From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arborea is an American musical duo combining
elements of Acoustic, Folk , Blues, World Music, and Rock. Their
music is associated with the Psych Folk, Indie-Rock, and New Weird
America genres. Arborea consists of wife and husband team
Shanti Curran and Buck Curran. Shanti Curran provides lead vocals,
banjo (she is also an official endorser of OME banjos), Ban-Jammer
(a type of Banjo dulcimer made by Tennessee luthier Mike Clemmer),
harmonium, ukulele, sawing fiddle, and hammered dulcimer and Buck
Curran provides, vocals, guitar, slide guitar and sawing fiddle.
They both share songwriting duties, arrangements, and production.
Arborea base themselves in Maine and derive a lot of the
inspiration for their music from the rugged, beautiful land and
seascapes of their home state, and even record some of their music
in an old family cabin that Shanti’s great grandfather built during
the Great Depression that is nestled along the Western Mountains of
Maine.
History
The band has performed nationally with artists such as Marissa
Nadler, Fern Knight, Vetiver, and Fire on Fire, and has been part
of the lineup of the Portland, Maine based festival ‘Time of
Rivers’ in both 2007 and 2008. On November 26 of 2007 Arborea
traveled to New York City to record a session and interview for
WNYC's Spinning On Air Program[1] , with
host David Garland. The session was first aired in January 2008,
and re-aired on November 2, 2008. The duo has also performed
internationally at the Green Man Festival in Wales in 2007,
and The Tanned Tin Festival in Spain in November 2007. In December
2008 they spent 18 days touring in Portugal, Spain (appearing on
the Islas de Robinson program 169, December 9, 2008 on the Spanish
National Radio, RTVE[2]),
Switzerland, and Italy. On May 20 of 2009 Arborea traveled to
London to do a session and interview for the BBC 'World on 3'
program with host Mary Ann Kennedy, which aired on June 7, 2009.
They have received critical acclaim from NPR[3]
producer Robin Hilton, who described their music as ‘memorable’ and
their second release as ‘an incredibly spare and beautiful
collection of songs’, and Shanti’s voice as ‘hypnotically
beautiful’. They were also part of a feature article on New Psych
Folk in the August/September 2007 issue of Dirty Linen
Magazine[4], where
writer Lahri Bond described their music as 'Timeless' and 'Haunted
by Deep Shadows', as well as receiving favorable reviews from the
Boston Globe[5], the
2008 issue of Dream Magazine[6], in
which publisher George Parsons stated that their first release
Wayfaring Summer was 'easily one of the best debut albums
I've heard in many moons', and the British music magazine The Wire[7]. In
2008 the duo was interviewed for both a Terrascope Online[8] feature
article, and the July/Aug 2008 issue of Italy’s Blow Up magazine[9]. To
date the band has released three full length albums; their debut
Wayfaring Summer released at the end of 2006, the second
is their Self-Titled 2008 release on Fire Museum Records...limited
to 500 copies and 'Sold Out' within the first year of pressing, and
their latest record is a collection of singles titled House of
Sticks released on the Borne! Recordings, a sub-label of the
Spanish label Acuarela Discos [10] which
is exclusively distributed in the United States by Darla Records. In
June 2009 House of Sticks[11]
received a glowing review from the BBC. Arborea has also curated a
compilation record to help with important relief efforts in Africa
to which all the proceeds will go to the UN World Food Program and
Not On Our Watch agencies. The compilation titled Leaves of
Life released 23 June 2009 on Borne! Recordings, includes
notable artists such as Alela Diane, Devendra Banhart, and Marissa Nadler.
The artwork for Leaves of Life[12] was
created by musician and artist Hanna Tuulikki.
Discography
- Wayfaring Summer (2006), Summer Street Records
- Arborea self-titled (2008), Fire Museum Records
- House of Sticks (2009), Borne!/Darla
- Leaves of Life (2009), Compilation to benefit the
World Food Program)Borne!/Darla
- Beyond the Pale (2009), Sideways Through Sound curated
compilation, Australia
- Little Darla has a treat for you, v.27: Eternal Spring
edition (2009), Various Artists/Darla Records
- TEA-1 Compilation Cd (2007), Terrascope Online
(UK)
- Digital version of Wayfaring Summer released in October 2007.
Available through Apple iTunes, Rhapsody.
- Digital version of Arborea 'Self-Titled' released in June 2008.
Available through Apple iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.
References
External links and further
sources
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