buffaBLOG - The Buffalo music blog: crows & jays

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cabinet, crows & jays, dan, pine fever, the waiting room — 1 comments

Tonight: Cabinet

Tonight, we've got a night of folk, Americana and bluegrass at The Waiting Room. Locals Pine Fever and Crows & Jays will be playing with Cabinet, a touring band from my home state of Pennsylvania. I'll cop to being a vocal detractor of much of the music that has come out of the folk/bluegrass revival of recent years. But this isn't for a lack of love for the genre. My distaste has much more to do with having to deal with mustachioed dudes in vests pawing at banjos singing about hopping freight trains when they've never even stepped into an Amtrak station.

The point is that I'm pleased to see a band like Cabinet coming our way. They're young, but they play like guys who have paid their dues a long time ago. They can absolutely rip on some bluegrass, but more often than not, they push on the limits of the genre. The latest release on their Bandcamp page has them experimenting with moody progressive builds with songs like "Caroline," genre crossovers with the reggae-inflected "Dove," as well as straight-up stompers like "Susquehanna Breakdown."

Supporting Cabinet will be locals Crows & Jays and Pine Fever. Our own Ailsa Forlenza cast Crows & Jays's new release as a meditation on memory akin to classic acts like The Allman Brothers and Neil Young. Pine Fever, on the other hand, tends more toward the under-appreciated sounds of ragtime in their most exciting moments, making tonight's show a showcase of some of the best trends that modern Americana has to offer.

Doors open down at The Waiting Room at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $10 advance or $13 the day of the show. They're available at Ticketfly.com or through After Dark Entertainment's low service fee outlet on 630 Elmwood Avenue, Monday through Friday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. The show is all ages, though if you're under 16, you'll need to bring an adult chaperone along with you. Facebook event here.

ailsa forlenza, Album of the Week, crows & jays — 0 comments

Album of the Week: Crows and Jays - Indian Falls

There is a cyclical way we recall memories, sometimes pulling from the end, or dreaming up the middle, trying to find narrative thread that rings true. The story can weaken, or intensify, depending the details added or taken away. Reflection holds an emotional, resonant space. With Crows & Jay's release of Indian Falls this February, they state that this album "...Accesses much more personal experiences of the band. It's about coming and going, and recognizing all the various forms both addiction and relationships have." The many stories told in this work capture, with a twang, how we recast old partnerships. Crows & Jays translate their histories in major harmonies, strong ballads, and a punchy side of rock n' roll.

"Indian Falls" opens the album with cascading, crisp piano solos. The content is idyllic, roomy, and places us in a tangible setting, as main vocalist Justin Bachulak sings, "Indian Falls is callin'/ bathe in the water that's fallin'/ we'll live off the land/ once again I'll be your man." "Fall Behind Us" contrasts with a more minor, pensive, adagio piano, that follows the vocal phrasing in sync. Much of the music harnesses a southern rock and folk sensation, bringing up, for this listener, the fluid guitar solos of The Allman Brothers and the introspective strums of Neil Young. "Only One Survives" follows this path. Extended riffs play between the lyrical phrases, then pause to emphasize what's being sung. A solid line: "Two hearts can beat but only one survives."

Completing the back end of the album are more anthemic, stripped down tunes. "Deirdre" retells the story of a "beauty queen", perhaps a eulogy, or song of mourning. The harmony on the word "Deirdre" catapults the sound to an ethereal level, raising the complexity. "Skipping Stones" feels like it's drawing from a more puerile time, wandering through childhood memories while sitting in the midst of a forest. Around two minutes in, the guitar trills, leaving a gap between the past and present. The last line of the song is an appropriate placement for the close, "put out the fire, we've got some sleeping to do." From start to finish, Crows & Jays deliver a sound musical journey. For a reasonable dime to have it for your own, head here.

12 days of christmas 2013, anthony delplato, crows & jays, delplato allstars, mac, steak and cake records — 0 comments

buffaBLOG's 12 Days of Christmas: Day 10 - DelPlato Allstars

As teased on Friday, Steak & Cake Records has released their first annual covers album, titled Christmas Meltdown!. The collection features some impressive covers, including a stripped down version of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" by Sonny Baker, a whimsical, electro-tinged rendition of "Jingle Bell Rock" by Inquiring Minds, and a fresh take at Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You," by The New York Breakfast. The stand out track on the album is "Christmas Tonight," an incredible cover of The Band's "Christmas Must Be Tonight," found on their 1977 release Islands. Performed by the DelPlato Allstars, which includes buffaBLOG favorite Anthony DelPlato and his Crows & Jays bandmates Brad Kujawski and Peter Metzler, the faithful cover captures The Band's touching harmonies backed by always welcome organ. The production is top notch, something any and all of DelPlato's projects has become known for. Crack a nog on this one.

You can stream the entire Christmas Meltdown! in full here.

andrew reimers cpx, crows & jays, folk, mac, nietzsche's — 0 comments

Tonight: Crows & Jays

The Thursday night folk theme in Allen Town continues this evening over at Nietzsche's as one of my favorite new bands to the Buffalo area, Batavia's Crows and Jays, headlines the long time music venue. C&J are dripping in influences from the Band to Wilco so if that's your bag, head on down. They are set to take the stage around 11pm. Allen St. regulars the Folkfaces and a stripped down version of the CPX are also on deck for tonight. Music kicks off at 9pm with a $5 cover.

anthony delplato, crows & jays, mac — 0 comments

Batavia's Crows & Jays Ride The Americana Waves

Sometimes is hard to pick through all of the acts in the cluster fuck that Infringement can be, but one of the stand out bands from this year's festival was the Batavia bred Crows & Jays. The four piece folk rock act, led by the Tweedy esque vocals of pianist Justin Bachulak and the blog's main man Anthony Delplato, owes much of it's sound to Americana acts of both young and old, including Wilco, Conor Oberst, Dr. Dog, Buffalo Springfield, Jim James, and The Band. The young group released it's sold debut album, Play for the Trees (cover art above), via Bandcamp back in February, which is available to both stream and download. Crows & Jays' next show will be a folk showcase at Nietzsche's on September 5th. In the mean time, check out "Wind in the Willow," a song that sounds like the love child of Wilco's "Walken" and some of the Bands' jauntier moments below.