Hear This - By Carey Miller Clarion-Ledger Jackson, MS May 1, 2008   Who are they?: Vinyl Soup of Franklin, Tenn., was formed by guitarist/vocalist Andrew Hooker, a native of West Point, after he graduated from Hollywood, Calif.'s Guitar Institute of Technology and relocated to Nashville in 2002. Employing his virtuoso craft no doubt learned at that prestigious school, Hooker turned Vinyl Soup into a band unfettered by genre, incorporating rock, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, reggae and more into its sound, with a playful lyrical style reminiscent of acts like Little Feat. Vinyl Soup issued its first album Chasing Yesterday in 2003, which was a popular Web download. After a bit of a hiatus and a change in personnel, Vinyl Soup is now back with a vengeance touring and bringing its freewheeling live show to clubs in support of its just-released second album Brandon and Travis     CD Review: Vinyl Soup, Brandon and Travis Valerie Nutt 03.APR.08 Rating: 3.5 Pulses The Boro Pulse Murfreesboro, TN Franklin-based band Vinyl Soup doesn’t want to be pigeon holed. Sorry guys, you wanted a review, so I have to at least attempt to tell you what I make of your latest album, the ten-track melting pot of all American traditions, Brandon and Travis. It’s lovely. Fine, I’ll be more specific. What an upbeat piece of work this is. Vinyl Soup tells stories with the sincerity of They Might Be Giants about flying, trains, jail stays, angels, and riding with Elijah. Their sound is a mix of folk, rock, blues, reggae and bluegrass, played with just a touch of the jam band spirit. “Thoughts on a Page” is an introduction, Andrew Hooker and the guys are bringing their words to you to “help you through each day.” Sure, maybe it’s about a girl, I’d rather think that it’s about me. So there. Next up is the title track, “Brandon and Travis.” Broken up into four parts, two with vocals and two without, it’s one of the album’s long tracks, coming in at a little over 14 minutes. It’s also one of the tracks that captures the feeling of Vinyl Soup’s live shows, where long instrumental jams are not out of the question, and are often punched up with smart jazz innovation. Hooker has a judicious hand on the guitar, he’s not trying to overload us with notes, he’s trying to make every string count. Piano guru Justin Smith lightens the tone with his fast fingers, Wes Lloyd keeps it solid on the bass, and Chuck Brooks knows how to use his high hats, if you know what I mean. There were a few lulls on the album toward the last half where, if I wasn’t paying attention, nothing reached out and pulled me back in. But at the last moment “Goodnight Waltz” came on, a delightful, whimsical instrumental track at the end of the album. I was sold on my experience all over again. Maybe I do love this album. All in all it’s a good solid listen, slightly reminiscent of The String Cheese Incident, a lighter sounding cousin to Umphrey’s McGee.            The Local Voice Oxford, MS 3/20/2008 Cover Feature! COCHLEAR THRILLS Vinyl Soup Live at Two Stick with FREE PABST Wednesday March 26, 2008 Tennessee Prog Rock, Jazz-Grass and Folk Jam: Vinyl soup Hits the Road with Brandon and Travis Tennessee isn’t a state known for its prog rock, nor is the phrase "prog rock" often uttered in the same breath as folk and bluegrass music. The sound of Nashville’s Vinyl Soup demands the use of hyphens, though, because a musical term has not yet been invented to describe what they do. Their name sums it up best: "Vinyl," as in nostalgia for the phonograph era and roots music styles; and "Soup," as in a melting pot of ingredients. Vinyl Soup’s combination of roots music styles, instrumental virtuosity and psychedelic lyrics might draw comparisons to Up on the Sun-era Meat Puppets, Phish or the Grateful Dead, but the group takes its explorations to another level with tightly composed epic-length instrumental passages, Caribbean rhythms and jazz flourishes that display the group’s adventurousness as well as their chops. Borrowing its title from a line in the road song "Down the 805," the new Vinyl Soup album Brandon and Travis returns again and again to the themes of confinement and escape, particularly escape through travel. The instrumental solos appear as journeys of the imagination, taking the listener on a phantasmagorical voyage that mirrors the restless yearnings of the characters in the songs. The members of Vinyl Soup - Andrew Hooker, Wes Lloyd, Justin M. Smith and Dr. Chuck Brooks - are highly accomplished and schooled musicians, but Brandon and Travis is no exercise in academia; it marries top-flight musicianship with a creative spirit full of surprising twists and turns. What one critic described as the "playful wah-driven hippie funk" of Vinyl Soup’s 2003 debut, Chasing Yesterday, has given away on Brandon and Travis to a carefully constructed vision that is more prog than jam. The lyrics are more serious this time around, but the band still expresses its playfulness through their improvisations and instrumental arrangements. Describing the role of improvisation on the album, guitarist Andrew Hooker says: I do and I don't consider Vinyl Soup a jam band. On a whole, the album is strictly arranged with very little noodling, but there are spots of spontaneous improv, and the entire album was recorded live with overdubbing of guitar, vocals, and keyboards in spots. Defying our age of sound bites and short attention spans, Vinyl Soup spent four years crafting this complex and compelling album, and you can hear it in the grooves. Brandon and Travis is newly available from Creek Slide Records and VinylSoup.com.