SERYN ON MAIN STAGE AT TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS #39

17 Jun SERYN ON MAIN STAGE AT TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS #39

Seryn everywhere you want to be: Main Stage, NightGrass (Palm) and Elks Park

The New York Times did a feature on the place a few years ago, when the band Midlake were the poster boys for Denton, Texas’s indie music scene, which includes musicians as noteworthy and diverse as Sly Stone, Don Henley, Meat Loaf, Pat Boone, Norah Jones and Roy Orbison. The overview, however, gave a wide berth for the competition to emerge from the grid of brick houses and mom and pop shops.

“They are not the only ones vying for that title. The town’s lo-fi sound, a mélange of Southern twang and experimental indie-rock that suggests Wilco and Radiohead, has garnered an eclectic following that stretches from alt-country die-hards and college radio listeners to MySpace fanatics and clubbers in Europe.

“At last count, more than 100 bands were polishing their sound in the city’s dive bars, rooftop spaces and fraternity basements. Even the local record store, a converted opera house called Recycled, has a section devoted to Denton bands. The bin dividers read like a Lollapalooza T-shirt: Lift to Experience, Centro-matic, Jetscreamer, Vortexas, Robert Gomez, Stanton Meadowdale, Mom, Mandarin, and Matthew and the Arrogant Sea….”

And now add Seryn to the list.

Seryn is Chelsea Bohrer, violin, percussion, and bird chirps; Aaron Stoner, bass, trumpet, cello and bear roars; Nathan Allen, guitar, guitar, geeeter, banjo, and guitar. And some mouth sounds; Chris Semmelbeck, drums, banjo, pump organ, guitar, accordion, bells, earthquake stomps; Trenton Wheeler, ukulele, banjo, accordion, sings the sung songs. The group appears on the Main Stage at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival #39 Friday, June 22, 11:15 – 12:30 p.m.  AND AT 11 p.m. at The Palm on a bill with Peter Rowan & The Travelin’ McCourys.

When listening to the well-layered textures of guitars, ukulele, accordion, bass, viola, banjo and various percussion, it’s hard to imagine This Is Where We Are is the band’s debut effort. The band’s strength resides in raw musical talent and an understanding of group dynamics. Each member’s voice is of equal importance. One is not complete without the other. It’s all about the blend. The beauty of Seryn’s sound emerges in seamless harmonies. “Soaring” and “serene” are adjectives the group uses to describe itself, but…

Seryn’s sound is not easily defined:  What may first appear as straight folk songs, later transcend into noisy walls of sound, or almost film score soundscapes. The term “Folk-Pop” has been thrown around. Maybe it loosely fits, but why not decide for yourself when Seryn performs for the first time ever on the Fred Shellman (Main) Stage of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival? Their first performance is Friday, June 22, 11:15 – 12:30. Later that evening at NightGrass, the group appears with Peter Rowan & The Travelin’ McCourys, 11 p.m., Palm Theatre. Saturday afternoon, 4:30, Elks Park, Seryn gives a workshop in opening tuning and performance.

“Watching Seryn perform, it’s hard to convince yourself that those crystalline, multi-part harmonies are not pre-recorded or some kind of 10/061 sleight of ear,” raved the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“I was blown away by their emotional power at SXSW and immediately knew we needed them on the Telluride stage,” said Brian Eyster, marketing director, Planet Bluegrass. Paste magazine named Seryn the best live act of 2011 SXSW and listed their debut, self-released album one of the 50 best records of 2011 and I completely concur. Seryn considers Telluride Bluegrass Festival the biggest gig of their career and they’re planning their entire summer around shows in Telluride.”

For a preview of what’s in store in Town Park or at The Palm, watch this video.