10 String Symphony and Tattletale Saints, on a tour of New Zealand and now the USA, have reached Boston!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
please note the date change
Doors 6:30, Concert 7:00
The concert will be presented at a private residence just outside of Cambridge.
Suggested donation is $15pp student, $20pp regular
(more if you can, less if you cannot)
Send an email to notlobreservations@gmail.com, upon receipt notloB will reply with additional information.
10 String Symphony
10 String Symphony
“When each song ended, the two pressed tight into their microphones, savoring the last strains of the harmony – and even the bartenders seemed to be leaning forward breathlessly, awaiting someone to clap first. Their self titled recording aptly demonstrates the power of a spare, tightly-connected acoustic performance that is given room to evolve – for bluegrass fans, the lightning-fast harmonic runs on dueling fiddle is worth the price of admission alone. But it’s the off the road experiments, especially from Christian’s biting bow-strokes that will make future audiences take note.” -Z. N. LUPETIN, The Bluegrass Situation
“The fiddle playing from both Sedelmyer and Baiman is beautiful, articulate, expressive, and their synchronicity is compelling. Baiman’s clawhammer work is tastefully gentle as well, and Sedelmyer’s improvisational work is a wonderful balance of the traditional mountain music fused with contemporary harmonic and rhythmic influences that make for a great listen. Their vocals are equally impressive, capturing that far away feeling so loved in folk music, and when set against the texture of the two fiddles (or fiddle and banjo), it is easy to get lost in this record.” –The AcoustiCana Journal
The Nashville music scene is a famous home for world-class side musicians, as well as a plethora of legendary songwriters. Now it presents us with a duo that combines the best of both worlds, skilled instrumentalists with an incredible amount of soul and a love of great songs.
10 String Symphony is an arena for mesmerizing acoustic innovation. Although difficult to categorize, their music is instantly recognizable as a blend of two distinct but equally vivacious musical voices, encompassing “aggressive, almost discordant, celtic and dare I say punky string-chording experimentations” (The Bluegrass Situation). Vocally, Rachel Baiman and Christian Sedelmyer lock in seamlessly, and their vocal duets often take center stage despite the fact that they are self-described fiddle players.
Sedelmyer (Formerly of the Farewell Drifters) and Baiman (Formerly of Belfry Fellows) met in Nashville, and realized a mutual love for the range and depth of the 5-String fiddle. Their desire to see just how far a two-fiddle, two-vocals instrumentation could take them was the inspiration for the 10 String Symphony project. By the time their first full-length album was released in November 2012, their instrumentation had expanded to include the occasional clawhammer banjo and resonator mandolin, though still maintaining a stripped down, tightly woven and carefully arranged duo sound.
Decidedly contemporary in their musical approach, their debut album showcases Sedelmyer’s virtuosic improvisation and creative harmonic soundscape ideas alongside Baiman’s old-time rhythm and emotional melodic sensibilities. Just over a year old, the duo has already gained recognition and attention from some major festivals, landing slots at the ROMP festival in Ownsboro, KY and the Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite, CA in the summer of 2013.
"Sensitively understated folk and subtle simplicity… songs as memorable, lyrically considered and melodically engaging as many of Paul Simon's… a very emotionally engaging album"
Graham Reid, elsewhere.co.nz
"Cy is a beautiful singer, melodic yet conversational, and a vocal resemblance to Paul Simon is only heightened by the ambitiousness of his songwriting… in the unadorned setting of the duo it becomes clear how complete that talent is"
-Nick Bollinger, The Listener April 2013.
"There is something utterly beguiling about a musician armed with a guitar and a suitcase full of memories, which need little or no adornment.There's nowhere to hide, the voice has to engage you and the songs have to have substance. That's the natural, unadulterated beauty of Tattletale Saints debut album. Cy Winstanley has the rich voice and lyric instincts of a Paul Simon and his foil, the equally talented Vanessa McGowan adds lovely punctuation harmonies and the sort of swinging bass lines that you'd expect from a jazz musician."
-4.5/5 Mike Alexander, Sunday Star Times 17/04/13
