Tone and Niche

For SHOW DATES, ALBUM INFO and MORE visit TONEANDNICHE.COM or find us on facebook.comTone and Niche brew a refined, light-jangled, warm toned folk with those pensive-setting-sun piano accompaniments and shimmering, beautiful violin/viola swinging saws that lull your heart into a teary-eyed smile, while steady strummed acoustics and driving rhythms carry foggy, world weary lyrics; the perfect soundtrack to the inevitable warming of the winds as winter turns to spring. In 2007 they recorded their masterwork, "Rust," a strong front-to-back rhythm-rocking indie-folk tour de force; pop melodies, rolling rhythms and the beautiful brooding wail of Niche's strings under Tone's warm, pleasant ringing vocals. Truly a gem in the rough and rocky milieu of an already healthily crowded Detroit scene, bringing a rock sensibility to country twang and spilling earnest, heartfelt singer/songwriter meditations grounded in a personable wisdom, in earthy tones feeling so attuned to the setting sun over the wheat fields on an immaculate summer's day. Think Revolver-era Beatles, Andrew Bird's string-laden neo-folk-pop and the heartache-poetics of Elliot Smith.
-J. Milo, Real Detroit Weekly



Every bit Do It Yourself troubadours, this guitar-and-violin duo take chops (thankfully) as seriously as they do performance and are anti-scenesters in the very best sense. They're a guy/girl ensemble who whip out everything from slick originals to classic covers. The whole "local singer-songwriter" ethos has some new life courtesy of these musically endowed love birds. -Eve Doster, METRO TIMES - Detroit, MI.



"Anthony Retka, of Tone and Niche, uses an immaculate blend of great songwriting, vocals, and guitar. He plays melodic numbers with full vocals and introspective lyrics, many of which are about love. Retka is a master of dynamics, moving between rich, strong heavy guitar bits and gentle, barely-there strumming. The diversity of his octaves is astounding; he conjures images of Radiohead one moment and Jeff Buckley the next."
-Springfield Artists, Metro-Detroit Writers
There's a truism among the devoted, those who spend a good portion of their scratch and large chunks of spare time haunting hole-in-the-wall music venues. And it's that the city of Detroit has a very real scene behind the superficial "scene." In it, conversation is secondary. People listen. Don't bother looking for the emotionally genuflecting 21-year-old who read about the joint or band in her greasy copy of Mojo. She can't even find this other scene, and even if she did, she wouldn't understand a collective of musically inclined people as unabashed about their love for John Lennon as they are about having played in high school marching bands. And thick inside this familial environment is a group called Tone & Niche. They are Anthony Retka on guitar and Nicole Varga on (yes!) violin and — though they're adept enough to play just about anything — they are rock 'n' roll singer-songwriters.
"Music's the only thing we know," Niche says. "He'll call me on his lunch hour and sing new melodies into my voice mail so I can write them down before he forgets." Tone's songwriting has a so-cool-I'm-not-cool Harry Nilsson quality to it, and, with the accompaniment of Niche's gorgeous violin, the duo gives off an aura similar to 1980s college radio. (Think R.E.M., Marshall Crenshaw). When overproduced, overthought and image-driven can feel like the name of the game, the music of Tone & Niche is built for listening. And an appreciation for great violin licks, of course.
-Eve Doster, METRO TIMES - Detroit, MI.
"These days in Detroit music, it seems like you can't drunkenly stumble through one smoke-clogged bar without getting smacked in the face by a violin. But Tone & Niche may have been the first to infuse their pop-rock sensibilities with plaintive violin strings, a sound they pair to perfection with bittersweet melodies and vocals dripping with wisdom gained at a cost."-MetroTimes, Detroit - Critic's Pick by Megan O'Neil



"If you’ve made it the past six years without hearing Tone & Niche count yourself a rare find—and dreadfully unlucky. They’re really good. Matching raucous violin with melodies last found in Rolling Thunder Revue-era material. Their chemistry has nursed three studio albums (a self titled disc, On the Streets Of, and Rust), a collection of singles—including a reworking EP of the “House of the Rising Sun”—and now a live double album! On record and on stage the true dynamic lies in the respective Tone & Niche. Tone, guitar and singing, and Niche with violin playing that could both quell or incite riot."-Adam Leroy, PopWreckoning
Tone and Niche, an original pop/rock band based out of Detroit, MI. consists of singer/songwriter Anthony Retka, violinist Nicole Varga, bass guitarist Nick White, bass guitarist and keyboardist Jimmy Sterling Lees and drummer Roger Dutcher. Tone and Niche’s eclectic mix of violin-led pop/rock and singer/songwriter styles stem from influences of performers such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Andrew Bird, Elliott Smith and more. Tone and Niche frequently perform in cities such as Nashville, Chicago, Cleveland, and have become a driving force in the Detroit music scene. The band has shared the bill with several national recording artists including: Martha Wainwright, Mike Errico, and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. Over the last five years Tone and Niche have released three albums, a single and two EP's. These recordings emit a mysterious brilliance of creative song structure, lyrical depth and polished performance.
T&N Releases:
*Tone & Niche Full-Length CD - 2003
*Anthony Retka Solo acoustic disc - 2003
*On The Streets Of Full-Length CD - 2004
*Song One EP - 2005
*From Your Hands Single - 2006
*Rust Full-Length CD - 2007
*Lemonade EP - 2007
*The House Of The Rising Sun EP - 2008
*Tone & Niche LIVE Double CD - 2009
*Singles CD - 2009



Tone and Niche music in films:
"Song One" can be heard on Tone & Niche's Song One EP and was also used in an indie film in "Long-Time-sun-shine" (www.myspace.com/longtimesunshine)
"From Her To Me" not only appears Tone & Niche's Rust, but demo of this tune can be heard in Detroit's "Inzero" film project in Episode 4. (www.myspace.com/inzero)
-- RAP? --
READ ALL ABOUT THE AMISH LUNATICS AND CO. Featuring Tone aka "Vicious" and Niche aka "Kotton Kandy"!
Give "Rap no. 1" a listen at our website: www.toneandniche.com



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