PISTOL RIVER: The Western Ballad Opera

Pistol River

The Western Ballad Opera

© 2003 BSF Songs, LLC

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Great Western Americana music told in the early 1800's in the style of a musical "Lonesome Dove". The twists and turns of the characters lives will quickly pull you into the story and make you want to listen over and over

notes

There's a new and distinct style of western music breaking from the traditional formula and thundering across the plains to Americana music fans who are eagerly saddling up for its debut.

In the vanguard of this unique genre of music is The Pistol River Band's Western Ballad Opera, an epic series of nine intertwined, musical tales highlighting the gripping story of two generations of pioneers in a lawless frontier who find themselves engulfed in circumstances beyond their control.

"Consider it a musical version of the novel or television miniseries "Lonesome Dove," says veteran songwriter and co-writer John Bizzack. "The Western Ballad Opera tells a yarn about the trials, triumphs and tribulations of two generations of characters as their unique personalities collide with the unsettled west, changing their lives forever.

"It's a blend of sequential western ballads, folk, bluegrass, rock and country music that cohesively tell a single, but elaborate and suspenseful tale," he continued. "The Western Ballad Opera is not, of course, a real opera. It's more like a soap opera set in the old west whose characters are richly developed as the entire saga unfolds in each track."

"We were extremely lucky to gather the diversified talent of The Pistol River Band," added co-writer Marvin Adcock (see musician and vocalist biographies attached). "These folks are all A list players and individually have their own claim to many successes playing with and for top artists and musicians on the Nashville music scene. The combination of talent in the blending of music and lyrics blaze some very novel trails."

The Western Ballad Opera takes place between the early 1800s and 1870 and is divided into two "Acts." Each of the "Acts" focus on a handful of crisp, imaginative, funny and sometime sympathetic characters as they interact and grapple with the intense struggle to survive west of the Mississippi. The first "Act" of the opera, "Joe, Moses and Doc," focuses on development of three main characters and how their lives as well as their good and bad fortune intertwined. The second "Act," "Abbey, Morgan and Reuben," continues the story about the next generation of characters and the events with which they deal, live and die.

And, of course, the ballad delivers a series of gut wrenching twists that reveal the reasons behind each character's actions, leaving the listener thinking, "I should have figured that out."

"Without revealing the surprises and numerous twists and turns, let's just say our preview audiences have literally gasped out loud. The opera is more than a musical story - it becomes an experience for the listener." Bizzack said.

One preview listener said, "The plot itself was enough to make me want to hear it over again and each song revealed just enough to make me want to hear the next song." Another previewer said, "It left me wishing for more songs. I didn't want it to end!"

Pistol River's ballad is not your typical western style music, according to Adcock. Although there are few sound effects, the high quality musical production makes listeners sense they have watched an entire stage play."

The Pistol River band approaches their music crisply and clearly, making each track memorable, sometimes humorous and occasionally heartbreaking. The co-writers, who also play with the band, have created a series of realistic, spellbinding characters. Each time the opera is played listeners discover new clues and twists adding breadth and depth to the entire experience.

Most of all, Bizzack and Adcock's Western Ballad Opera simply envelops the listener's imagination. Whether you're listening at home or driving down the highway, you are drawn into a story that's told in a way you've never experienced before. The opera, according to one previewer, "has all the elements to become a cult classic."

And, in the end, that alone makes this new release worth the time to listen. As another listener said, "This story going to stick with me...I want to see the movie!"

The Pistol River Band's "Western Ballad Opera" comes with a 19th century "Playbill" outlining more specific details of the story, including additional plot surprises, along with vintage photographs representing each character and many of the events taking place in the opera. The CD insert includes all lyrics, brief profile of each character and a pre-amble of each story.

Additional details may be found at www.pistolriver.net.

reviews

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  • Songwriting and music as it's supposed to be
    author: David Holt - Two-Time Grammy Award Winning Songwriter & Artist

    An amazing recording. These songs are truly feats of the craft of songwriting.

  • This will be a movie one day!
    author: Conrad Bachmann - Actor, Producer, Performers Governor – Acade

    If you've ever wanted to lay back, put your spurs upon the seat of a saddle, and take a trip across the plains of the West, then you’re in for a treat listening to the Pistol River band performing 'The Western Ballad." The superb stylized songs weave you through a magical trail in your mind. The images, and well-written songs conjure an experience as though you are sitting in an IMAX theater. John W. Bizzack and Marvin L. Adcock bring to this opera a truly magnificent sense of the West in song, story, style every bit as stunning as John Ford swept us across the great west in "How The West Was Won," and "Stagecoach." The story and images are an actors dream. I know when this goes to mini-series (and it is); I'm going to be banging on their door. Okay, saddle up and get out there for this CD. You’re going to see the series coming at you fast."

  • Much more than a concept album
    author: Marji Chess - Shake Magazine, Nasvhille

    From the opening strains of an acoustic guitar accompanied by a morning dove and distant wolf cry, followed immediately by the deep and dusty narrating voice of John Bizzack, it's evident that this CD is something different from anything else out there in today's marketplace. "There's a lot of stories about the Old West been told around campfires, bunk houses and saloon card tables. "Some might even be true," John tells us, leading us by the hand into America's heartland in the 1800's. This Western Ballad Opera is much more than a "concept album". It's a movie for the ears. It tells the compelling stories of Joe from a mining camp, Moses Devine the "rain boy", scheming Doc Peyote, the drifter Rueben Carter, Wilbur J. Morgan, his daughter Abbey, the Second Chance Ranch and much more. "There's no other story I've heard that takes so many twists and turns," narrator Bizzack tells us from the start. The top-notch group of musicians going by the name Pistol River includes some of Nashville¹s best. Bob Hatter, known to Shake! readers as the lead guitarist in The Lost Sideshow and Mr. Hyde, is featured here playing an 18-string guitar. I didn't know there was such a thing! He’s solid, as always, on it. Fiddle great Arvel Bird, who makes contemporary Native American music as an artist himself, engineers the project from his own Brush Hill Studio. He sweetens the deal with fiddle and mandolin. Peter Young, to call him a drummer is an understatement, anchors the sessions with his splendid

  • Fresh as a spring breeze through the prarie grass!
    author: Jon Chandler - Pulizer Prize Wining Western Novelist

    Every once in a while, a unique idea pops up, is brought to fruition, and has people scratching their heads wondering, Why didn't I think of that?" Veteran songwriters and performers Marvin Adcock and John Bizzack have tapped a unique creative vein with what they've dubbed a Western Ballad Opera. Melding passion plays and shoot-‘em-ups, they've come up with an exceptionally enjoyable musical endeavor. Skillfully written, beautifully produced and expertly performed, their grand story of the American frontier is, in essence, an aural western a novel for the ears. In their ten main protagonists, Adcock and Bizzack have created complex characters who encompass the great literary themes of good and evil, passion and ambition, vengeance and forgiveness. Performed by Pistol River, a confederation of veteran Nashville-based touring and studio musicians, the "opera" is a melodic narrative with each song exploring a segment of the intricate plot. The end result is both unique and satisfying - an opera, indeed, its music akin to the spring breeze through prairie grass, its story born of America's legends.

  • Pistol River delivers what it promises!
    author: Robert K. Oermann - Music Row Magazine

    The Western Ballad Opera, written by John W. Bizzack and Marvin L. Adcock and performed by the Pistol River band delivers with believability! Hearty singing and playing.

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