Stace England & Salt Kings - Salt Sex Slaves

'Revises the Stones sex-drugs-rock paradigm: history-epiphany-insight. Four Stars.' - UNCUT, UK "After 'Greetings From Cairo' another fascinating piece of unsurpassed songwriting. Four Stars." - KEYS AND CHORDS "None of this story would matter here if the music and lyrics on Salt Sex Slaves weren't worthwhile, intelligent and, to use a hackneyed word, deep. Even setting aside the documentary nature of England's record, fans of alt. Country, Americana, folk and plain old rock & roll will enjoy this CD. Five out of Five rating." - NEWS 4 U "The music recalls the Stones in their best years but is slightly more Americana in style. At first listen the CD is remarkable as a whole but then it even grows further on you. Stace England has already been embraced by a small circle but with Salt Sex Slaves he seems ready for a much bigger audience." - VELVET MUSIC "The alt. Country / Americana scene has been full of expectation about what this CD will bring. And it's a lot, because ever since the first listen, we are again deeply impressed." - ROOTSTIME, BELGUIM "Stace England has used his music as a means to an end and, in doing so, has achieved something no other concept album has, thrown open an unpalatable subject and made the listener care." - MAVERICK MAGAZINE, UK "On his newest, the terrific 'Salt Sex Slaves', England tackles another bit of American history. The songs revolve around topics like the production of salt, kidnapping, slavery and assassination in free country. And all of it happens in a musical context which reverts unabashedly to the Stones at the time of their classic 'Exile On Main Street'." - CONTROL ALT COUNTRY "The subjects are not always happy ones but the music is in the fine tradition of The Black Crowes, and peers like Steve Wynn and Dan Stuart." - RADIO ONE, BELGUIM "Salt Sex Slaves' is a CD that revives the spirits forgotten by history such as local legends like the ghosts who still inhabit the Old Slave House." - MESCALINA, ITALY"In Salt Sex Slaves Stace England has created another excellent song cycle about the history of his home state of Illinois, proving again that he has an excellent ear for both music and story telling." - BLOGCRITICS.ORG 'Stace England is like Sufjan Stevens, with balls." - PAT TODD, FOUNDER, RANKOUTSIDER RECORDS "Stace England has the artistic moxy the size of an Illinois cornfield. Only England would even attempt to do a concept CD about such a bizarre and subverted chapter of Illinois history as 'The Old Slave House' and pull it off in spades while rocking out. " - JASON RINGENBERG "The world's only remaining cool folkie." - SPOTLIGHT MAGAZINE Best known for 2005's critically acclaimed Greetings From Cairo, Illinois, Stace England emerged as an intriguing geographical yang to Sufjan Stevens' yin. "Greetings" told the remarkable story of Cairo, a once booming river town in heartbreaking decline straddling the American North and South at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Live performances featured extensive multimedia, culminating in a headlining performance at the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague, documentaries in the US and Europe and stellar press on both sides of the Atlantic. England and his new band, The Salt Kings continue his story telling mastery on Salt Sex Slaves, weaving tales of brutal salt production, kidnapped free blacks, ghosts, slave breeding and murder in a supposed Free State, the Land of Lincoln, into a volatile, provocative Exile On Main St.-ish stew. SSS bridges the gap between forced slavery and chosen servitude to the commodity of the moment, making the story remarkably relevant for modern times. John Crenshaw, the "Salt King," operated a profitable reverse underground railroad in the No Mans Land bordering Slave and Free states. His castle, The Old Slave House, still stands near strangely named Equality, Illinois.