Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Farewell Drifters release album

The Farewell Drifters present Yellow Tag Mondays, a stunning collection that displays rich harmonies, sophisticated playing and disarmingly honest songwriting. Available June 8th via Heart Squeeze Records/Thirty Tigers, the national debut from this versatile quintet is a complex combination of smart, modern songs and acoustic warmth and purity that will undoubtedly captivate fans of nearly every musical genre.

Since its formation a few years ago, this Nashville-based band has burst on to the acoustic scene at high-profile festivals like Grey Fox and MerleFest. The Farewell Drifters feature an acoustic lineup (two acoustic guitars, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass) that serves as the perfect setting for their folk and pop sensibility and allows them to explore a multitude of genres, creating a sonic landscape that is strikingly different and new.

Co-founders Zach Bevill (guitar, lead vocals) and Josh Britt (mandolin) have seamlessly pulled together their diverse musical backgrounds to build songs that embrace their tastes and talents, brilliantly supported by Britt's brother Clayton (lead guitar), Dean Marold (bass) and Christian Sedelmyer (fiddle). Upon meeting, Bevill and Britt immediately bonded over a love of both the revolutionary pop music of the ‘60s as well as progressive acoustic music, and found a musical hybrid all their own: a melodic concoction of soaring vocal harmonies, stringed instruments and catchy hooks.

Yellow Tag Mondays announces the arrival of a group of highly skilled musicians with a young, but clearly defined point of view. Their distinct lyrical talents lie in their ability to express progressive, universal ideas in an accessible way, and with their energetic, youthful presence they are part of a movement to expose a new generation of listeners to the honesty of acoustic music. From festivals, to coffee houses, to rock clubs, this quintet continues to delight audiences with their indisputable talent and dynamic stage presence, offering a fresh take on the idea of an acoustic band.

The album opens with a beautiful, serene display of their signature harmonies on "Love We Left Behind," and then picks up the pace with the energetic intensity of "Everyone Is Talking." "All We Need," with its unexpected a cappella coda, showcases the exemplary sound and skill that truly sets the band apart. Its Beach Boys-style harmonies are backed by a careful acoustic instrumentation with a bouncing rhythm, intricate guitar fingerpicking and a charming fiddle serenade that ties the song together.

Yellow Tag Mondays is both the culmination of what these young musicians have been working towards for years and the first step of many in what is sure to be a long and successful journey. With an undeniable instrumental and vocal prowess and a desire to push musical boundaries, The Farewell Drifters prove that they are a force to be reckoned with as they breathe new life into the acoustic scene.

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