"Crashyertown is great. Everything about it." - Buddy Miller
"Tough with rock and twang. Certain to crash your town and steal your ears"
- Ray Kennedy (Producer: Steve Earle/Lucinda Williams)
"An aural pageantry to match their lyrical drama. Nothing sags, not a note or syllable is wasted" - FlagstaffLive!
"Some solidly heart felt and honest country music"
- Scott Homewood, Freight Train Boogie - Santa Rosa, CA
"The Believers sing with heart and conviction"
-Jim Lauderdale
"Rawboned Hillbilly Soul"
-Bliss, The Pasadena Weekly
"Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini have back porch singing down to an art"
- Nate Lippens, The Stranger(Seattle)
Having already shared the stage with such artists as Texas legend Billy Joe Shaver, The Supersuckers, and Buddy and Julie Miller to name just a few, in April 2005 The Believers are preparing to release their second album "Crashyertown." Their soulful Americana folk-rock sound has the promise to create a genre all its own - astounding audiences with uncompromising music and memorable lyrics.
The two voices behind the Believers are Cynthia Frazzini and Craig Aspen. Trading her horse in for a Volvo, Frazzini, moved to Seattle from her country home in Denver, Colorado. She began performing in rock bands, listening to Metallica and the heavy sounds of Seattle's grunge explosion. Then she was re-introduced to Bluegrass Music. From that moment she was determined to pursue and learn more about the Appalachian style and its influences on American-Folk music.
Aspen was born and raised in New York. With guitar in tow he wrote and sang his way up and down the East Coast, traveled through the mountains of Peru, lived and died in New Orleans before finally landing in the great Pacific Northwest.
Frazzini and Aspen were encouraged by a mutual friend to sing together on a solo project that Aspen was recording. They instantly realized that their vocal chemistry had a magic quality that was unlike any combination either of them had experienced previously. An unmistakable sound was born. It is their own unmatched sound of "American Gothic meets Amazing Grace": Part Country, part Folk, part Bluegrass, and part Gospel. It has the flavor of the country music they grew up on and loved, delivered with the soul of their combined singing, songwriting, traveling experiences and life itself. Within weeks after meeting each other the band The Believers was innocently created. They began writing and recording songs for their first critically acclaimed album "Row" which they recorded in the living room of producer/drummer Stevie Adamek's home in Everett, Washington.
The blend of these two artists is a complex paradox where opposites attract. Aspen hailing from the concrete jungles of New York City, his rough and tumble street-smart style that wears well against Frazzini's plains of Colorado background. Her gentle and transparent voice creates the balance of these two artists into a particularly effective and cohesive sound that will keep the listener wanting to close their eyes and wander off into their lyrical landscapes.
Through a series of strange and ideal events The Believers' first release, Row, made it's way to Nashville and into the hands of producer Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Billy Joe Shaver, Nanci Griffith and Lucinda Williams). Kennedy had long been respected by Frazzini and Aspen, so one Saturday afternoon when they unexpectedly got a call from Ray, they were excited by his enthusiasm. He was absolutely blown away by the quality of music he was hearing by this virtually unknown duo. A friendship developed and Frazzini, Aspen and Kennedy talked about working together on a future project. When, in their home town of Seattle, The Believers recorded Crashyertown, they called Ray Kennedy and requested the mastering genius of his unique, skillful and unorthodox techniques.
In September of 2004, fulfilling a dream that had started three years earlier, the singer/songwriter team sold Cynthia's catering business, packed a trailer, grabbed their musical instruments and Pug-dog Beanie Boy Frazzini and drove across the USA to Nashville. However presumptuous that it may seem-does not matter. Their love of music and their desire to creatively inspire others fuels their drive.
Cynthia and Craig both play acoustic guitars on their new album. Craig also plays harmonica, electric guitar, Dobro, mandolin and steel guitar on western swing styled "Get Started". The other starring roles featured on Crashyertown are their seasoned band mates: Dan Tyack, (Asleep at the Wheel, Vince Gill, Unsanctified Gospel Review) on pedal steel; producer Steve Adamek on drums & organ; and Garey Shelton, (Bill Frissel, Jesse Colin Young, BB King, Ian Mathews of Fairport Convention) on bass guitar. Guest appearances on Crashyertown are made by: Nova Devonie on accordion (Ranch Romance) and Danny Barnes, (Bad Livers) world renowned banjo picker who also debuts on tuba.
The Believers' unique collaboration of male and female vocals on their album Row, which provided a vibrant sound all it's own, has, once again, been showcased on Crashyertown. The two vocalists have drawn from their own styles and preferences more so than on their first release "Row". The Believers have pushed to make Crashyertown a huge musical progression on all levels of musical production. It is sure to crash your town.
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