From Maine #8

Stay warm!

Help fund Arborea's next record!

A message from Arborea about their current Kickstarter.org project:

Hello, This is Buck and Shanti of the Indie folk duo Arborea.

Thanks so much for visiting our project page! Shanti and I have been working extremely hard since our debut cd in 2006...writing, recording, touring as much as possible throughout the US, UK, and Europe. If you aren't familiar with our music here are a few press quotes we've received for our past releases.

"Shanti and Buck Curran get it right, with memorable songs that linger in the ether long after the last track ends." - NPR

"Maine folk duo Arborea creates timeless music" - Dirty Linen Magazine

"Arborea's brand of folk music is ethereal, bone-chilling, and beautiful all at once!" - Performing Songwriter Magazine

"Husband and wife team, Buck and Shanti Curran, construct a fragile, resonant world with a lingering Americana after-taste, shimmering with the same wide-open spaces Ry Cooder’s
captured so well on Paris, Texas." - BBC

"Singer/banjo player Shanti Curran has an ethereal, frequently otherworldly voice that reminds of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, but with considerably more gravitas and soul" - Lucid Culture

"A Magical Mystery Tour" - Boston Globe

"Singularly breathtaking" - Portland Phoenix

...Each year we've had a little more success...becoming more independent along the way, leading us to our current project. We've spent the past year writing and recording, and now we are working hard to finish up the record but we need help, so we're reaching out to fans to help make this the most successful and creative release possible!

We are asking you to help raise money so that we can complete the final stages of producing and pressing the record...that includes mastering and manufacturing the cd. If we raise $2000 over our goal we'd also love to master and press vinyl...which is something we always wanted to do and also something a lot of fans have been asking about. Even a $1 to $5 dollar pledge would make a huge difference and helping us achieve our goal.

The other important reason for doing a Kickstarter project is the Best part...hitting the road and bringing the music to you guys! Shanti and I love sharing the intimate part of making the music come alive through performance and we are committed to traveling in America, Ireland, the UK, and Europe...but we'll need extra pledge funds to help us all get there. We also need to purchase some microphones to improve the 'acoustic' presentation of our live performances. Also, on tour we hope to make a special video to document our journey. All of this takes an incredible amount of hard work and resources!

We are also the parents of two great kids who are home-schooled, so they'll be traveling with us on tour and that will also be a major part of their lessons (think Road-schooling!). We traveled with them across the U.S. last spring and it was a wonderful experience as a family.

We've set our goal to the bare minimum of $2,500, but we can certainly use as much help as possible beyond that...because mastering, and pressing a cd can be expensive enough, add to that all the funds needed to help press vinyl, promotion, and go on tour (motels, food, fuel, oil changes, etc) and it can add up to well over $10,000!

For those of you not familiar with Kickstarter, here's how it works:
We've set a minimum goal of $2,500, and you can pledge any amount you'd like! In return for your contribution, you'll get great rewards like an advance signed copy of the cds, concert tickets, a tour dvd, your name in the liner notes of our CD, or in some cases a special performance just for you (the rewards are listed to your right). The catch with Kickstarter is it's an all or nothing project...so unless we raise At Least $2,500 by the project deadline...the project won't happen and all our hard work over the past year will not see fruition.

Thanks in advance for all your support and faith in our music, film, and art!

Note: The film used for our project page is one of Shanti's creations (with some filming done by me). We hope to get a better video camera to make ever better films! (It was shot with a small Sony Bloggie)
Also, the song is from our third record 'House of Sticks' and is called 'In the Tall Grass'

Project location: Lewiston, ME

Upcoming Show for Arborea

Arborea, recently back from their UK tour, will be playing a show this Saturday at the University of Maine at Farmington. The show will take place at 8pm in The Landing (found in the Olsen Student Center).

Careless Love

A new track from Arborea today, available for listening on SoundCloud - "Careless Love"

Arborea in the Portland Press Herald

(Photo by Liam Curran)

There is a great piece about Arborea in today's Portland Press Herald, titled "Making Noise: Arborea's ethereal sound the fruit of rustic roots."

Mike Olcott writes: "Arborea's sound is just like dreams, only better. Despite the music's Celtic and Americana roots, to hear the husband-and-wife team of Buck and Shanti Curran is to be transported to another world.

The quiet vocals and rustic textures will fill the North Star Music Cafe at 8pm Saturday."

To read the rest of the article, please visit the Press Herald website here.


The next couple shows coming up are thus:
Friday, July 30th at 8pm: Arborea at The Starving Artist in Keene, NH.
Saturday, July 31st at 8pm: Arborea at the North Star Music Cafe in Portland, ME.

Shows coming up through 7/23 - 7/27

Friday night, July 23, Arborea will be playing at the Mayo Street Arts Center in Portland, Maine. 8pm. $8-$10.

Saturday and Sunday, July 24 - 25, CozInk Printed Goods / Grace Kendall will be selling work at an Art & Vintage Market in Whitefield, Maine. 9am-3pm on Saturday, and 10am-3pm on Sunday. Goods at the CozInk table are priced from $2 to $40.

Tuesday, July 27, Old Man Forest will be playing at the SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine. Show starts at 7pm (they go on second, following Charles Burst). $5 suggested donation.

More information about all of these shows can be found by clicking the appropriate link in the events list to the right of the page.

Updates on a couple shows next weekend will follow in a few days. Hope to see you at one of these events!

Arborea - Ides of March

Video for Arborea's song, Ides of March, filmed and edited by Buck and Shanti Curran. You can check out a few other videos that Buck and Shanti have created at their YouTube channel, and don't forget to check out the CozInk channel, too!

Fern Knight video by Shanti Curran

"Hawk Mountain" from Fern Knight's 2007 self-titled album. Video by Shanti Curran, using footage from Arborea's 2010 US tour.

New Arborea show (next week!) and video

Off to Belfast again! Arborea has a new show scheduled with our old friends at Roots & Tendrils in Belfast, Maine. Covered by the Bangor Daily News, the show is scheduled for Friday, June 11. The performance is scheduled for 7:30pm at Roots & Tendrils, 2 Cross Street, Belfast, Maine (view map) - cover charge is $5.

Also new is the official lo-fi video for Seadrift, from Arborea's 2008 self-titled album. Film by Shanti Curran. Footage from Arborea's 2010 US tour, specifically Oregon and Northern California.

New Show Scheduled & U.K. Press

I just added a new show for May to the events list. Jan Mayes and Jerry Joe Carrier will be performing live at Holly's Own Deli in Lewiston, Maine on Saturday, May 8th. The show starts at 6:30 and is expected to wrap up around 9:45; Jan and Jerry will be playing original music as well as some familiar covers. Holly's is a great local venue, offering a classic full deli menu, a cozy eat-in atmosphere, wine and local brews, and free wi-fi. Holly is an appreciated supporter of the local music, culture, and art scenes (check out weekly open mic nights on Wednesdays, and Holly's Deli hosting local belly dancers in the summer).

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Folk Radio UK recently blogged about Arborea's newest recording, a cover of Tim Buckley's Phantasmagoria in Two. Folk Radio UK created a lovely write-up about the duo and their recent projects, and also included some great videos of Arborea's live performance in Paris from their European tour this Jan./Feb. There are several videos included, one can be seen below:



Remember, there is an Old Man Forest show NEXT Saturday (May 1st). It's a daytime show, at a local bakery, so feel free to bring kiddos and enjoy some locally baked goodies.

We are all one, in the sun.

Following up the last compilation Arborea curated, Leaves of Life, Buck Curran has curated another compilation album called We are All One, In the Sun. This album is a tribute to the late Robbie Basho, American guitarist, musician, composer, and one of the early pioneers of the acoustic steel string guitar in the US.

From the album's info page at Important Records:

"We are All One, In the Sun: a Tribute to Robbie Basho, represents a humble tribute to this truly original and passionate American guitarist, musician and composer.This labor of love curated and realized by musician, producer, and acoustic guitar maker Buck Curran (along with his wife Shanti performs as the duo Arborea) who after first hearing Basho, many moons ago, instantaneously felt Kindred Spirit to his music. This tribute (a collection of both original compositions and new interpretations of Basho songs) befittingly begins and ends with German guitarist and painter Steffen Basho Junghans, who has devoted almost 20 years to composing guitar music in the spirit of Robbie Basho, and who's own compositions reflect a spiraling poetic universe like Basho's, creations of majestic musical vistas"

Also appearing on the album are Arborea themselves, Glenn Jones, Fern Knight, Meg Baird, Helena Espvall, Cian Nugent, and Rahim AlHaj. The digital version of the album will include bonus tracks from Joseba Irazoki and Israeli Yair Yona, and young and promising English guitarist Cam Deaz.

"Robbie Basho was a true American Original, a free thinking passionate intellectual and a musical pioneer whose body of works deserves the kind of recognition and glorious platform that will enable generations of young musicians from around the world to draw inspiration from. We are All One, In the Sun represents the first of hopefully many tributes and works inspired by the life and music of Robbie Basho. In Basho's own words "Don't be afraid to feel anything" and his credo "Soul first, technique later." We arrive at simple Zen like mantras by which all of us can live."

The album is due to be released on May 11, 2010. Visiting the album's page will offer more information, a track listing, as well as audio samples of some of the tracks.

greetings from the road

So far so good on Buck & Shanti's US tour. Shanti said it's going great and they're having a wonderful time.

Somehow even with all the traveling, playing shows, and caring for the children, they still managed to set aside some time while they were in Austin, TX for SXSW, and recorded a new song! It's a cover of Tim Buckley's Phantasmagoria in Two, and can be heard on their website. It's the first song on the playlist, and it's beautiful.

Arborea returns to Maine on April 30th, when they'll be playing a show at North Star Cafe in Portland. North Star Music Cafe is an awesome little venue, and an excellent place to support the local economy (not to mention one of those rare places to find tasty vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options). They use local products, local food, and local talent to make their cafe a truly unique Maine experience. For more shows at North Star, take a look at their calender.

Photos from Arborea's European Tour

Buck and Shanti made it home safe and sound after a tiring whirlwind European tour in January and February. They are home for a short time before starting out on their spring U.S. tour, which will take them across the entire country.

Visit Arborea's blog for some beautiful photos they've shared from their time in Europe.

first shows of 2010

Happy New Year! Here's hoping everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve. I would add "warm", but that's asking for a bit much for Maine in January.

What better way to kick off a new decade than supporting some awesome indie art/music? There are several CozInk shows coming up in the next few weeks, so here's a rundown:

• Firstly, the 30//30//30 exhibit at Roots & Tendrils is showing through January, and includes my photograph, 'Quiet Movement'. The show ends on Jan. 30th (Jan. 30th is a good day to visit Roots & Tendrils, by the way... keep reading...).

• On January 8th, Arborea is playing at the Solidarity Center in Brewer, Maine. See the Events list at right for more details. This is Arborea's last local show before they embark on their latest European tour, which kicks off with a radio appearance Jan. 20th in Paris. Visit their website to see all their European dates/locations.

• On January 30th we head back to Belfast and our friends Meg and Bub at Roots & Tendrils, where Old Man Forest will be playing live along with Alex Pastuhov. A showtime for this event is TBA. Check back for updates.
  

• February 5th Old Man Forest will be playing in Portland, Maine. I know this, but not much more. More info will come asap! Keep checking the events listing at right for updates on this show.

• And finally, February 11th, Old Man Forest will be playing live at North Star Cafe in Portland, Maine at 7pm. North Star Cafe is a cozy cafe/coffee house and live music venue, and have played hosts to some great local indie music. Come out and thank them for supporting local musicians!

That's not everything, but you get the idea- you can see more shows on the events list, and I'm sure more will be added. On a side note, I'm going back to college in a couple weeks, and depending on how I do juggling school, a kiddo, and home, I don't know if my Etsy shop will stay open. I hope it will, but if you've been eying anything at CozInk Paper Goods, it might be a good idea to snag it now before I am too overwhelmed to keep up with the shop. Here's a small idea of what's in the shop right now:

Have a great 2010!
-Grace

Mucho Arborea News!

Arborea has been BUSY! I have three bits of awesome news to share about stuff going on in the musical endeavors of Buck & Shanti.

The first is the inclusion of Arborea on a beautiful tribute album, produced by Wears the Trousers magazine. Wears the Trousers is a print and online magazine centered around women in music. The album is "Beautiful Star: The songs of Odetta" and is a tribute to folk musician / civil rights activist Odetta Holmes. Sales from the album will help the Fawcett Society and the Women's Resource Centre. Arborea's contribution to this album is a calmly powerful cover of "This Little Light of Mine", which you can download from Amazon or iTunes and hear below.

Which leads to the second bit of news; the Maine Video Activists Network and Craig Saddlemire produced a 40th episode music video that features Arborea's recording "This Little Light of Mine." The video gathers clips from the previous 39 episodes that MVAN has produced, and follows the organization from its start in 2006. The video can be seen below.



And the third and last bit of news is that Arborea will soon be kicking off their month-long European tour. Leaving in mid-January, Buck and Shanti will kick off the tour with an appearance on the Planet Claire radio show ( 93.1FM) in Paris on January 20th. From there they will tour France, Spain, and Italy before ending the tour with a show in Brussels, Belgium. For more information and specific dates/locations, see Arborea's website.

Leaves of Life

Artwork by Hanna Tuulikki


June 23rd was the official release date for 'Leaves of Life'.

Leaves of Life is the essential collection of songs by some of today’s most creative Indie Folk musicians. This record brings together unique and contemporary artistic voices to create an evocative and stunning collaboration; with all proceeds from the sales of this record going to benefit important relief programs in Africa, and other communities in great need around the world.

Curated and produced by Buck Curran of the Alt-folk duo Arborea, Leaves of Life features 19 exclusive songs by artists Alela Diane, Devendra Banhart, Marissa Nadler and Black Hole Infinity, Fern Knight, Shanti Curran (Arborea), Rio en Medio, Larkin Grimm, Mi and L’au, Starless and Bible Black, Silver Summit, Micah Blue Smaldone, David Garland, Citay, Big Blood, Mica Jones, Eric Carbonara, Ora Cogan, Cursillistas, and Magic Leaves…along with the beautiful art work of musician Hanna Tuulikki. This project hopes to further inspire people around the world to join in vital artistic and social efforts to make a better life for all of us.

In addition the digital release of the compilation will include special bonus tracks by Jozef van Wissem, Laurent Brondel, Denise Dill, and Plains.

To purchase the cd in the U.S. please visit Darla Records

http://darla.com/index.php?fuseaction=e4_ecom.ecom_superitem_detail&item_cat_id=36667

For purchasing in Europe visit here

http://bornerecordings.bigcartel.com/product/various-artists-leaves-of-life

All proceeds from the sale of this record go to the World Food Program!

if you would like more information about the world food program please visit: www.friendsofwfp.org

Please help us get the word out about this record compilation- every cd that sells will help!!!

-Buck & Shanti

Joint CozInk Show at Guthrie's- Nov. 14th

Arborea is staying busy close to home! Buck and Shanti are playing a show tonight (Nov. 6) at 7:00, at the North Star Cafe in Portland, ME. Portland is a busy town tonight, too, so if you want to head down early, this is the monthly First Friday Art Walk in P-town! Art walk starts at 5ish, and then finish off the night with some live music and good eats at the cafe. Find the cafe online here, and at 225 Congress Street, Portland, Maine.

Also this month, Arborea and Old Man Forest (the latest incarnation of Jessy, Denise, and Jordan's band- formerly known as Tight Light Flight and Sunwell... yes, they are very indecisive) are playing a joint show in their hometown! She Doesn't Like Guthrie's, at 115 Middle Street in Lewiston is hosting both bands live at 9pm on Saturday, Nov. 14th.

Come on out and support local music!

Make a Donation and help Arborea define their independent spirit!

Please visit Arborea's blog here, and click on the paypal button to donate!

Hi everybody, This is Buck and Shanti calling out to anyone that might be interested in helping to make a special once in a lifetime project become a reality. Arborea has evolved far past our current means, our imaginations are exploding with creativity, and we have many new songs to record. Sadly though, our once faithful old recording machine has finally kicked the bucket! So here we are with loads of music and no way to record it. Our goal is to make the ultimate ‘Arborea’ record without limitations of any kind and document it on film. We plan to invite some amazing musicians and artists (drums, cellos, and walls of guitar and banjo) from around the world to be involved to help us realize this vision. We will also be pressing a special limited run of the recording on Vinyl. When the record is finished Shanti and I, along with our two children will embark on a tour across America…from our home in Maine to the golden shores of California and up to the grand mountains of the Pacific Northwest (this tour will include private house concerts for folks who end up helping us achieve our goal). After touring America we will fly across the Pond to play shows in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England…and finish up our World Tour in Europe. Of course we would absolutely love to perform in Australia and Japan, if there is anyone that wants to bring us over!

On the road we will also be helping to promote the hunger relief benefit compilation cd that we have curated titled ‘Leaves of Life’. All proceeds from the sales of Leaves of Life will be going to support vital hunger relief efforts run by the UN World Food Program.

Thanks in advance for being a part of this album! Here is list of what you will receive for your level of donation:



$9 – Seed Level: A free digital download of the album, when it's released.
$25 – Root Level: An advance signed copy of the CD- Weeks before the release date.
$50 – Seedling Level: An advance signed copy and a signed T-shirt.

$100 – Sapling Level: All the above, plus a special T-shirt saying you're a junior executive producer on the album.

$200 to $400- Birch Level: All the above, plus free admission to our shows for a 5-year period.

$500 to $900 – Maple Level: All of the above, plus a signed copy of the Limited vinyl pressing of the record, and a special Thank You in the liner notes of the cd.

$1,000 - Oak: We’ll write and record a song dedicated to you!

$2,500 – Red Spruce Level: All the above, and be mentioned as an executive producer of the album in the cd liner notes!

$5,000 – Redwood Level: We’ll come and do a house concert for you. Invite your friends, and we’ll put on the show of a lifetime. We’ll also invite some special musician guests to perform with us, and also record this unique event and give you a cdr copy for your archives

$10,000 – Forest Level: You get to come and sing or play your instrument on our CD, and you will get mention in the liner notes as performer and executive producer. Free copies of any of our future releases (including special live recordings), Free entries to our shows for life, and we’ll design a unique Arborea T-shirt just for you.


Our goal is to come up with $85,000 for recording, filming, touring and living expenses. We are dedicated to making an Epic record and look forward to including you in our experience! We are also seeking business minded people looking for an investment opportunity. If you are interested in investing a significant amount towards our project please send us an email and we will discuss ways to make this a joint venture.

Roots & Tendrils Show (Part 1)

These video files are HUGE, so I'm going to post this in two parts, and the second part ain't coming 'til tomorrow, folks. Those are going to have to upload overnight.
Last night, Roots & Tendrils (an awesome little music venue and gallery that, in addition to hosting music performances, also houses some beautiful art and handmade crafts from Maine artisans) hosted an all-ages double show featuring two CozInk-affiliated groups: Arborea and Sunwell, both out of Lewiston.
The first part of this intimate little show is Arborea:


Arborea performing "Beirut"


and "Seadrift"


You can read more about Arborea, hear more tracks, and find upcoming shows at www.myspace.com/Arborea2

The second post from last night will be pictures from Belfast on the night of the show, and pictures/video from Sunwell's performance, and will be coming tomorrow...

-Grace

newness

There are changes in the works for CozInk. Right now, it looks like CozInk, the name only, will morph into just my stuff, and it will cover my Etsy shop and my printmaking. The collective is movingmorphinggrowing and right now it appears the new name will be the Tryall Artistic Collective, and there will be all sorts of cool stuff like a new blog and a website and hopefully even an online marketplace. More to come...

For now, though, the upcoming events are thus:
August 1st, I'll be at the Augusta Art Walk, on the nature trails of the UMA campus. Jamie from Sweetland Retreat offered to share her space, and since I'm teaching a printmaking workshop there in August, it seemed a good opportunity to show some prints, and printmaking crafts, and maybe even do some crafting demos at the event.

August 8th is going to be an awesome show at Roots & Tendrils in Belfast. An all-Tryall/CozInk pairing of Buck and Shanti's Arborea, and Jessy and Denise's Sunwell starts at 8:00pm. This is going to be an all ages show in a great little venue. Tickets are $7 at the door.

August 11th I am teaching a printmaking workshop at Sweetland Retreat, in Manchester, Maine. Class size is limited to 8 students, and sign-up deadline is August 5th. See here for more details.

August 22nd, I am super happy to be sharing a space with fellow Etsy Maine Team member moondogfarm, at the Rock & Art Shop in Ellsworth, Maine.

August is shaping up to be a pretty fun month!
-Grace