2014 Press Release for ETA's Debut Album, "The Evansville Transit Authority":

Vermont's Northeast Kingdom-based Rock band The Evansville Transit Authority (ETA) recently finished recording their first album of all original material. The band, which has been performing together for twelve years in and around northern Vermont, has typically focused its efforts on performing classic hits by Rock, Country, and Blues artists. Now, the time has come for them to apply their unique artistic touch to songs of their own. The resulting self-titled album, recorded and mixed by engineer and producer Bennett Shapiro at Lovetown Studios in Middlesex, Vermont, is a mixture of styles that range from straight-ahead Rock to Contemporary Blues, as well as hints of Alternative Country throughout. The band’s intentions for the album were simple. “Our goal was to create something that demonstrated the breadth of our influences,” states guitarist Kyle Chadburn. “If we’ve covered the style in the last twelve years, it’s only natural that it has impacted our own music as we write.

Some of these songs are brand new; others are nearly ten years old. The songs are not isolated genre studies, however. Instead, each track blends styles within itself, offering the listener an opportunity to pick them apart and listen closely for inspirations to surface here and there. “It’s a challenge,” ETA drummer Travis LeBlanc explains. “If you can pick out all the influences as you listen, then you must love all the same styles and musicians that we do.”

The next step for the band is to take the songs on the road, where they belong, and reinterpret them on stage the way they have reinterpreted others' songs for so many years. "It will be a fun experiment to see if we can find new ways to play these tunes live," says bassist Chris Doncaster. "We kind of pride ourselves on being able to perform songs a little differently each time, and these originals will be no exception." The band will continue to perform in and around Northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York, and is ready to share their music with as many people as possible. "There aren't a lot of things that last for twelve years anymore," comments guitarist Adam Choiniere, "so we're proud that the band, and a lot of the songs, have done that."

Produced by Bennett Shapiro & The Evansville Transit Authority

CD Manufacturing by Mike Iula at Northern Vermont Media

All original lyrics written by Kyle Chadburn

Except tracks 5 & 9 written by Travis LeBlanc

Music by The Evansville Transit Authority

Seven Days Review, "The Evansville Transit Authority"

Though they may be unfamiliar to audiences outside of the Northeast Kingdom, the Evansville Transit Authority have been rocking Green Mountain juke joints for some 12 years. Their recently released self-titled record is the band's full-length debut, and their first recording to feature exclusively original material. A consummate bar band, ETA are rooted in that time-honored cocktail of blues and classic rock, ingredients found in abundance on this recording The quartet doesn't reinvent the wheel, but the record does offer some pleasant surprises. Opener "A Way to Say Goodbye" recalls the driving alt-rock of early Cracker. "No One to Turn To" features searing licks from lead guitarist Kyle Chadburn that Stevie Ray Vaughn fans would cheer. "Burn" is rough-and-tumble punkabilly. "Cheap Motels" is sturdy country rock in a Tom Petty vein. Hell, there's a even a lighter-worthy power ballad, "Asleep at the Wheel." All in all, it's a strong debut.

-Dan Bolles, Seven Days Music