PRESS QUOTES
Chronogram Magazine Review of “Leaning In”
Serene and quietly compelling, you'd swear Open Book's final long-player, the appropriately titled Leaning In, was an acoustic record—that is, until you realize that the plethora of instruments and sounds (including Lloyd Maines's perfect pedal steel) swirling around behind the gossamer blend of Michele and the late Rick Gedney's voices are made with electric instruments. That's when you might search for Daniel Lanois's name in the production credits—but you wouldn't find it: Instead, that ethereal honor goes to Austin's Billy Masters. Not just because of a song title like "January Knows," Leaning In, perhaps as a result of its being recorded during the pandemic, feels like a cool-weather record, perfect for frosty Hudson Valley mornings and long, dark nights in the couple's hometown of Beacon (see the haunting, Cheri Knight-like "Windows"). While the album is, thankfully, not as twee, nor obviously as British, at moments it has certain sonic similarities to Mike and Sally Oldfield's The Sallyangie—and what could be wrong with that? Michael Eck
“I love this album by Open Book and loved singing on it. Michele Gedney is a co-leader of Writing a Song That Matters and wrote the song "Go" that Cry Cry Cry covered. We lost Rick Gedney last January, but he is so warm and present on this album, Leaning In (available on all streaming platforms).” ~ Dar Williams
"In pop music, stealth and restraint often go unheralded, yet these qualities are every bit as important as flash and dazzle; subtlety, in the right hands, can pack as much punch as obviousness. Husband-and-wife duo Michele and Rick Gedney, aka Open Book, know all of this, and their third CD, Grateful, exemplifies the low-key power of haunting melody buttressed with expansive harmony, the satisfaction of adroit wordplay entwined with skillfully understated musicianship. Perhaps you'd forgotten the deep pleasures of a pulsing beat switching from straight time to cut time, an undistorted Stratocaster layered over a bed of acoustic strumming, a lap steel mournfully keening at the edge of a song. Grateful will remind you.
Ace drummer Dave McNamara captured Grateful at the Gedneys' home in Cold Spring. He populates it with some of the Catskills' finest Americana musos, and their additions of color and feel help make this radio-ready collection shine. All originals but one are Michele's, and her distillation powers are impressive indeed; the title track is both longing and celebration; "This is Yours Now" makes loss a thing of breathless beauty; "The Earth Will Move" is whispered, but potent, encouragement. Meanwhile, Rick's accompaniment—as distinctive harmony vocalist, co-arranger, and guitarist—cannot be underestimated. Those Gedney harmonies get showcased to great effect on Open Book's take on Lennon and McCartney's "The Night Before"—rebooted here as a great ballad—and the Richard Thompson/Neil Finn folk-pop gem "Persuasion. Bittersweet rarely sounds so good, or needed"
Chronogram Magazine, September 1, 2015 - By Robert Burke Warren
"Open Book's songs build on Rick and Michele's beautiful and entwining harmonies, achiving an incantatory power"
Jim Motovalli, WPKN Radio
"Open Book is the working identity of Michele and Rick Gedney. Their music is an amalgam of folk inflected styles with tunes that concern themselves with love and loss, their music crosses into the urban landscape as easily as it inhabits and embraces it’s rural roots. The duo’s harmonies are sublime and tastefully evocative; their music is amply fulfilling and the structures incorporate sounds that travel far outside the standard instrumentation of the base genre to incorporate sounds from the city and world."
John Hammel, Homegrown Radio
"Open Book is a folk-rock duo, yes, but the big advantage of having two co-leaders in harmony and agreement rests on the spectrum of influence and experience each brings to the table...songcraft and soul-filling vocals of sterling quality..."
Thomas Staudter, The Gazette/The New York Times
"Blown away by the HARMONIES! People, they're exquisite....live, their vocals are really front and center where they damn well should be. Michele's pristine tone, at times
reminiscent of Shawn Colvin's, just soars and Rick's voice complements hers
beautifully...shines on his own too."
Sam Tallerico, WVKR Radio
"Following their auspicious debut album, "Out of Time," Rick and Michele Gedney have racheted things up several notches with their second album, "The Things We Keep." Right at home in the middle of a masterful mix of instruments, we hear the finest country/folk/rock harmonies since the Everly Brothers. Rubin's glass-like purity mixes perfectly with Gedney's soft delivery alongside a tastful mix of swirling slide guitar, mandolin, and atmospheric piano and more. The songs range from doubt to devotion, but are handled with conviction throughout.
Richard Cuccaro -- Acoustic Live in NYC
"Hot on the heels of their emerging artist showcase gig at this year's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, singer-guitarists Michele Rubin and Rick Gedney—Open Book—return with their second solid, folk-filled CD. The Things We Keep, like its tuneful predecessor, 2002's Out of Time, is an engaging amalgam of harmony vocals, tasty folk rock, and, most importantly, intelligent and astute songwriting that fully realizes that whatever the two songwriters are living through, most of their audience has also experienced. Unlike many contemporaries, the duo and its producer-guitarist, Billy Masters, know not to overproduce the music, and instead let the songs speak not only for themselves but to Open Book's deservedly growing audience. Evidence of this can be heard throughout the disc but radiates especially on the poppy lope of "Sing Me Love"; the evocative immediacy of my favorite track, "Springfield Avenue," which could be about any Main Street in the Hudson Valley; and the funky, unwinding "There for You." Other folk rockers include the closing "See You Next Time"and the chunky"New Direction Home."
Mike Jurkovic, Chronogram Magazine
"Their music is as intriguing as is their name. Most everyone remarks on Michele's unique voice. I can't describe it as anything but angelic. Rick's accompaniment adds the right ingredient for a good read. Open Book invites you into a cerebral landscape of contemplation and resolve. The questions are often introspective and shadowy. The answers are as ambiguous as they so often are in real life...a journey of the heart. Their song writing styles work so well together that the songs seem seamless as they flow into each other. Billy Masters did an incredible job at production and deserves much applause!!! Rick and Michele's studio artists included some of the industries finest; Mike Visceglia on bass (Suzanne Vega, Bette Midler and many others), Steve Hass on percussion (Ravi Coltrane, Billy Joel), and Billy Masters on guitar (Richard Shindell, Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky, Cry, Cry, Cry, Suzanne Vega). Open Book's debut CD, Out of Time, is a marvelous triumph! It has become one of my favorite easy listening CDs for both the home and car. I can't wait to hear what comes next."
Rick Rock, Tribes Hill
"Every track has something that moves me, but if I 'had' to choose one for my desert island it would probably be 'Say a Prayer' - but could just as easily be 'Downstream' (I hear shades of Sandy Denny) or Indiana (makes me want to go there) etc, etc....great production too - he deserves a Masters Degree!) Really hope these little song pearls get found and brought to the surface for all to hear.",
Paul Castle, Across The Pond UK
"Buy this CD, I promise it will be one of the things you keep! Zoe Montana, Music Director, RadioIO.COM
"Wow...what a great CD. All the sounds I love to hear in a contemporary folk-rock song are right there in the first minute of the album...and then those voices. Not to mention great musicianship! I am definitely loving this CD."
Dan Herman, Radio Crystal Blue
"The true compatibility between the two is astonishing. Open Book do slide very easily through classification barriers making there own combination of folk, Americana, and some jazzy overtones to fill in the gaps. This is a pleasant journey, you can actually feel yourself getting lost in the music. It has the ability to make you feel a part of the music rather than a simple bystander. Sharing the role of lead vocalist, both Michele and Rick have the capability, but the magic of the harmonies is when the CD really shines. There is a theme to the music here and if you want the full effect you really have to listen to the album from start to finish. I recommend Out of Time, a good clean sound that comes from the soul and hits you in the heart."
Rikk’s Reviews
"Michele and Rick Gedney share both lead vocals and songwriting throughout the recording of Out of Time whilst allowing their own individuality to come to the fore in the individual songs. In the case of Michele's song writing in particular (but reflected in Gedneys too) there are strong poetic and contemplative threads running throughout which is reflected in tracks particularly as "Everything has changed" and "Downstream". The first and title track of the CD provides a gentle but firm indication of what is to follow, Michele's smooth and silky vocals weave well with the string backing and Gedneys backing vocals . The duo have a tendency of making every word sound sincere, clearly the love the duo have of their craft comes through. The songs themselves are deceptively simple. This is one of these CD's with hidden depths, and deserves to be listened to again and again to strip away the different layers, a reflection perhaps of how well the whole thing hangs together. Often writing about bands its helpful (to the reader) to provide some kind of reference point. However in this case I couldn't think of such a comparison, whilst there are clearly influences the duo are clearly their own artists."
Graham Dixon, BBC Radio 3
