Removador Recordings and Solutions

“Arise, Great Warrior” will be released Feb. 8 digitally on Removador and on LP via Karate Body.

Booking: Mat Herron, mat@karatebodyrecords.com

“Natalie Felker is the Karen Carpenter of indie rock.”
— No Depression

“… A mesmerizing, emotive sound that creeps and builds like a gathering storm.”
— Cincinnati CityBeat

“If Natalie Felker’s voice doesn’t haunt you after one listen, buddy, you can’t be haunted.”
— Jeffrey Lee Puckett, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

Natalie Felker looks the listener straight in the eye, via her piano and supple voice, and talks you into accepting the dagger … because you know full well that it’s two-sided, and that she’ll accept the other blade. As husband Ben’s guitars start up a sharp squall, you hear why it’s worth the cost: One listen to the bright voices coming in all around to surround you in a reassuring embrace and you’re ready to pick up the dare, the challenge.

Louisville’s The Fervor has formed around this pair — her voice and keys, his guitar and harmony. Right from the start, Natalie was capable of facing up to piano-based alternative divas such as Fiona Apple — but with the skill and resolve to wrest the inspiration from the affectation. Natalie could be the flirt who always said upfront something more honest than your carefully crafted thoughts. Or she could drop her voice low and quiet, be your confidant and your gospel-chord-pounding witness to raw self-confrontation.

Sharpening the focus of the project, the group added drummer Mat Herron and set out on a slew of live shows in 2007 to support of its first full-length, Bleeder. Michael Campbell was found to play bass and they criss-crossed the eastern half of the United States. As they developed their live show, the group began realize their power as a collective entity. Meanwhile Natalie continued to craft strong new songs for a band that was moving forward toward bringing light to mysteries of personality and intimacy — but without any pretense of a definitive answer and far removed from any calming platitudes.

In a culmination of this spirit, the group took these new songs to San Francisco and began tracking what would become Arise, Great Warrior. The sessions would confirm the re-birth of band. Under the arm of producer Charles Gonzalez, the band traveled between Mission Bells and Radical Sound studios. Between these two facilities, The Fervor found the classic gear and physical ambiance that would help them realize the album they had been hearing. Tracking took place in a single room, with members focused on performance rather than perfection. West coast style had infiltrated the camp and greeted like a long lost friend. In many ways the band felt like they were bringing home their first album. Indeed, as a collective, they were.

After 15 days, they returned home to Louisville, where longtime friend and engineer Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, California Guitar Trio, Wax Fang) helped finish what they started. Still the focus was on the power of what The Fervor could do together in a room. Sounds were mixed down to analog tape, and editing forgone in favor of a recording that is upfront with its humanity.

From these sessions has emerged Arise Great Warrior. A record that is gut-punching in impact, but life-affirming in its lasting spark and hopeful mysteries.