Joe Cassady & The West End Sound's Page

“It doesn't take a genius to work out that Joe Cassady is a damn fine
musician and an even better songwriter.” Maverick Magazine—June 2009

Called, "an alt-country innovator . . . in the tradition without being derivative," Avenue A Records recording artists Joe Cassady and The West End Sound, combine the best of the singer-songwriter tradition with roots, Americana and modern rock forms. Their debut CD What’s Your Sign? was named as one of the best CD’s of 2007 by editors of USA Today and Soundstage! and was spun by legendary UK DJ Bob Harris on his BBC2 radio show. The follow-up, 2009’s The 47th Problem reached the top 10 of the Euro-Americana Charts and has also received extensive airplay in the U.S, Australia and South America.

Founded in 2005 out of Manhattan's Lower East Side by lead singer and songwriter, Joe Cassady, Joe Cassady & The West End Sound are among the main protagonists in a growing roots/rock music scene arising in the Big Apple. They have toured throughout the eastern United States and along the way they have shared the stage with notables such as Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Bernie Worrell of Parliament Funkadelic and Talking Heads and Garth Hudson of The Band, as well as acts like Olabelle, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, the Zen Tricksters, and the Jim Weider Band. In the words of Midwest Record's Chris Spector: this is "an up and comer that's going to go the distance no matter what marketing handle they hang on the genre. Top shelf stuff in any bar."

"Wasn't necessarily expecting good alt-country from a Manhattan band, but got it anyway. The songs' obvious intelligence doesn't get in the way of the solid, often enthralling music."
Ken Barnes - USA Today

“Cassady and his pals continue to merge the best of various fringe and underground sounds into a special Americana gumbo that you label that way because there’s no other way to make the uninitiated understand.” Chris Spector - Midwest Record Review

"Heavy shit indeed." Jan Wolfer - Hooked on Muisc


Instrumentation
Joe Cassady (Songwriter, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Shu Nakamura (Lead Guitar& Keyboards), Aaron Gardner (Bass), Robert Bonhomme(Drums)



Discography
What's Your Sign? (USA TODAY and SOUNDSTAGE! Editor's Choice for Best CD's of 2007, 20 + Weeks on the AMA Americana Radio Airplay Charts and featured by Bob Harris on BBC2 Radio in the UK), Joe Cassady & the West End Sound EP