“There are plenty of acts plundering the lost worlds of vaudeville and early jazz for their own nefarious ends, but few do it with the wit, imagination and aplomb of Paper Moon Shiners. Frank Meyer and Elena Antinelli are minimalists who go for broke, conjuring their own compelling atmosphere with a just few well-placed props: a light-fingered sense of drama, vintage accompaniment styles reduced to their essentials, a mordantly silly streak regarding the more outre impulses of the human spirit. Any two grownups who aren’t afraid to imitate a tuba and muted trumpet to ukulele accompaniment in a room full of strangers – and kill it – are o.k. with me.”
~David Hamburger, Contributing Writer, Acoustic Music Magazine
“If nothing else, they have one of the best names I’ve encountered in a while. As it happens, they do have more to offer too. Comprising Elena Antinelli and Frank Meyer, who share vocals while he plays guitar, resonator guitar and ukulele, the Austin duo’s mission is to recreate, as their bio notes, the sound of prohibition speakeasies, dust bowl medicine shows, Mississippi Delta juke joints and Harlem Renaissance night clubs of the 20s and 30s.
She opens proceedings with the 1928 trad number WHO’S THAT KNOCKING?, at times reminding me of a less shrill Tiny Tim, while he makes his deeper and slightly dark vocal debut on the creepy Waits meets Cohen DEVIL UP THERE, she taking up the reins again for Meyer’s bluesy, sparse banjo backed NOBODY. This should already be enough to convince you to embrace them to your musical bosoms, but if you need further persuading then check out the lazily sung duet DANCE INTO THE SEA, Antinelli’s growled, resonator-backed take on Robert Johnson’s COME IN MY KITCHEN or the co-penned ukulele-backed vaudeville styled blues GIT.
There’s a couple of classic evergreens for good measure, both from the late 20s, delivering a warblingly lovely Carolina Moon and a ukulele romp through That’s My Weakness, a 1928 hit for Helen Kane with Meyer doing his mouth music kazoo and Anintelli introducing a dash of playful scat. Rounding off with the 69 second uke strummed Space, this is an absolute delight that should be immediately tracked down by anyone with an interest in American music of the early twentieth century.”
~Mike Davies, Fatea-records, UK
“Elena Antinelli and Frank Meyer complement each other perfectly, thread full of emotion, devotion and love for the music of the 20’s and 30’s. Pleasantly minimal orchestration on their debut release leaves lots of space for the fascinating, confident and grounded voice of Antinelli. Musical Gems”
~Country Jukebox, German radio/website
“Elena Antinelli sings like she means every last vocal inflection and trill, while her musical partner, Frank Meyer, adds plenty of character with his gravel voice and easy playing style on guitar, ukulele and steel body resonator guitar. Their music is a step back in time to the days of Prohibition and juke joints with plenty of character and colourful delivery in Who’s that Knockin’? (Trad), Come on in My Kitchen (Robert Johnson) and Carolina Moon (Joe Burke & Benny Davis) stealing the spotlight. However the seven songs written by this unique duo can stand up against such competition with both Space and Same Thang particularly prominent.”
~Paul McGee….Lonesome Highway, Irish magazine/website
“Wonderful music, made by passionate musicians who have made a delightful album with conviction and pleasure. An absolute must!”
~ Moors Magazine, Dutch
“Elena Antinelli and Frank Meyer dive deep into the history of American music. The impression you get is like being in the times of the Great Depression and stepping into a vaudeville theater with the traditional music and songs written by Meyer. Nostalgia, yes, but Paper Moon Shiners are not looking for polished museum pieces. This is live music that revives ancient times. And that especially revives experience.”
~Alt.country.Netherlands
“The world needs more quirky, entertaining bands like Paper Moon Shiners!”
~PAUL RILEY:COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE MAGAZINE, UK
“It is a noble goal from the ‘Paper Moon Shiners’-couple Elena Antinelli and Frank Meyer to initiate a revival on the sound of the early 20th century. A broad variety of music styles like blues, jazz, swing, ragtime and folk is passing by on their debut record, which is providing a perfect fit for nostalgics and vaudeville fans.“
~ www.rootstime.be
“Paper Moon Shiners are very strange ducks in the pond of American roots music. Unlike their musical colleagues, Elena and Frank have specialized in vintage songs and they also compose the American music from the earliest 20th century as inspiration. Frank plays jazz guitar, resonator, and ukelele and like Elena he also takes a ot of the vocals. The bass voice of Frank and somewhat frail, sometimes flapper-like voice of Elena complement each other perfectly. You may be wondering how the sound of the beginning of the last century put together with a limited set of instruments even works. Well then, you have not reckoned with the talent of this duo. Moreover, this just makes minimal instrumental accompaniment sure all attention is drawn to the voices, making the songs get even more cachet. tCabaret, vaudeville, blues, vintage jazz, swing, ragtime and American folk, it all sounds very clever. If the scratch of the 78 rpm were imitated, you would hardly be able to discover that these recordings are from 2015.”
~Keys and Chords, Belgium Magazine
“They’re like a musical time machine, showing how and why the 20’s and 30’s were so musically interesting and fun.”
~Terlingua Music
Check out this review from Europe’s insurgent Country
