"The 12 songs included on "Whiskey & Romances" are simply beautiful. The sound is stripped- down Americana and
lush pop. And though Young leans heavy on his love of the alt-country medium, his penchant for melody and hooks takes
away some of the requisite melancholy. The trio twangs tight, riffs rural, and swings sweet, with equal doses of straight
time and chops, thus adding to the band's overall accessibility and appeal. You'll hear the Earle, but the Costello is in there,
too."
-Frank De Blase (Rochester City Newspaper)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
lush pop. And though Young leans heavy on his love of the alt-country medium, his penchant for melody and hooks takes
away some of the requisite melancholy. The trio twangs tight, riffs rural, and swings sweet, with equal doses of straight
time and chops, thus adding to the band's overall accessibility and appeal. You'll hear the Earle, but the Costello is in there,
too."
-Frank De Blase (Rochester City Newspaper)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Warming the bandstand prior was Burning Daylight. This trio has some fantastic songs. Guitarist Nick Young handles
his electric guitar with a more acoustic-strum approach, moving the open chords around the neck with an almost-sloppy,
jangly ease. I could draw a parallel between these guys and the Old 97's but I wonder how many honkies around here
would understand. That's why I'm supporting this new (alt-country) trend. I'm sure we can eventually pound it into the
ground as well, but for now it's just goddamn exciting."
-Frank DeBlase (Rochester City Newspaper)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The awesome Americana outfit Burning Daylight...craft contagious songs in the alt-country mode, sounding like a cross
between Wilco, the Old 97's and vintage Soul Asylum."
-Michelle Picardo (Rochester Freetime Magazine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you follow the alt-country ladder up from Gram Parsons to Wilco, at the very top you might find Burning Daylight.
Nick Young has written a lot of great songs, and the band plays them with a fiery, raw energy that takes the genre further,
into a deeper, darker place."
-Chris Trapper (Singer-Songwriter, The Push Stars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nick Young has written a lot of great songs, and the band plays them with a fiery, raw energy that takes the genre further,
into a deeper, darker place."
-Chris Trapper (Singer-Songwriter, The Push Stars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This music shines out above the rest, refusing to be lumped into the mass of contemporary fad-rock. At times
reminiscent of the rural nostalgia of Decibully or the buoyant spirit of Teenage Fanclub, Burning Daylight write songs
that revive the nonchalance of the rock movement...and appeal as much to the eccentric indie rockers as to the old school
college crowd."
-Ryan Hoffer (A&R, Shut Eye Records- Atlanta,Ga)
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Feature story in the Rochester Insider (Gannett Publications)
Written by Pam Cowan
Burning Daylight, a regional power-pop/alt-country group, first got together in 2004. But its current lineup — Nick
Young, 29, of York, Livingston County, on vocals and guitar; Jesse Sprinkle, 30, of Avon, Livingston County, on
drums; and Tim Mroz, 31, of Buffalo, on bass — has only been in existence since early 2007.
On April 7, the band released its debut full-length album, Whiskey & Romances, with help from producer Dan
McLaughlin, the bassist for The Push Stars — a Cambridge, Mass., rock band that formed in 1996 and has been featured
on numerous soundtracks, including There's Something About Mary and Me, Myself & Irene.
Insider talked with Young, who also works as a part-time manager at Wegmans in Geneseo, prior to the band's Friday,
May 11, gig in which the trio will be backing Chris Trapper of The Push Stars.
You've worked with two different members of The Push Stars at different times. How did that come about?
As a fan at first. ... They used to play at the old Milestones ... and I went to see them play and met them after the
show. ... They were incredibly nice guys, and I became an even bigger fan. Then, over the years we started meeting up
after the shows and got to be friends. ... We have opened for them several times, and of course we did our record with
(McLoughlin).
Speaking of your new record, I love the album cover. Who came up with the concept?
Actually, it was kind of strange. We had an album completely designed, and at the last minute we had to switch it. ... We
had about three days to figure something out ... so we basically went to (drummer Jesse Sprinkle's) computer and looked
through some of his recent photos on his digital camera. (The photo we chose) was actually from a show that we did in
Asbury Park, N.J., at this really, really dive place called The Saint.
Is it true it only took you guys six days to record the album?
Yeah. ... That includes a little of the mixing, too. ... I think a lot of it was out of necessity. We didn't have the money to
spend a month in the studio like a lot of bands do.
It's clear who the band's alt-country influences are — Uncle Tupelo, Old 97s, Son Volt and Wilco — but I'm curious,
who do you look to for inspiration on the pop scene?
A lot of them are the older bands like Big Star and The Replacements. (Also) Fountains of Wayne ... The Push Stars.
From what I understand, your songwriting process is a little unusual. Tell me a little about it.
Basically, things just kind of come to me in my head. I never try to force it. Very rarely have I come up with a song
where I was sitting with my guitar and saying, "OK. I want this to be Old 97s-ish." ... Usually ... a snippet or a hook or
a lyric ... will just pop into my head.
So do you have napkins that you've sketched on lying all over the place?
I have a tape recorder — usually. Now, with cell phones, even when I don't have my tape recorder, I can leave a
voicemail or put a little memo on my phone.
Written by Pam Cowan
Burning Daylight, a regional power-pop/alt-country group, first got together in 2004. But its current lineup — Nick
Young, 29, of York, Livingston County, on vocals and guitar; Jesse Sprinkle, 30, of Avon, Livingston County, on
drums; and Tim Mroz, 31, of Buffalo, on bass — has only been in existence since early 2007.
On April 7, the band released its debut full-length album, Whiskey & Romances, with help from producer Dan
McLaughlin, the bassist for The Push Stars — a Cambridge, Mass., rock band that formed in 1996 and has been featured
on numerous soundtracks, including There's Something About Mary and Me, Myself & Irene.
Insider talked with Young, who also works as a part-time manager at Wegmans in Geneseo, prior to the band's Friday,
May 11, gig in which the trio will be backing Chris Trapper of The Push Stars.
You've worked with two different members of The Push Stars at different times. How did that come about?
As a fan at first. ... They used to play at the old Milestones ... and I went to see them play and met them after the
show. ... They were incredibly nice guys, and I became an even bigger fan. Then, over the years we started meeting up
after the shows and got to be friends. ... We have opened for them several times, and of course we did our record with
(McLoughlin).
Speaking of your new record, I love the album cover. Who came up with the concept?
Actually, it was kind of strange. We had an album completely designed, and at the last minute we had to switch it. ... We
had about three days to figure something out ... so we basically went to (drummer Jesse Sprinkle's) computer and looked
through some of his recent photos on his digital camera. (The photo we chose) was actually from a show that we did in
Asbury Park, N.J., at this really, really dive place called The Saint.
Is it true it only took you guys six days to record the album?
Yeah. ... That includes a little of the mixing, too. ... I think a lot of it was out of necessity. We didn't have the money to
spend a month in the studio like a lot of bands do.
It's clear who the band's alt-country influences are — Uncle Tupelo, Old 97s, Son Volt and Wilco — but I'm curious,
who do you look to for inspiration on the pop scene?
A lot of them are the older bands like Big Star and The Replacements. (Also) Fountains of Wayne ... The Push Stars.
From what I understand, your songwriting process is a little unusual. Tell me a little about it.
Basically, things just kind of come to me in my head. I never try to force it. Very rarely have I come up with a song
where I was sitting with my guitar and saying, "OK. I want this to be Old 97s-ish." ... Usually ... a snippet or a hook or
a lyric ... will just pop into my head.
So do you have napkins that you've sketched on lying all over the place?
I have a tape recorder — usually. Now, with cell phones, even when I don't have my tape recorder, I can leave a
voicemail or put a little memo on my phone.
Feature story in City Newspaper (Rochester,N.Y.)
Written by Frank DeBlase
Burning Daylight's Nick Young was making a right turn on his way to work when it hit him from out of nowhere; a
fleeting fragment of melody flickered in his head. Young knew what he had to do: get it down quick, or it'd be gone.
When he arrived at work, he made a beeline for the office and made the call. Burning Daylight is slated to release its new
record, 'Whiskey and Romances', on April 10th. Some of the tracks were handled in this frenzied fashion; the songs
themselves dictating just when --- and where --- they were good and ready to be written. "I rarely just sit down with a
guitar to write a song," Young says. "If I ever do it just doesn't happen." He usually keeps a little tape recorder handy,
or in some cases demos the idea on his answering machine. "Two or three songs on the new record are voicemail ones,"
he says. Phoned in or not, the 12 songs included on Whiskey and Romances are simply beautiful. The sound is
stripped-down Americana and lush pop. And though Young leans heavy on his love of the alt-country medium, his
penchant for melody and hooks takes away some of the requisite melancholy. The trio twangs tight, riffs rural, and
swings sweet, with equal doses of straight time and chops, thus adding to the band's overall accessibility and appeal.
You'll hear the Earle, but the Costello is in there, too. "I think we're just as much power-pop as we are alt-country,"
Young says. "I'm hugely impressed by the art of the perfect pop song." This power-pop/ alt-country shotgun wedding
was captured and produced by The Push Stars' bassist Dan McLoughlin. McLoughlin played bass, guitar, and organ,
and recorded everything except the rhythm tracks at his home studio in Hoboken, N.J. Young figures, start to finish, the
album took six days to make. Burning Daylight --- Young, drummer Jesse Sprinkle, bassist Tim Mroz --- has been
burning daylight since 2004. It was Young's dad's Gram Parsons records that got the young man headed in this direction.
And The Byrds. "Sweetheart of the Rodeo was a big influence on me," he says. But after seeing and hearing bands like
Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and especially The Old 97s, that's all she wrote. This was where he needed to be. This would
be his sound; pop music hooks with genuine country as a vehicle. And like so many alt-country purveyors and
disciples, Young is quick to disassociate with --- and make it abundantly clear his dissatisfaction with --- mainstream
country. "I just don't believe it, I suppose," he says. "It just doesn't hit me the same way. It doesn't hit you in the gut.
It's formulaic and calculated." But like punk's mid-'70s rise and revolt against corporate rock's bland bloat, alt-country is
reactionary and probably wouldn't have been born were it not for country music getting watered down in the first place.
Bands like Burning Daylight and its influences may never have come to be. So you can actually thank guys like Billy
Ray Cyrus for making bands like Burning Daylight necessary. Bands that are genuine, sincere. "There's conviction in
what we do," Young says. "There's sincerity behind it. We mean it. We're not just up there trying to impress our
girlfriends."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by Frank DeBlase
Burning Daylight's Nick Young was making a right turn on his way to work when it hit him from out of nowhere; a
fleeting fragment of melody flickered in his head. Young knew what he had to do: get it down quick, or it'd be gone.
When he arrived at work, he made a beeline for the office and made the call. Burning Daylight is slated to release its new
record, 'Whiskey and Romances', on April 10th. Some of the tracks were handled in this frenzied fashion; the songs
themselves dictating just when --- and where --- they were good and ready to be written. "I rarely just sit down with a
guitar to write a song," Young says. "If I ever do it just doesn't happen." He usually keeps a little tape recorder handy,
or in some cases demos the idea on his answering machine. "Two or three songs on the new record are voicemail ones,"
he says. Phoned in or not, the 12 songs included on Whiskey and Romances are simply beautiful. The sound is
stripped-down Americana and lush pop. And though Young leans heavy on his love of the alt-country medium, his
penchant for melody and hooks takes away some of the requisite melancholy. The trio twangs tight, riffs rural, and
swings sweet, with equal doses of straight time and chops, thus adding to the band's overall accessibility and appeal.
You'll hear the Earle, but the Costello is in there, too. "I think we're just as much power-pop as we are alt-country,"
Young says. "I'm hugely impressed by the art of the perfect pop song." This power-pop/ alt-country shotgun wedding
was captured and produced by The Push Stars' bassist Dan McLoughlin. McLoughlin played bass, guitar, and organ,
and recorded everything except the rhythm tracks at his home studio in Hoboken, N.J. Young figures, start to finish, the
album took six days to make. Burning Daylight --- Young, drummer Jesse Sprinkle, bassist Tim Mroz --- has been
burning daylight since 2004. It was Young's dad's Gram Parsons records that got the young man headed in this direction.
And The Byrds. "Sweetheart of the Rodeo was a big influence on me," he says. But after seeing and hearing bands like
Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and especially The Old 97s, that's all she wrote. This was where he needed to be. This would
be his sound; pop music hooks with genuine country as a vehicle. And like so many alt-country purveyors and
disciples, Young is quick to disassociate with --- and make it abundantly clear his dissatisfaction with --- mainstream
country. "I just don't believe it, I suppose," he says. "It just doesn't hit me the same way. It doesn't hit you in the gut.
It's formulaic and calculated." But like punk's mid-'70s rise and revolt against corporate rock's bland bloat, alt-country is
reactionary and probably wouldn't have been born were it not for country music getting watered down in the first place.
Bands like Burning Daylight and its influences may never have come to be. So you can actually thank guys like Billy
Ray Cyrus for making bands like Burning Daylight necessary. Bands that are genuine, sincere. "There's conviction in
what we do," Young says. "There's sincerity behind it. We mean it. We're not just up there trying to impress our
girlfriends."
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