Bombadil / Anthony D'Amato / Kingsley Flood

About Bombadil: "Quirky, multi-textured, wildly inventive, eclectic, and hugely enjoyable,” “…a combination of open-minded chamber folk and the bright and sunny pop music of the 1960s,” “Syd Barrett meets The Beatles,” are just some of the media accolades used to describe Bombadil, a band that over the past year or so has been building a steady buzz, catching the attention and support of media outlets like the New York Times, NPR, and Diffuser.

Managed by the same team that steers the career of The Avett Brothers, the North Carolina-based Bombadil – Daniel Michalak (bass, piano, harmonica, vocals), James Phillips (drums, bass, vocals), and Stuart Robinson (piano, ukulele, vocals) – produced and recorded their new album, Hold On (March 24, 2015/Ramseur Records) over a nine-month period in 2014, scheduling the sessions into the spare moments between tour dates. The album is an amalgamation of rapturous harmonies, sparkling instrumentals, poignant songwriting, and layers of imaginative arrangements that show off the band’s folk roots, but with traces of funk, country, rap, R&B, and New Wave-inspired dance beats. Hold On is an album that surveys the terrain of love with songs full of hope and ironic humor.

All three members wrote and sing songs on Hold On, which allowed each to bring his own personality to the mix. “Each of us has different styles so combining them gives us a unique sound,” said Michalak. “I get a lot of my inspiration from books and authors like Ernest Hemingway, Ronald Dahl, or Shel Silverstein…James and Stuart get their inspiration from music, science/math, and computer programming.”

Dolph Ramseur, head of Ramseur Records/Management, discovered Bombadil on the band’s MySpace page, caught their live show and signed them in 2006. He helped the group book tours and release records, including the Bombadil EP in 2006, A Buzz, A Buzz in 2008 and Tarpits and Canyonlands in 2009, the record that has often been referred to as “the album that should have made [Bombadil] famous.” Just prior to its release, Michalak was diagnosed with neural tension, and consequently Bombadil could not tour or promote the record. Bombadil took a hiatus, and after several years of therapy, Michalak was able to return. The band regrouped in North Carolina for 2013’s Metrics of Affection, a release that again received great reviews: “It’s tough to be truly original while still creating catchy pop tunes, and this band manages to do just that…” “Bombadil exerts a natural magic for telling tall tales with a splendid tendency towards casual detail.”

After an 18 month period of intense touring and songwriting, Bombadil has crafted a record packed with unforgettable melodies, imaginative sonic landscapes, and irresistible harmonies, making Hold On an early highlight of 2015.

About Anthony D'Amato: Recorded with members of Bon Iver, Megafaun, and Josh Ritter’s band, Anthony D’Amato’s New West Records debut, ‘The Shipwreck From The Shore,’ has already earned praise from NPR and The NY Times to SPIN and Billboard for its brand of heavy-hearted folk shot through with electric streaks of rock and roll. Veering away from the homemade DIY production style that marked his early work, D’Amato relocated to producer Sam Kassirer’s Great North Sound Society, an 18th-century farmhouse-turned-studio in rural Maine, to cut the album raw and fast in just eleven days.

D’Amato first came to national attention with 2010’s ‘Down Wires,’ which he recorded with a single microphone in his college bedroom and NPR dubbed “a modern folk gem.” He followed it up with another home recording, ‘Paper Back Bones,’ which BBC Scotland named one of the Best Americana Albums of 2012. Dates in the US and Europe with Josh Ritter, Rhett Miller, Pete Yorn, Ben Kweller, Alejandro Escovedo, Mary Gauthier, Joe Pug, Gretchen Peters, Shawn Colvin, and more ensued, in addition to performances at the iconic Newport Folk Festival and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.

About Kingsley Flood: With “signature high energy” (Rolling Stone) and a live show that “could thrill Folsom Prison in ‘58 or CBGB in ‘76” (Boston Herald), Boston and Washington D.C.-based Kingsley Flood began 2015 with lofty goals: release two EPs and a full-length.  The ambitious volume of output recognizes that the music business has changed and moved on from the era of the traditional album cycle. It also represents a shift in leader Naseem Khuri’s songwriting, channeling his personal journey as a Palestinian-American trying hard to do good and repeatedly coming up short.

Since their breakout set opening the Newport Folk Festival in 2013, Kingsley Flood has opened tour dates for Lucius and Josh Ritter; earned raves from AV Club, Paste, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NY Times; played a session for Esquire; and premiered a video with NPR Music.

For To The Fire, the fast-rising band partnered with producer Paul Kolderie (Radiohead, The Pixies, Speedy Ortiz) and crystallized the musical traits that help it stand out: the horn/violin combination that alternates between epic orchestral sweep and lush, low-key ambience, electric guitars that move from melodic arpeggios to howling feedback, an ever-expanding palette of keyboard textures and a versatile rhythm section, all topped off by Khuri’s raspy, desperate lead vocals.

On To The Fire, Khuri turns the focus inward, shifting from the chronicles of failed American dreams depicted on previous release (and Boston Music Awards Album of the Year) Battles, to his own struggle as a wanna-be do-gooder struggling to change the world around him.  Shaped by his Palestinian-American heritage and his hard-working immigrant parents, he spent his twenties working for organizations focused on conflict and inequality, in the Middle East and in his own backyard. The songs showcase both biting ambition and a reckoning that change is hard to come by.

But like everything from Kingsley Flood, it’s the energy, dynamics, and musicianship that give life to Khuri’s reflections. From intricate arrangements and inspired lyricism to flashes of punk, the band behind To The Fire still delivers an experience that Paste Magazine said ”is rapidly making an impression nationally [with its] rowdy on-stage anthems.”