Pillbox

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Something	4:53	Play
2		World Stumbling	4:15	Play
3		Dragonfly	5:37	Play
4		Buddha's Pillbox	4:47	Play
5		Sad Bird	6:08	Play
6		Nothing Day	4:48	Play
7		Purple	4:57	Play
8		Berlin at this Train	5:06	Play
9		In the Dirt	4:26	Play
10		Love and Hate	4:56	Play

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Bitmunk Marketplace Service	USD $0.98
CD Baby Artist Royalty	USD $5.97
CD Baby 9% Digital Distribution Cost	USD $0.54
Bitmunk Download Service	USD $0.70
Bitmunk MicroPayment Service	USD $0.01
Total	USD $8.18

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Description

Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. A songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Rinehart used to analogize the purpose of his songs as similar to that of minstrels in medieval Europe, or the griots of West Africa but now thinks of himself as the reluctant songster. His interest in a variety of cultures was informed initially by his itinerant lifestyle, having grown up in a home filled with diverse musical sounds ranging from classical to obscure folk to pop music. He studied guitar as a child, and at the age of 10 he was recruited by a substitute teacher at his elementary school to sing backing vocals for two pieces performed by Judy Collins on a television show. Afterwards he learned piano, and played in several rock bands during high school. A well reviewed singer, he likes to recall the time he got kicked out of a high school rock band for not singing well enough.

After high school he studied music and theatre at Simon's Rock, a progressive college that introduced him to his first non-western music forms and instruments. His interests grew from singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchell to encompass progressive and hard rock groups including Genesis and Led Zeppelin. By the mid 80s he was attuned to what he termed "more artsy-erudite" music, including Talking Heads and Laurie Anderson, as well as Celtic folk and other traditional musics from eastern Europe, Africa and India. He subsequently attended the California Institute of the Arts to study African and Indian music full-time under A. Dasgupta, Taranath Rao and the Ladzekpo brothers. After a year spent hitchhiking in the mid 80s he returned to California to undergo a lutherie apprenticeship, enabling him to work as a journeyman instrument repairer specializing in stringed instruments. He also began to build his own instruments, among them mbiras, tongue drums and guitars.

Having returned to Connecticut in the late 80s Rinehart became a studio engineer and played in a number of rock bands. His formal musical education continued when he enrolled in the classical conservatory of the State University of New York where he researched the relationship between rhythm, culture and cognition. He graduated in 1995 with his thesis, Rhythm In Culture, given a special merit award. While at the university he formed his own group, Zulife, and backed regular CBGB's headliners Being Don And Nothingness. His first album, Walking Home, released on his own record label, received several strong reviews in performers' magazines including Guitar Player and Option. 1997's Jason's Chord saw him combine with other established musicians including guitarist David Torn (a Windham Hill Records recording artist), bass player Mick Karn (ex-Japan) and former Bruce Springsteen/Van Morrison live drummer Kurt Wortmann. Rinehart toured Europe with the Mick Karn band as their solo opening act.

In the late 90s Rinehart performed as textural accordionist on Richard Leo Johnson's Blue Note release "Language" along with Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, and Cyro Baptista.

Rinehart spent the first few years of the new millennium building a computer-based studio in Connecticut called the Jewel Box and recording his third record entitled Pillbox using a number of New York area musicians from string and wind players to various band performers including Matte Henderson, Gregg Sulzer and Walter Strauss. Incorporating some of his newfound interest in electronica, Pillbox is an eclectic journey through Rinehart's studies in composition, world music, studio production and melodic honesty, though Rinehart himself declares that the world music component has "sort of disappeared amongst more contemporary western influences."

Discography:
Walking Home (Contamine World Music 1989)****, Jason's Chord (CMP 1995)****, Pillbox (Contamine World Music 2004)****

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