The Gentlemen

<a href="spotify:artist:6QtdwqSCN5B4wvBoHaNwTx">The Gentlemen</a>, made up of singer-guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3vOMiJkpiG0ZFrGQGBlyGq">Mike Gent</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:3oNOdzr5NInxT21G91qgrN">the Figgs</a>, guitarist-vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:3667ZKsdXSj9p32H2uY2kx">Lucky Jackson</a>, bassist-vocalist Ed Valauskas, and drummer Pete Caldes of Gravel Pit, wield a hard rock assault that swings from the muscular pop/rock of '70s <a href="spotify:artist:6c8INA1EQQe9TkukfEdiCA">Graham Parker</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2BGRfQgtzikz1pzAD0kaEn">Elvis Costello</a> to rollicking <a href="spotify:artist:3v4feUQnU3VEUqFrjmtekL">Faces</a> barroom fare. At times, they come off like a less boozy <a href="spotify:artist:4WPY0N74T3KUja57xMQTZ3">the Replacements</a> -- and, while the group's dominant mode is raucous fun, make no mistake: the riffs are screwed down tight.

In the spring of 1999, <a href="spotify:artist:3vOMiJkpiG0ZFrGQGBlyGq">Mike Gent</a> served as road manager and opening act for <a href="spotify:artist:3njn8DXocJecY7KvgWF5wy">the Gravel Pit</a>'s western U.S. tour. He would often guest during the Pit's set, and the seeds of a side-project were sown. After the four musicians came together as the Gentlemen and set their New England/New York turf on fire with their blistering, energetic live shows, they decided to legitimize the collaboration with a full-length album. The group's debut, Ladies and Gentlemen...the Gentlemen, released in 2000 on Hearbox Records, was recorded live in the studio over a four-day period at Q-Division in Boston and then mixed in 22 straight hours at Fort Apache in Cambridge, MA. The 12-track album features nine songs by Gent and the songwriting debuts of Jackson and Valauskas. ~ Erik Hage, Rovi