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

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.

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.

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!

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

Arborea on BBC radio

Last month, Buck and Shanti traveled to the UK, with stops in Ireland and then in London, where they recorded a session with Mary Ann Kennedy for her "World on 3" program.

Arborea plays 4 songs on the program (in 2 sets, starting at about 17 minutes in, and then again at 59 minutes in, if you're a little impatient), including one unreleased track; Son of the Moon, Daughter of the Sun, which was written for their two beautiful children. That track will be on the forthcoming "Leaves of Live" compilation album that Arborea has been curating. The album will be released later this month, through Bourne! Recordings, and all proceeds from the album will be donated to the World Food Programme and Not On Our Watch. For more information about the comp, visit Arborea's MySpace page.

To listen to the World on 3 session (which played live in the UK on Friday night), click here.

Arborea nominated in Portland Phoenix! Vote!!

Arborea have been nominated for "Best Category Defying/Indie Outsider" in the Portland Phoenix!

Follow this link to vote for them! Remember after you vote, you also have to submit your ballot to make it official-like. ;-)