History
Formed in 1996 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, Dreadnaught regularly toured the Northeast United States through the recording of its first two albums, Dreadnaught (1998) and Una Vez Mas (2000). Both releases featured vocal-oriented roots-rock interspersed with progressive, art rock, and jazz elements; during this period, the band's live shows were marked by aggressive, energetic instrumental improvisation and increasingly sophisticated musical structures.
By the recording of 2001's The American Standard (Red Fez Records), the band (now a trio consisting of bassist Bob Lord, guitarist Justin Walton, and drummer Rick Habib) was touring nationally and had become more radical in composition and performance; The American Standard presented classical and jazz influenced multi-movement suites, quirky pop songs, and avant-garde metal instrumentals with augmented orchestration, including strings, brass, and winds. Critical response to the album was widespread and enthusiastic, exposing European, Eurasian, and South American audiences to the band for the first time and landing the group on numerous 'best of' listings.
After three years of steady touring and performance in support of The American Standard, Dreadnaught released the highly experimental Musica En Flagrante (Big Balloon Music/Red Fez) in 2004. Reflecting Lord's ongoing active work in film scoring and custom audio, Flagrante was an entirely instrumental set of pieces featuring widely expanded instrumentation and recording techniques in addition to the debut of drummer Tim Haney (previously and subsequently a member of SeePeoples).
The double-disc album Live At Mojo arrived in 2005 from the Italian label Comet Records and received a 4-star review from Allmusic upon release; the album was recorded live in the studio in late 2003 at the end of a national tour by Lord, Walton, and Haney, and features cuts not heard on any other Dreadnaught recordings, including cover tunes by Warren Zevon, Dick Curless, and John Entwistle. In 2005, Habib returned to the fold, and Lord released his first solo set, Audio For Film TV & Games (Red Fez), a collection of cuts culled from the bassist's visual media projects.
Dreadnaught worked steadily in the studio during 2006 to record new material with longtime engineer Shaun Frenchie Michaud, this time blending the musical extremity of prior sessions with a return to a more vocal-based style. Throughout the year the group also recorded music composed by Lord for film (The Elevator Chaser for OxRock Productions) and radio (The Exchange for NHPR), and in early 2007 re-recorded The Who's Going Mobile for a national marketing campaign.
In 2007, HIGH HEAT & CHIN MUSIC: 10 YEARS OF DREADNAUGHT, a double-disc retrospective featuring 2006's new studio tracks along with tracks from each of the band's prior albums, was released by Big Balloon/Red Fez to glowing reviews and critical acclaim.
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