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Showing posts with label Virginia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virginia. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Swell EP: Griff's Room Band - Shut The Case EP [folk rock / pop rock / bluegrass]

Griff's Room Band is a folk rock/pop trio from Virginia that formed in 2011 and earned its street credit (quite literally) by playing to tourists and locals alike on the streets of Colonial Williamsburg. Over the past few years of their existence, the three friends have tightened up their infectious sound, playing numerous shows at and away from their usual bench location (see picture above). They even traveled over to Europe to enliven other historic streets. Recently, they uprooted their two acoustic guitars and fiddle over to Richmond, VA to live and make music together, which led to their first proper recording.

Their debut EP entitled Shut The Case is a 6-song collection of what Griff's Room Band does best: upbeat folk pop with rich acoustic guitar melodies, lively fiddling, and vocal harmonies that are almost too perfect. From the energetic lead-off track "Cornerbooth" and the sincerity of "Could Be" to the bluegrass-leaning "The Fine Line" and complex intertwined guitar picking of "All In", Griff's Room Band's proves to be a band with enough range to please just about any pedestrian and the originality to attract active listeners.

Download the Shut The Case EP at iTunes or BandCamp and stream the whole thing below. If you happen to be in Richmond, VA on July 25, be sure to join Griff's Room Band and their good vibes for their CD Release Show.

—My personal favorites: Could Be, The Fine Line, All In—

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

holaTUBE: The Last Bison - "Midnight City" (m83 cover) [indie folk / chamber music]

With roots in Chesapeake, VA, the 7-piece "mountain-top chamber music" family band The Last Bison has just released their "debut" album Inheritance, which is gaining the critical appeal and audience they probably hoped last year's self-released Quill LP would have acquired when they were simply known as "Bison". However, after the name change they decided to rerecord (and reorder) the six strongest tracks from Quill and add five new tracks. The result is a more polished and cohesive indie folk album that is reaching many more sets of ears with the help of Republic Records and Paste Magazine and thanks to critics' comparisons to The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, and Mumford & Sons.
In this video, shared exclusively with Paste, you can experience The Last Bison's live take on "Midnight City" by m83, in which the Virginian folk ensemble uses instruments of all sorts to completely re-imagine the hit electronic song. With Ben Hardesty's raspy howl and rhythm guitar, his father Dan's lead banjo picking, his sister Annah's chiming bells, a brooding percussion, cello and pump organ combo, and a flawless violin impressively replacing m83's synth leads you have a complex and truly unique cover song that can just about live up to the original.

Listen to the original recording of their single "Switzerland" from the self-released Quill below and buy their new debut Inheritance LP here.