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Michelle | Meghan| Mike | Dale | Phil |
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| Rich with harmonies and rooted in rock, The Hickories offer "warm, inviting songs that [combine] the best of folk and country" -- according to The Washington Post. The Arlington, Virginia-based band forges its signature sound with jangly guitars and lush harmonies, evoking influences like the Byrds, early R.E.M. and the Cranberries.
And people are taking notice: The band has been featured at many festivals and conferences, including the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Millennium Music Conference and the Six Points Music Festival (which featured Army of Me in 2006). They play to packed houses at DC-area venues such as IOTA Club and Cafe, and open for acts with national audiences like Lizzie West and Emmett Swimming. And the Billboard Worldwide Song Contest has awarded the band six Honorable Mentions since 2003.
The Hickories released their debut recording, Lost in Pennsylvania, in the fall of 2005 with former drummer Michael Leger and former bassist Brian Vradenburg. One listen, and you're hooked by the "tuneful songs that are hard to forget" (On Tap Magazine). Whether on a recording or in live performance, if the gorgeous voices of Michelle Volpe and Meghan Sharp don't pull you in, then Mike Conner's tasteful guitar lines or Dale Hailey's and Phil Dennison's tight rhythm section will.
2006 finds The Hickories busy performing to promote Lost in Pennsylvania and working on new material.
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Michelle Volpe-Kohler (aka "Michelle Volpe") began singing in public when she was in kindergarten. She reportedly sang made-up songs on the school bus in the mornings, and rode around her suburban-Cleveland neighborhood on her Big Wheel singing the theme song to Sesame Street, and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" by Rod Stewart.
Michelle continued singing in high school as a member of the show choir and chorus, and in college in the women's choir. But it wasn't until graduate school that she bought a guitar and began writing songs, inspired and encouraged by her brother, Chris. Studying literature and writing and being immersed in a creative environment helped cultivate Michelle's songwriting.
In 2001 Michelle was lead singer of the Washington, DC-based band, Disco Nap. After about a year she decided to strike out on her own. And in 2002, with Chris' help, she recorded three original songs as a demo. The positive feedback she received on the demo (including an Honorable Mention in Billboard's 2002 Songwriting Contest for "Sweet Time After All") inspired her to play solo open mics around the DC/NoVA area and eventually to put together a band -- what is now known as The Hickories.
Michelle's favorite artists and influences include The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & the Papas, The Troggs, The Kinks, Julie London, Peggy Lee, Patsy Cline, The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neko Case, Bing Crosby, Sinead O'Conner, early REM, early U2, The Bangles, Madonna, Wilco, Suzanne Vega, Beck, Hem, Blur, The Jayhawks, Kristin Hersh, Over the Rhine, Martha Wainwright, Hildegard von Bingen, and The La's.
Contact her at michelle.volpe.kohler at gmail dot com
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Meghan and Michelle met in 2002 when they were housemates for a brief time in Arlington. After discovering their shared passion for music, Meghan asked Michelle if she wanted to expand her solo act by adding a harmony vocalist. After one rehearsal, their undeniable vocal chemistry was evident, and Meghan was the first to join Michelle in forming what is now known as The Hickories.
Meghan cultivated her love of music from an early age by singing in a variety of musical ensembles and playing the flute in her hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her early influences ranged from Neil Diamond and Simon and Garfunkle to the Beach Boys and Madonna. Nowadays, she finds inspiration in the music and vocals of Fiona Apple, Beth Gibbons (formerly of Portishead) and Kristin Hersh.
When not singing (or working), Meghan enjoys traveling, cooking, photography, and exercising her fluency in French.
Contact her at meghan @ thehickories.com
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Seeking a mature and talented group of musical peers, Mike joined The Hickories as lead guitarist in late 2003. Mike has played guitar since age 16 and his musical interests (and interests in general) are all over the map. When not reading up on Anthropology, hand-building guitars and tube amps, or surfing, he also plays a little C6/A7 lap steel and harmonica just to keep things interesting.
Mike has played in a couple of loud, lo-fi, under-the-radar bands, most notably The Ray-Guns (1996 - 2000), a ska/pop/punk band from Topeka, KS, signed to the now-defunct Tomatohead label out of Sunnyvale, CA.
Mike brings a depth of studio, stage, and touring experience to The Hickories, and his interests and musical influences range from Hank Williams and Sun-era Elvis Presley through Whiskeytown and Wilco; from Beatles and Beach Boys through the The Cars and the Police. Mike digs P90s, Telecasters, and small bottle tubes, JC Pennys, and accomplished guitar underdogs like Peter Stroud, Andy Summers, Mike Campbell, and Elliot Easton.
Contact him at mike @ thehickories.com
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Dale Hailey joined The Hickories in the fall of 2005, replacing their former drummer Michael Leger after the release of Lost In Pennsylvania. Dale was looking for a band with compelling vocals and smart musicality, and found that in the rich harmonies and compositions of the group.
Dale grew up in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. He dabbled in piano, saxaphone, and guitar in his youth before cutting a deal with his dad: he cleaned the barn and his Dad bought him his first drum set, a Swingstar Tama 5 piece. The set quickly became his musical home. He played in jazz and rock ensembles while taking lessons from Dan Mallick and Howie Robinson in Coeur d’ Alene. After leaving Reed College in Portland, Oregon, he found a marine pearl 1966 Ludwig set. The old college friend, though modernized, is with him today.
In 1993 while visiting India, Dale took tabla lessons and carried a set of tablas back. In Seattle he played tablas with several successful folk ensembles. Playing for dances had a special charm—feeling the energy of the room in a visceral way. He looks for that now that he’s back behind the set with The Hickories.
His musical interests and influences span the map. Manu Katche (of Peter Gabriel) is certainly his favorite drummer. A short hop away are Omar Hakim (of Sting’s Bring on the Night album), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Jim Christie (Lucinda Williams), Stuart Copeland (the Police) and Larry Mullen, Jr. (U2). He’s at home both at the set and with hand percussion, both in the business of jazz and metal, and in the sparseness of ballads and blues.
In the rest of his life, Dale is a cell biologist at the National Institutes of Health. He and his wife Rachel have a 18-month-old—Jordan—who seems to also have drumming in his blood. |
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Phil Dennison is a Northeast Ohio native who grew up around the United States and Europe as an Army brat. He has been playing both guitar and bass on and off for twenty years. He has played both instruments in a wide variety of bands since 1989, including Northern Virginia-based The Fragments, and Cleveland power-poppers The Palindromes, whose one full-length release on San Francisco's Twee Kitten Records garnered them a three-star review in the All Music Guide.
Phil's musical loves include the classic pop sounds of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Cheap Trick and the Motown stable; and current acts like The New Pornographers, Wilco, Rilo Kiley and The Strokes. He also enjoys jazz of the hard-bop and post-bop eras, with favorites including Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and Thelonius Monk. Phil's main bass-playing influence is Paul McCartney, with other influences including session greats Carol Kaye and Motown's James Jamerson, and John McVie (Fleetwood Mac).
In addition, he has an unadulterated love for girl groups and bands of all eras, from The Shirelles to The Donnas--part of what drove him to respond to The Hickories' ad in search of a new bass player. He loves both performing and recording, and looks forward to doing a lot of both for many years to come.
Outside of music, Phil works as a marketing professional in the newswire industry. He enjoys scuba diving, hiking, and astronomy, and can be found from April through September enjoying as many Cleveland Indians baseball games as he can watch. He is also an unabashed Star Wars fan, with thousands of pieces of collected memorabilia. A sucker for a cute cat, Phil and his wife play host to four of them ranging in age from 4 years to 14 years.
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