Sugar Ponies

Darlings of San Francisco's indie music scene, on the strength of their sparkling 2009 self-titled debut EP, first full-length I Better Better the following year, and a relentless schedule of enthusiastically received live shows around the Bay Area, Sugar Ponies take a giant step forward with the impending release of It's A Sign this October. Helmed by multi-platinum and Grammy-winning producer Ed Stasium (Ramones, Talking Heads, Smithereens, Living Colour and many more), It's A Sign is a brilliant expression of Sugar Ponies' irresistible sound: a sexy, sassy, rocking, unfailingly melodic blend of country, rock, classic pop, folk, and whatever else these fearless songsmiths feel like tossing into the mix. At the core of the band are vocalist Suzanne Kramer, who draws inspiration from Lucinda Williams, Patty Loveless, Patti Cathcart, Kenny Loggins, and Paul Simon; and guitarist Michael McGovern, who tips his hat to XTC's Andy Partridge, Pete Townshend of The Who and Tom Petty guitar slinger Mike Campbell. Together since 2004, Kramer and McGovern seamlessly weave their diverse influences into a delightful musical tapestry on the new album. From the energetic cover of Bob Dylan's "You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" that kicks off the LP; to the heart-breaking ballad "Give This Girl A Break"; the lusty rocker "Hey Cowboy!"; the tender, wistful "Happy Is For Humans"; and the effervescent indie-pop of "Please Pull Over", the Ponies go from strength to strength — there's not a weak moment on this record. With the release of It's A Sign, Sugar Ponies emerges as a major talent. It's as accomplished and winning a recording as you'll hear this year. Personnel Kenny Aronoff, drums Jason Slota, drums Tim Vaughan, drums Aaron Leigh, bass Jamie White, bass Tony Glaser, bass Austin de Lone, Hammond B3, piano Ed Stasium, percussion, blues harp, Wurlitzer, Whip, Ebow guitar, Hammond B3 Danny Allen, lead slide guitar Rebecca Roudman, cello Produced by Ed Stasium Additional production and engineering by Ari Rios, Danny Allen, David Jenkins, Elton Cunniffe, and Pete Mrdjenovich Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound The Sugar Ponies are often asked what genre is their music. It's kind of hard to nail it down to an existing genre, so they made up their own genre called altPOPcountryFolkROCK. The Sugar Ponies are a band based out of San Francisco, California. Suzanne Kramer and Michael McGovern make up the core of the band and write most of the songs. Suzanne's background in music consists of 70s pop, jazz and country music. She's the product of influences such as Lucinda Williams, Patty Loveless, Patti Cathcart, Kenny Loggins, and Paul Simon... to name a few. Michael's musical influences include XTC's Andy Partridge, Pete Townshend and Mike Campbell. Some guest artist who have performed with the Ponies include; Tim Vaughan, Jesse Brewster, Allyson Paige, Tony Glaser, Max Delany, Andrew Gibson, Pete Mrdjenovich, Mick Shaffer, Dovovan Plant, Alan Monasch, Chris Wagner, Dave Whitaker, Bill Fried, and Dennis Heneda. In studio we've had the late, great Paul van Wageningen, Kenny Araonoff, Edo Castro, Jim Kassis, Aaron Leigh, Wally Schnalle, Ari Rios, Rebecca Roudman, Austin de Lone, and Tim Vaughan. We are a San Francisco based band. We play a very specific genre of music; altPOPcountryFolkROCK.