07 Jan HOT INDIE L.A. BAND AT TELLURIDE OPERA HOUSE
“We had the opportunity to bring a hot, indie, L.A. band to town and we couldn’t turn it down,” Jennie Franks, founder of Sparky Productions, said of the band He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister, who is slated to bring their strong vocals, vintage costumes and bluesy, folk sound to the Sheridan Opera House Monday January 9th.
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister is a band that sings songs that tell a story, puts original artistry in live performances and believes in the strong instrumental sounds of the bass, cello, tambourine, guitar and drum. Their eclectic sound has been said to include everything from the “earnestness of folk, the colorfulness of glam rock, the rawness of blues, the theatrics of cabaret, and the hip shake of rock-a-billy”.
The group consists of leading brother and sister vocalists and songwriters, Robert and Rachel Kolar, songwriter Lauren Brown, who adds full-body percussion as she simultaneously tap-dances and plays the drums, Oliver Newel on stand-up bass and Aaron Robinson who plays lead guitar on a lap slide.
“We’re a brother and a sister, a tap-dancing drummer, and an incredible, beautiful prodigy on slide guitar,” Rachel Kolar said of the band. “And Oliver on upright bass is magical.”
According to NPR’s World Café host, David Dye, who featured the group in his program May of this year , the group is one that must be seen live. Rachel Kolar, Brown and cellist Satya Bhabha all have extensive background in theater, which plays a major influence in both the band’s music videos and live performances.
“There’s a beautiful 1920’s uber-romantic sensuality,” Rachel said of the group’s performances. “And there’s a huge theatrical element to our performance in our dialogue our costumes and the tap dancing, it’s a real spectacle.”
Rachel Kolar admits that her influences are all over the map. “I always loved country and blues,” she said. “Dusty Springfield, Buddy Holly and then side swipe that with Bjork.”
She adds that her brother, Robert, loves Arthur Alexander, Bowie and T-Rex. But out of all of these influences, the band believes they have produced their own distinct sound and theme, which Kolar calls “light with shadow.”
“It’s bright fun music,” she said, “but with a darkness or irony to it, kind of like The Cure.”
The band is excited to share it’s eclectic mix of music and theater with Telluride Monday night and will be premiering a number of recordings from their upcoming album, which hasn’t been released, but is called, Nobody Dances In This Town and is being produced by Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, The Rosewood Thieves, Vetiver, Fruitbats, Little Joy, Beachwood Sparks).
About the name, Rachel Kolar said, “Every single town we got to, we always get everyone dancing, then after the show, people come back and say, ‘That was amazing; everyone was dancing. Nobody dances in this town.’”
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister plays Monday January 9th at the Sheridan Opera House. Doors open at 7:30. Show is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12.
Franks and Sparky Productions is proud to be able to bring a band so committed to the musicianship and artistry of music (and fun) to Telluride. According to Franks, the mission of Sparky Productions is to keep alive the diverse, cultural life of rural communities through film, theatre and music. In December Sparky brought a sneak peak of Steven Spielberg’s movie, Warhorse, to the Palm Theater, is involved in the production of the Gage and Gage documentary on Tim De Christopher and annually produces The Telluride Playwrights Festival in July.
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