And The Moneynotes began in 2006 as Dr. Horsemachine & The Moneynotes. Based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the group sand-blasted audiences with a unique blend of vaudvillian country bluegrass pop. Backed by a tight rhythm section, the songwriting of Mitchell Williams blended wonderfully with the virtuosity of violinist Coleman Smith. In 2007, after the completion of their first EP, This Year We Hunt, bassist Austin Smith retired to his native Texas. No one man could fill Austin's shoes, so the band added two new members, Pat Finnerty and Manny Quinn, formerly of Okay Paddy. With added dimensions of new personnel and instruments, not to mention different songwriting perspectives, a name modification was in order. Thus: AND THE MONEYNOTES. Wishing to capture a moment of inspiration, the group quickly entered the studio and began recording their first full-length, New Cornucopia. New Cornucopia, the first full-length release from And the Moneynotes somehow captures (most of) what the band is all about in a brisk forty minutes. Jazz, ‘60’s surf, swing, garage-rock, bluegrass – nearly every genre is thrown into the Moneynotes melting pot. With lead vocals on the album split just about evenly between Mitch Williams (acoustic guitar) and Manny Quinn (electric guitar), and background vocals from the rest of the band ranging from heartfelt four-part harmonies to raucous gang hollers, the listener is captivated for the entirety of the album. When the song calls for an instrumental break, Roy “Norge” Williams (piano) and Coleman Smith (violin) weave their swing-influenced layers over the foundation of Quinn, Pat Finnerty (electric bass), Setty Hopkins (drums) and Brian Craig (percussion). Recorded over the period of three months at the home studio of Pat Finnerty in Clarks Summit, PA, the album reflects the combined musical backgrounds of the members. Quinn, Finnerty, and Craig rose from the ashes of Scranton rockers Okay Paddy, Roy Williams fronts fellow Prairie Queen act The Minor White, and Smith is a prominent swing and bluegrass musician in the Scranton area. The current line-up of And the Moneynotes has taken their traveling road-show (often featuring intricate segues, giant horse heads and kazoos) throughout the Northeast, and with the release of New Cornucopia, they have new reason to spread their homegrown, borderline-lunatic sound. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.