- Cellardoor
Started by film and theatre composer Drew Edwards in early 2004, Cellardoor is an independent electro-acoustic pop band with a distinctive sound most often compared to
Ben Folds andThe Postal Service .Cellardoor released their first LP,
L'esprit de L'escalier , in the summer of 2004. Recorded on one microphone at the embryonic Rugby Road Studio, it was met with immediate praise, selling from Mexico to the United Kingdom on word-of-mouth and on the strength of song samples available online. Fueled by the first single, "Boy Wonder ", as well as fan favourites "Here I Am Again" and "We Would Have Beautiful Children," L'esprit continues to be an incredibly popular record, selling consistently well both digitally and on CD.Their second, more introspective LP,
i didn't get the memo , was released in the summer of 2005. Adding layers of guitars to their signature piano-driven sound, memo displays a much more focused and melancholy side of the Cellardoor sound. Once again recorded at Rugby Road Studio, Mr. Edwards' confidence in his production style is evidenced by bolder gestures and a smoother sound. The album features the singles "cold hearted boy" and "soulless", and guest performances from guitarist Ami and long-time collaborator Jennifer Bechtel.Cellardoor made their live debut as the house band at the 2004 NYC
Gay Pride Rally inBryant Park as a duo (founder drew Edwards and keyboardistSoren Anders fromShimmerplanet ). Since then they have been playing at clubs all over NYC (includingArlene's Grocery ,Don Hill's andRARE ) as well as regionally; from upstate New York music festivals to hip, intimate spaces in midwestern university towns. In 2005, they returned to theBryant Park Stage once again as the house band for the Pride Rally, where they performed for over 8,000 people alongsideGod-Des and She ,Karen Williams , and many others.With the 2006 release of Distance, Cellardoor establishes itself firmly in the indie-pop lexicon. Boasting performances from a wealth of New York's finest independent musicians, including:
Soren Anders (Shimmerplanet ),John Carlin ,Jennifer Houseal , andTim Keiper (Beat the Donkey ), Distance is their most polished and expansive outing to date. Boasting the new singles "Be A Man" and "Why Are You Still Here?", both of which are widely available online.Cellardoor continues, currently, to play live, in various incarnations, throughout the metropolitan New York City area and regionally.
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