Rob's Album of The Week: The Denver Boot's "6 to 9, 7...12"

Providence, Rhode Island is a musical cornucopia, filled with varieties of talented musicians possessing tastes that range from nearly every genre you can put your finger on. This place that its inhabitants like to refer to as "The Renaissance City" has been going through a revolutionary explosion of local music, and a great example of the amazing sounds that have been coming out of here is The Denver Boot and their new album, "6 to 9, 7...12". The brand new record does justice to the burgeoning folk scene in Providence, with a great blend of smooth, jumpy rhythms and infectious melodies that proves to put you into a state of tapping your feet and bobbing your head topped off with a smile on your face.

The Denver Boot is the songwriting nucleus of one William J. Moretti, who plays guitar, banjo & harmonica along with his singing unique barotone voice. On the album Moretti was assisted by a revolving cast of musicians, including Amato Zinno and John Vivieros on upright bass, Sean E. Brown on drums, percussion, melodica, backing vocals & glockenspiel, Kim Petrarca and Valerie Poirier on backing vocals, John Frost on banjo, and Mike Samos on lap steel & dobro guitar. 

The album was recorded at Treading Thomas Records in Providence nearly an exact year ago with Moretti producing and mixing the album with Greg Holmes, who also engineered the completion of the album along with Barry Martin taking over the mastering duties. "6 to 9, 7...12" is one of the many albums that have recently been released with the help of a kickstarter page, which is a great thing to see when fans can play a huge part in the advancement of a talented musician's career.

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Since this is an album review, something tells me I'll have to pick a few songs I like and tell you why. Well, here goes nothin'. "I Disagree" is Moretti's examination of being young and going through major changes while seeing your friends do the same with the rhythms coming out of the track being simply contagious. "Spare Change" is about sitting down and watching life roll on by, featuring excellent skills by Samos on the steel guitar oozing into the track with subtle chords that serve as the cherry on top of a great opus. 

"Send The Line" is definitely a song you can get up and dance to, with Brown's exquisite drumming pounding into your eardrums while Moretti and the rest of the band join in to make a rhythmic opus. "Where It Begins and Ends" goes on about the art of conversation along with threading through the common theme of beautiful music in "6 to 9, 7...12" that's guaranteed to make you do the boogie all night long. Even though I selected to write about just a few songs off of the album, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't grab a copy of this excellent piece of music and listen to every track so you can hear it for yourself.

The Denver Boot will be having a huge release show at Fete on 103 Dike St. in the illustrious & historical Olneyville section of Providence on June 23rd (which is actually Moretti's birthday) with Wash Hollow, Vudu Sister and The Honey Brown serving as the opening acts for what should be a simply amazing night. Moretti and his band of talented musicians will also be playing Liberty Fest in the Smith Hill section of Providence on The 4th of July, Club Passim in Cambridge, MA on July 10th and 990WBOB's Mondays on Blast at The Apartment on 373 Richmond Street in Providence on July 30th if by some chance you can't make the album release show for "6 to 9, 7...12". If you do plan on seeing The Denver Boot on the 23rd or any other time in the near future, don't forget to hit up their merch table and grab a copy of the new record, it'll be a purchase that you don't want to pass up.

- Rob Duguay