FATHER DIVINE Great American Pastime CD

Like the city from which it hails, the music of the band Father Divine is a melting pot of diverse cultures, ideals and aesthetics. Based in New York City and founded by Joe Ferrara (aka Father Divine) in 2000, the band's sound is a bold look into the depth and potential that music truly can have. Through the sounds of World Music, Progressive Hard Rock, underground, late 60's pop, Classical counterpoint, and countless other influences, the elements of each song can be thought of as a sculpted menagerie layered with nuances for the listener to uncover. At times the songs are reminiscent of cinematic soundtracks, and other times more archetypical in form, but always striving toward a unique expression and outlook. With the release of The Great American Pastime, the band's first full length CD, Father Divine has placed a premium on creating an album that is conceptually consistent not only from start to finish, but also in its presentation. With painstaking time and precision and almost entirely through their own resources, Father Divine hopes to establish a paradigm fortified by the power of music and sound. Published on-line in All Music Guide: "Father Divine, aka Joe Fererra, weaves dark landscapes from a world of musical influences, from cabaret to klezmer, with the result sounding not dissimilar to the work of Tom Waits. His poetic lyrics and nocturnal sensibilities can be found on his album, The Great American Pastime, as well as on several songs available for download on www.listen.com." -written by Stacia ProefrockPublished on-line at NY Rock.com, Oct. 1, 2002:"Though occasionally bands are sparse musically, like a box of macaroni and cheese (the four-for-a-dollar kind), Father Divine are like three or four Tanksgiving meals in one day. If the phrase "structured chaos" makes any sense to you, then you'll appreciate their sound. In some tunes, there's a bigness at hand, like a mix between a rock opera and dark cabaret music. At other times, you'll hear shades of Tom Waits, as Father Divine (aka Joe Ferrara) attacks the vocals with whiskey-tinged pipes. There's a dissonance to the music that gives it a gritty feel, as on "Time Bomb in the Rough." On "3rd Ward Dirge," for example, you'd swear it was an outtake from a Waits session. But the immediate inaccessibility of the music (read: you don't start tapping your toe right away) shows there's a lot to consume here, much of it is dark and meaty, but pull yourself up to the table and dig in, I say. written by Bill Ribas