A.R.
Citizen Cope is thrilled to announce a national summer tour with O.A.R. The tour will begin July 8th in Indianapolis, IN and finish up August 15th in Atlanta, GA. Full tour dates are listed below.
The new record from Citizen Cope aka Clarence Greenwood is titled The RainWater LP. As on his two records prior, The RainWater LP was produced by Greenwood himself. The RainWater LP is his first record in nearly four years and the first on his own label, RainWater Recordings, Inc. Cope’s new album has garnered him an appearance on The Ellen Show, as well as raves in the press.
“[Citizen Cope's] music has a complexity that emerges from his sense of rhythm and gift for wordplay… his lyrics are by turns novelistic, poetic, political, violent, and tender.” - Wall Street Journal
“We swoon over Cope’s ragged, reggae-tinged vocals and dig his infusion of folk, rock, blues, and hip hop.” - American Way
“…many gems on [The RainWater LP]…” - Associated Press
The RainWater LP, a laidback gumbo of acoustic blues, singer/songwriter rock ‘n’ roll and deep soul grooves, was recorded over the course of 2009 at both Brooklyn Recording in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, and The Document Room in Malibu, CA, with extensive periods of touring in between sessions. Among the musicians accompanying him this time were such studio stars as bassist Preston Crump (OutKast, Organized Noize, Raphael Saadiq), keyboardist James Poyser (D’Angelo, The Roots, Jill Scott, John Legend), percussionist Bashiri Johnson (Whitney Houston, Donald Fagen, Madonna), legendary go-go bassist Michael “Funky Ned” Neal and top DC-scene go-go drummer Paul “Buggy” Edwards.
TOUR DATES WITH O.A.R.
7/8 – The Lawn at White River State Park – Indianapolis, IN
7/9 & 7/10 – Charter One Pavilion @ Northerly – Chicago, IL
7/13 – WestFair Amphitheatre – Council Bluffs, IA
7/15 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
7/16 – Starlight Theatre – Kansas City, MO
7/17 – Adler Theatre – Davenport, IA
7/18 – Meadowbrook Music Festival – Rochester Hills, MI
7/21 – Lifestyle Communities Pavilion – Columbus, OH
7/22 – Nautica Pavilion – Cleveland, OH
7/23 – Comcast Theatre – Hartford, CT
7/24 – Penn’s Landing – Philadelphia, PA
7/29 & 7/30 – Bank of America Pavilion – Boston, MA
7/31 – Buffalo Rocks The Harbor – Buffalo, NY
8/1 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, NY
8/4 – Star Pavilion @ Hershey Park – Hershey, PA
8/5 – NTelos Pavilion Harbor Center – Portsmouth, VA
8/6 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ
8/7 – Bethel Woods Center For The Arts – Bethel, NY
8/10 – Raleigh Boutique Amphitheatre – Raleigh, NC
8/12 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD
8/13 – Uptown Amphitheatre @ Music – Charlotte, NC
8/14 – Family Circle Magazine Stadium – Charlston, SC
8/15 – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Alpharetta, GA
CITIZEN COPE TO RELEASE THE RAINWATER LP MARCH 2, 2010
WILL BE RELEASED DIGITALLY FEBRUARY 9, 2010
FIRST RECORD IN FOUR YEARS; FIRST ON HIS OWN LABEL
TOUR STARTS FEBRUARY 2ND; MANY DATES SOLD-OUT ALREADY
Citizen Cope, aka Clarence Greenwood, is very excited to announce the release of his new record, The RainWater LP, on March 2, 2010. The record will be released digitally on February 9th. As on his past two records, The RainWater LP was produced by Greenwood himself. It is his first record in nearly four years and the first on his own label, RainWater Recordings, Inc. A huge national tour that begins February 2nd in Carrboro, NC, and ends April 17 in Kansas City, MO, has been confirmed. Ful tour dates are listed below.
The RainWater LP, a laidback gumbo of acoustic blues, singer/songwriter rock ‘n’ roll and deep soul grooves, was recorded over the course of 2009 at both Brooklyn Recording in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, and The Document Room in Malibu, CA, with extensive periods of touring in between sessions. Among the musicians accompanying him this time were such studio stars as bassist Preston Crump (OutKast, Organized Noize, Raphael Saadiq), keyboardist James Poyser (D’Angelo, The Roots, Jill Scott, John Legend), percussionist Bashiri Johnson (Whitney Houston, Donald Fagen, Madonna), legendary go-go bassist Michael “Funky Ned” Neal and top DC-scene go-go drummer Paul “Buggy” Edwards.
Like the music therein, the album takes its name from a number of deeply personal sources. “It’s pure,” Greenwood says. “It’s also the name of someone that was close to me when I was growing up, so it just made sense.”
When discussing how he came to self-release his music after many years on major labels, he says: “A lot of labels wanted to put it out, but I kept hearing things like ‘Retail’s gonna need you to do this’ or ‘The artwork has to be like this.’ I don’t want to be led into those confines anymore. I want to be able to do it my own way. Being able to operate efficiently, not having to move buildings to do anything, just seems so basic for any artistic endeavor.”
A remarkably charismatic live performer, Citizen Cope has been a committed road warrior, introducing his music to the people by traveling America’s highways and byways, often performing in places where other major artists fear to tread.
“When you do the major cities, people come from all these other places and say, ‘Come to this town,’” Greenwood says. “So the next time you tour you think, ‘Okay, let’s try Tulsa, Oklahoma or Oxford, Mississippi or Fayetteville, Arkansas.’ It’s been amazing, every year it just gets bigger and bigger.”
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The Rainwater LP - Album Art
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