Steam

From the Wolverton album Wizard Land (cover art, James Smolleck)
Jeremiah: vocals, acoustic guitar; Kate: vocals, keys; Caralyn: vocals; Hills: electric guitar; Joe: bass. Produced and recorded by Joe Reyes, January 2016.

Melville (Jeremiah Teutsch, 2015)

there’s space at the table
for fifty-thousand
rabble-rousin’ rabble-rousin’ 
move down by the dozen
we’re cousins
we’re cousins 
we are cousins you know 
a million times removed
cousins of cousins of cousins of cousins 
and brothers of few 
a mother or two 
and the band all sings 
Down down down down down we go!

into the fray 
the ocean sprays but not for pleasure 
never pleasure 
out of spite out of hatred out of nothing 
unfold unfold
To the hold! To the hold men! To the hold! 

be bold boys be brave
every life you cannot save 
let only your enemies cry

if you should die then die then die
then die with a smile on your face
and the band all shakes!! 
Down down down down down we go!

into the night with a flame to fight
and a burden to bare 
into thin air into the thin air 
and the band’s all there 
and the band’s all there
and the band’s all there
there’s nothing there 
Down down down down we go!

Wizard Land

Melville

Paprika Rose (Kate Terrell)

she waited in the morning
in her long black dress
strapless no less

Triumph busted beside the road
engine won't go don't like the cold
whoa oh oh Paprika Rose

late in the morning
once a dinner guest
sleepless no less

waiting
waiting
alone out waiting
alone out there
with all the stares

Triumph busted beside the road
engine won't go don't like the cold
whoa oh oh Paprika Rose

Kate: vocals, keys; Caralyn: vocals; Hills: guitar; Joe: bass, guitar, drums

Paprika Rose

Closed Cherry Stands (Caralyn Snyder, words; Hills Snyder, music, 2012)

talking cherry stands and of cider
eases the constant pull of buzzards bold
far In the horizons circling higher
holding our breathing while the air grows old

hold on to fathoms burrowing deep
as from the burnt peaks, sorrow seeps
 
as cornfields overtake thoughts of pine and rust
horizon’s reign becomes that of dust
holding onto that hidden moon of trust 
we simple say and do that which we must

quickly land becomes barren to the soul
lost to the pull of ponderosa pines
horizons lay muddy in this flattening bowl
of lingering passages, uneven lines

hold on to fathoms burrowing deep
as from the burnt peaks, sorrow seeps

talking cherry stands and of cider
eases the constant pull of buzzards bold

 






Caralyn: vocals; Kate: vocals, keys; Hills: guitar; Joe: bass, guitar, drums

Closed Cherry Stands

Kate: vocals, keyboards; Caralyn: vocals; Hills: guitar; Joe Reyes: electric guitar, bass; BJ Cole: pedal steel. Produced and recorded by Joe Reyes. Will appear on the new Wolverton album, Paper Kisses, to be released October 6, 2020.

One Good Reason (Hills Snyder, 2016)

when name calling and throwing sticks is not the solution
and every single person you know is waiting on a train
try to find one good reason to challenge your twisted nerve
before you think about climbing that platform                                   
about in the high rain how to keep warm 
about trying to find out why you were born
about looking for a teacup so we can ride out the storm

when the view from the wall is distress and disorder
and the voices of the earth are lost in a screaming refrain
try to find one good reason to challenge your twisted nerve
before you think about climbing that platform                                   
about in the high rain how to keep warm 
about trying to find out why you were born
about looking for a teacup so we can ride out the storm

Written September 2016, recorded November 9, 2016.


-

One Good Reason

Audio to accompany the Misery Repair Shoppe, as performed October/November 2018 in The Silos On Sawyer, Houston, Texas. Continuous loop. Texts by Peter Juke and Sir Walter Scott read by Matthew Rose. Additional voice, synthesizer, glockenspiel, ukulele and recording by Joe Reyes. Samples: The Kingsmen, 1963; John Lennon, 1968 (altered):  benign, benign, benign....). Arranged by Hills Snyder.

Misery Repair Shoppe (Silos on Sawyer audio)

Kate: vocals, keyboards; Caralyn: vocals; Hills: electric guitar; Joe: electric guitar, bass, drums; Produced and recorded by Joe Reyes. Will appear on the new Wolverton album, Paper Kisses, to be released October 6, 2020.

Oh Well (Hills Snyder, 2017)

love is abstract
these windows are cracked
the baseboards are quaking
and grieving

I went to the well
and into it fell 
a scream
can be so deceiving

this echo will fade
this sound a charade
of something
I’m not really hearing

my shoes walk in wounds
my hands are harpoons
land or sea
this fog won’t be clearing

that fool on the hill
didn’t live there before
he’s living there still
a stain marks his door

his castle beset
all blind will and threat
a hollow tribune
don’t follow his tune

	go go go 
	go to the well

I said well well well
	go to the well

go to the well

Oh Well

Tabernacle (words Arline Terrell, music Kate Terrell, 2017)

Old Lottie lies in an aureole of light
Her small stillness waiting wrinkled and spare
And I am painting my old kitchen white

Stretching and swaying to gain greater height
Brushing and rolling layer upon layer
Old Lottie lies in an aureole of light

A shroud of sheets like archangels in flight
Hovers near while her eyes still burn and stare
And I am painting my old kitchen white

Rushing to hold back inevitable night
 In this rising tabernacle of prayer
Old Lottie lies in an aureole of light

Her children surround her with love and fright
Memorizing her lined face in despair
And I am painting my old kitchen white

A pale sun illumines this hallowed rite
Casting pearls on her shimmer of hair
Old Lottie lies in an aureole of light
And I am painting my old kitchen white

Kate Terrell: vocal and keys; Caralyn Snyder: vocals; Hills Snyder: melotron guitar; Joe Reyes: electric guitar, octave fuzz guitar, bass, drums. Produced and recorded by Joe Reyes, July 2019. Will appear on the new Wolverton album, Paper Kisses, to be released October 6, 2020.

Paper Kisses

Tabernacle

Produced and recorded live at Wolverton Home Concerts, 2015, from the Wolverton EP Things Left On Earth. Produced by Brant Sankey. Jeremiah Teutsch, vocals and guitar; Kate Terrell, vocals and keys; Caralyn Snyder, vocal; Hills Snyder, electric guitar; Brant Sankey, bass.

Nothing (Jeremiah Teutsch, 2014)

woke up early morning in the rain 
in the alley by the Outpost trying to catch the next dream
we split our last hand-rolled between us 
and we were just waiting on the Land of Nothing, never was
waiting on the Land of Nothing, never was

Hayes and Mary with a baby in a van sitting on the front lawn
4,3,2,1 and the Race is on 
"If we found a few more bucks, we could buy a bus" 
and they were just waiting on the Land of Nothing, never was
waiting on the Land of Nothing, never was 

sitting on the front porch, trying to fight back the tears
it's been too many cigarettes too many lonely nights and beers
all I need is a hug right now, but all I got is a buzz 
and I was just waiting on the Land of Nothing, never was 
waiting on the Land of Nothing, never was

now the cars and clouds and years they pass me by 
I'm on the back side of thirty now, and I don't know why 
but looking back now maybe I think it was because 
I've been, looking for the Land of Nothing, never was 
looking for the Land of Nothing, never was

Things Left On Earth

Nothing

Paper Kisses  
These songs are nostalgic but arch, serene but gently confounding—they snake and zag until one is happily lost in a canyon at sunset.
--- Neil Fauerso 

"Standout tracks for me are ‘Tabernacle’, infused with mellotron and octave fuzz guitar. The barroom piano led ‘Oh Well’. The lilting title track ‘Paper Kisses’. ‘Birds Of Rockport.' Also of note is the surprising arrangement of ‘Shakin’ Grape Jelly’, incorporating some lyrics from Prince’s 'When Doves Cry’, it’s a purple dream where the world is a big fat bowl of shakin’ grape jelly."
--- Terrascope

Wizard Land
"On this latest album, the songwriters are on top of their game influenced by folk, psych, pop, jazz and beyond yet retaining a sonic framework that ties every tune together wonderfully, each song perfectly formed and a delight for the ears. These influences though are just that, the band has their own identity, they cannot sound any other way..."
--- Simon Lewis, Terrascope

"contagious fun...mescaline in the pocket."
--- James Killen, Houston Music Review

"Wolverton songs - grand adventures in tiny, shiny packages - tend toward the cerebral and the mystical. Wolverton is its very own many splendored creation, spinning art folk as only magi may."
--- Gene Fowler, Glasstire

"Approaching their songwriting with the carefree spirit of kids on a playground, the three core members (vocalist and keys player Kate Terrell, guitarist and singer Hills Snyder, and vocalist Caralyn Snyder) all take turns leading listeners thought the weird and twisting experimental folk journey of Wizard Land."
--- Chris Conde, San Antonio Current

"Wizard Land is the latest album by eclectic Texas based band Wolverton. Their brand of folk rock has elements of chamber pop, and sneaking cabaret/noir vibrations, especially in the dramatic delivery of the dual vocals and kaleidoscopic lyrical imagery. A basic, central sound of piano, percussion and guitar is fleshed out here and there by strings, banjo, theremin and other production touches. Wolverton's musical influences seem to range wide, from roots rock and americana to broadway-style show tunes and classical flourishes."
--- Josh Moss, The Modern Folk Music of America

Things Left On Earth
“mesmerizing music."
--- David Hintz, DC Rock Live

“Wolverton imposes constructs of interpretation which veer…”
--- Tim Whale, Emerging Indie Bands

Horse Head Dawn
"For their latest collection Wolverton have become an entire band, giving their songs a rich full sound topped of with some excellent vocals that tie the whole thing together… Exhibiting a creepy Doors-like atmosphere, Pool is a highly effective slice of psychedelia… Over six songs, the quality and atmosphere remains high, great stuff." 
--- Simon Lewis, Ptolemaic Telescope

"This is folk music that has that psychedelic sensibility with a sense of space in the vocals and the staggered timing in the guitar notes. There is some distant violin and piano punctuation that creates intriguing atmospheres and tensions, but the lead male vocals and female harmonies lead the way in these six songs…" 
--- David Hintz, FolkWorld

"The reassuring vibe projected by the subdued vocals, the fragile harmonic nature of the arrangements, and the laid-back sensibility articulated in the plain-spoken songwriting all cohere to make this sweetly dulcet honey one to relish."
--- Jim Testa, Jersey Beat

Tiny Chair
"Their music, which I like a lot, has got a durable alt-rock-folk-country top hand and is excellently rendered, and what it leaves out is as important as what it throws together but is gloriously free of twang or self-conscious neo-traditionalism. Contemplative, affectionate, warm and gently flawed, it’s roots music sans self-importance, and Hills Snyder’s songwriting is witty and doleful and full of unexpected touches; as in Guts, a small song that sounds like deeply personal footnotes to the human epic. "
--- Sarah Fisch, Glasstire

Wolverton

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