One Star Hotel was a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-based rock band fronted by singer-songwriter Steve Yutzy-Burkey. The band also included Daryl Hirsch, Alec Meltzer, and Rick Sieber.

Steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

ist Mike "Slo Mo" Brenner contributed to the band's recordings, an arrangement and sonic result similar to Bruce Kaphan's work with

American Music Club American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. Formed in 1983, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums. ...

. In a city best known for its

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and

R & B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

artists, One Star Hotel stood out because of a sound more reminiscent of

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

music. Originally called Stereo Field, the band changed its name to One Star Hotel before the release of its first, self-titled album in 2003. They kept the name Stereo Field for their

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

. A second disc, ''Good Morning, West Gordon'' was released in November 2004, garnering favorable reviews in a number of American newspapers, magazines, and web-based music sites. Tom Moon of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' characterized Yutzy-Burkey's musical style as "convey ngtorn-apartnesss without even trying... transforming those overworked three chords into something almost magical again." Another reviewer, John Takiff described One Star Hotel as "the sonic equivalent of an

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Hopper created subdued drama ...

painting." Comparisons to the Chicago-based

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently dur ...

(one of alt-country's most popular bands) often dogged One Star Hotel, although the comparisons owed less to derivativeness than to similar musical roots in the

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

sound of The Band,

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

, and

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guiar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a new l ...

. One Star Hotel opened for Wilco on a tour of the

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in the fall of 2005. Following the tour, a brief message announcing that One Star Hotel was "packing it in" appeared on the band's website, a surprising and enigmatic end for a band that seemed poised for bigger things.

Discography

* ''One Star Hotel'' (Stereo Field Recordings, 2003) * ''Good Morning, West Gordon'' (Stereo Field Recordings, 2005)

External links

One Star Hotel: official web site

Pop Matters review of ''Good Morning, West Gordon''

Stylus Magazine Review of ''Good Morning, West Gordon

Promotional description and sound samples for ''One Star Hotel''

Promotional description and sound samples for ''Good Morning, West Gordon
Musical groups from Philadelphia Rock music groups from Pennsylvania {{US-country-band-stub