"Within the apocalyptic resonance of this shout, 10,000 sparkling daisies will bloom at the end of a gun and force their roots down through the barrel in order to make Love to the trigger, of this we are sure." -Flowpoetry
Venice Gas House Trolley (Madison, WI) grooves body and mind creating a unique and organic live music experience. VGHT's original jam-based songs and poems transport audiences on a creatively wild and transformational journey through darkness and into the light.
Spoken of by fans as "A Cerebral Groove" and "Sacred Existential Fusion Rock," VGHT brings a sense of passion and performance to every live show. The Trolley's appearances include festivals such as The Tall Tree Lake Music Festival (Goreville, IL), The Muddy River Jam Fest (Woodstown, NJ), The Overgrown Music & Arts Festival (Belmont, NY), The Michigan Peace Fest (Lacota, MI), The 40th Annual Midwest Harvest Fest (Madison, WI) and over 200 performances from Wisconsin to New York City.
Praised by the media and fans alike for their new approach to words and intense yet chilled psychedelic jam, VGHT has emerged as originators of their own genre. The band has held the position as the #1 Jam Band in Madison, WI on ReverbNation since May of 2011 and was recently voted as one of the top 3 experimental music groups in Madison's Isthmus Newspaper's "Reader's Favorites" 2011 poll. Madison newspapers (The Capitol Times and The Onion AV Club, to name a few) have selected VGHT as the Critic's Choice for music event of the evening 17 times. The band was recently signed to The Homegrown Music Network national distribution community of bands (the roster includes Keller Williams, Lotus, and STS9 among others). The Trolley is groovin' down the tracks!
Venice Gas House Trolley features Flowpoetry, a finalist for the 2009 MNSWA "Urban Griot" International/National Performer of the Year and a three-time Madison Area Music Awards finalist. VGHT encapsulates the dirty 1960s rock of Jefferson Airplane, the slinky but aggressive and funky grooves of Claypool, the eccentric and experimental sounds of Zappa, the eclectic jam and fun attitude of Phish, the rockin' hip-hop and reggae beats of 311, and the flowin' words of Tom Waits. Through this creative mix, the band has released three full length domestic CDs and has placed tracks on British compilations.
Flowpoetry: Vocals, Vocal FX, Winds, Small Percussion
Tim Peeters: Bass Guitar, Vocals
Josh Pultorak: Drums
Nikk Cramer: Guitar
Dr. Beats: Percussion
"Venice Gas House Trolley lean more toward Funkadelic.... [And] the band as a whole can keep up with [Flowpoetry's] eccentricity via slinky-funky bass and drums, flute, and a variety of careful melodic and atmospheric interjections. ...Flowpoetry's voice [is] raspy and heavy over the cool suspense-building [music of the band]." The Onion (Madison) A.V. Club
"The Trolley carves out a tribal, ambient, dreamy vibe.... They're a musical group that have finally arrived." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"Rhythm comes first [with Venice Gas House Trolley]. The band layers [Flowpoetry's] spoken word over jazz-funk-rock-jam." The Capital Times 77 Square Entertainment Section
"...a sound that doesn't shrivel when the meters swell into a rant." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"[Flowpoetry is] one of the most unique and riveting performers on the Midwestern musical and artistic landscape. The group [Venice Gas House Trolley] is on the cutting edge of the nationwide expansion of new forms of spoken word.... The band is unique, theatrical and musical." DeKalb Chronicle (DeKalb, IL)
"...very chill yet gripping. The band [Venice Gas House Trolley] is on a mission to bridge the gap between poetry and music and does so.... ...some hip jive cat daddy." Gapers Block Presents: Transmission (Chicago, IL)
"Words flowing over bass and drums thrumming jazz, groove, folk, country, blues, psychedelic, jam. Man!" The Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA)
"These are no frail photocopy-folk tunes, but rather legends and tales drawn from a deep well of historical experience; stories that place the listener into the leather boots of the prospectors and drifters they depict. When you hear music created by an American ghost, it gets you to your bones." Emmie Magazine (Madison, WI)
"[Flowpoetry's] verses find the right rhythm and pitch for every approach (and) he reads them with an ease that lets the music sing. …(The Trolley) makes the relationship between words and music feel new again." The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
"In my two years of working with the Homegrown Music Network, I have reviewed close to 50 different albums of varying range and styles. In those two years, I have never reviewed an album quite like 'Burst Open.' So, to call this album 'original,' only begins the discussion. The tracks on this album show flashes of 'jam rock' sensibility and fuse those flashes with an 'art rock' mentality, for lack of a better term. The tracks on this album fuse elements of beat poetry with other musical styles to make a truly exotic, one-of-a-kind album." J. Evan Wade, Homegrown Music Network
"The band (Flowpoetry on vocals, Tim Peeters on bass and vocals, Nikk Cramer on guitar and vocals, Josh Pultorak drums, and Dr. Beats on percussion) keep their groove taut and structured, leaving space for stories to unwind, but without forgetting the primal urge to move feet."
- Rob F, Leicester Bangs (UK)
