Luray

Some old friends from Lake Geneva are in a great band, Luray, whose debut "The Wilder" was released just a few short weeks ago. What a delight to see Shannon and Gabe, plus their bandmates, produce such a soulful, intimate album. I hadn't seen or corresponded with them in -- hmm -- maybe 15 years? My brother Aaron let me know they'd be performing in Ann Arbor while I was visiting our father in Michigan, so I reached out to Shannon to let her know we'd be at the show. Here's what I wrote to Shannon about "The Wilder," which pretty much sums things up:

"...congratulations on such a beautiful album....you have a haunting, heartbreaking, exquisite voice, and I love how you & the band meld a throwback-mountain style with contemporary pop yearning. Do you listen to Mindy Smith or The Weepies? Your music lovingly sits alongside their folk tendencies, with that titch of an electronic edge here and there."

For more on Luray, check out their website here:
http://luraymusic.com/

Dad and I loved the intimate setting of Canterbury House, where they performed (and where Neil Young once did as well). Both Luray and their opening act, Woven Tangles, cast a spell over the audience, luring us into private, melancholic, hopeful thoughts draped in the spirit of folkie Americana.