The Lemon Twigs

The Lemon Twigs is an American rock band from Long Island, New York, fronted by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario.[1] Both brothers are vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, and are joined live by Daryl Johns on bass, Tommaso Taddonio on keyboards and Andres Valbuena on drums.

The Lemon Twigs
The Lemon Twigs at Kentish Town Forum, 2017. From left: Michael and Brian D'Addario.
Background information
OriginHicksville, Long Island, New York, U.S.
Genres
Years active2014–present
Labels4AD, Winspear
Websitethelemontwigs.com
Members
  • Brian D’Addario
  • Michael D’Addario

History

Formation and first years

Brian and Michael D'Addario had extensive stage experience as children. Brian played Gavroche in Les Miserables and Flounder in The Little Mermaid on Broadway. Michael appeared in The Coast of Utopia, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and the 2008 production of All My Sons. Michael also appeared in a variety of television shows and films, such as John Adams on HBO, Are We There Yet? on TBS, People Like Us, and the 2012 film Sinister.[2] The Lemon Twigs were founded by the brothers while they were both students at Hicksville High School on Long Island, New York. The siblings both perform lead vocals, lead guitar, drums and other instruments.

Their first release was the cassette What We Know, issued in a limited edition of 100 copies (with digital download) in 2015 by Winspear.[3]

2016–2018: Do Hollywood

On their first generally released album, Do Hollywood, each brother took the lead on vocals and guitar on the songs he composed; during live performances, this setup was preserved, with the remaining D'Addario playing the drums, and fellow schoolmates Megan Zeankowski and Danny Ayala (who have played with the D'Addarios on and off since their youth) playing bass and keyboards, respectively. Ayala also sang backing vocals. The album, produced by Jonathan Rado of Foxygen, was recorded in the spring of 2015, with the members being only 15 and 17 at the time of its creation.

The Lemon Twigs served as opening act for fellow New York City/Long Island-based alt-rockers Sunflower Bean on their East Coast tour in late 2016 and performed on television programs like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, CBS This Morning "Saturday Sessions" and Conan along the way. In early 2017 it was announced that the band would play on day one of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 14, 2017. This performance saw the Twigs joined by one of the band's "favorite musicians ever, in the whole world", Todd Rundgren, to play "Couldn't I Just Tell You" from Rundgren's classic 1972 double album, Something/Anything?. The Lemon Twigs released the Do Hollywood tracks "These Words" and "As Long As We're Together" as a double-A-side single, and made videos for both songs. The third single was the album opener, "I Wanna Prove to You", with a video directed by Nick Roney.

The band played at several major festivals in the summer of 2017, such as Glastonbury Festival, Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival, and the Montreux Jazz Festival,[4] in addition to opening for Phoenix across the United States. These 2017 shows saw the band covering songs such as "Fish and Whistle" by John Prine, "I Walked with a Zombie" by Roky Erickson, "You Can't Talk to the Dude" by Jonathan Richman, "I've Begun To Fall In Love" by R. Stevie Moore, "Love Stepped Out" by their father, Ronnie D'Addario, and "I Can Feel the Fire" by Ronnie Wood; they notably performed the latter song with Thomas Hedlund of Phoenix on drums while supporting Phoenix at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Mac DeMarco. In September 2017 the band released an EP, Brothers of Destruction, containing songs recorded during the Do Hollywood sessions.

2018–present: Go to School

The band's second album, Go To School, a musical about a chimpanzee raised as a human boy, was released on August 24, 2018.[5] The album debuted at #93 on the UK Albums chart on September 6, 2018.[6] The band were also announced as one of the support acts for Arctic Monkeys' 2018 tour in support of their album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.[7]

Prior to beginning their run of shows promoting Go To School, the group underwent a number of personnel changes. Both Megan Zeankowski and Danny Ayala were replaced by Daryl Johns (bass), Andres Valbuena (drums) and Tommaso Taddonio (keyboards).

Style

The Times characterized The Lemon Twigs as "a modern-day band combining the melodic, harmony-rich soft rock of Wings and Supertramp, the underground cool of Big Star and the Ramones, and the theatricality of Broadway musicals."[8] The Guardian cited the "humbling beauty of their songs" and their "sumptuous harmonies."[9] The band was signed to British alternative music label 4AD in 2015. Their debut album, Do Hollywood, was released in October 2016 to critical acclaim.[10] A number of diverse pop music figures have publicly expressed admiration for the Twigs: Elton John,[11] The Zombies,[12] Boy George, Laura Marling, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance.

Band members

Discography

Studio albums
  • What We Know (2015, limited-edition cassette)
  • Do Hollywood (2016)
  • Go to School (2018)
  • Songs for the General Public (release due August 21, 2020)[13]

EPs
  • Brothers of Destruction (2017)

Singles
  • "These Words"/"As Long as We're Together" (2016)
  • "I Wanna Prove to You" (2017)
  • "Foolin' Around"/"Tailor Made" (2018)
  • "If You Give Enough" (2018)
  • "Small Victories" (2018)
  • "The Fire" (2018)
  • "The One" (2020)
  • “Moon” (2020)

Live albums
  • The Lemon Twigs LIVE (2020)

References
  1. Yeung, Neil Z. "The Lemon Twigs | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  2. Anon, Life for young actors is more than play, Bennington Banner, 9 October 2008 p. 11
  3. Discogs. "The Lemon Twigs – What We Know". Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  4. "The Lemon Twigs Concert Setlists & Tour Dates". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  5. Griffin, Noemi (2018-07-10). "The Lemon Twigs Are Releasing an LP About a Chimp That Goes to School". Paste. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  6. "UK Albums chart for September 6, 2018". Official Charts. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  7. "Arctic Monkeys". Facebook.com. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  8. Hodgkinson, Will (10 August 2016). "The Lemon Twigs at Sebright Arms, E2". The Times. London.
  9. Simpson, Dave (2 December 2016). "The Lemon Twigs review – mullets, high kicks and sumptuous harmonies". The Guardian.
  10. "Artists to Watch This Year: The Lemon Twigs". musicmusingsandsuch. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  11. Reese, Nathan (18 Oct 2016). "Sir Elton John Interviews One of His Favorite New Musicians". New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  12. Petridis, Alex (13 Oct 2016). "Meet the Lemon Twigs, the New York teens who went from Les Mis to glam powerpop". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  13. Krol, Charlotte (March 27, 2020). "The Lemon Twigs postpone release of new album 'Songs For The General Public'". NME. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
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