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About Al Foul
Adopting a surname from his early days with the Foul Mouthed Elves, Boston's notorious "drunk rock" band, Al Foul has been making music for over 15 years. Shortly after hitchhiking to Tucson in 1991, he formed Al Foul and the Shakes, who quickly generated an international fanbase and became known for delivering something most Rockabilly bands at the time lacked: a raw poise and straightforwardness culled from a punk rock background. With Al at the helm, their songs took on a primitive emotional immediacy, preferring to shine with an inner savagery rather than get by on frills alone.
Al Foul & Naim Amor Jan. '06
Now, as a one-man band, Al has been able to focus more on whittling his distinctive songwriting and inimitable style into a sharp point that pokes through the trends and fashions to get at something timeless. All the tracks on his one-man band album, "The One, The Only" were recorded live with Al simultaneously singing, playing guitar, and drumming in the basement of producer Naim Amor (www.amormusic.com). No overdubs or fixes will be heard on here – just the real deal, what you might hear if Al were playing at a party in your living room. The only things added in post-production were the occasional handclaps and a violin deep in the background of Frankie Lane’s "Wanted Man." Elsewhere, it is all the one and only, strumming the guitar while his feet work the bass drum and his homemade "stomparine." The stomparine is a small wooden box that is filled with jingles (like in a tambourine), and is stomped upon by his foot with a wooden wedge strapped to it. What really sells the band, however, is Al's unmistakable vocals that never waver throughout his One Man Band debut CD, brilliantly capturing the character of each song with a broad, smooth voice coming from deep inside his beer-soaked guts with a jagged honesty. Whether it is a desperate love song or the ballad of a troubled troubadour, Al Foul can sing it with a degree of sincerity that cuts to the bone. Both on and off the stage, Al is a natural storyteller who has lived a life that Bukowski would appreciate. He can drink you under the table until sunrise, and have you laughing the whole time. Simply put: he's a born entertainer.
Al working on the Blue Front
Al has toured throughout the United States many times, taking his "Tequila Taxi" whenever possible (a 1954 four-door Belair that used to be a working taxi in Hermosillo, Mexico). He has also toured overseas in Europe as well, garnering a host of fans from around the globe. Currently he lives in a old mining town town of barely over 1000 people in rural Arizona, where he is working to fix up an old bar/ballroom called the Blue Front Inn.
To Contact Al Foul:
alfoulandtheshakes@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/alfoulandtheshakes
Al Foul
PO Box 97
Mammoth, AZ 85618
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