Darts & Arrows
Players and selected groups & others in orbit
Bill MacKay, guitar Bud Melvin, Colorlist, Sounds of Now, Broken Things
Charles Rumback, drums Leafbird, Via Tania, Horse’s Ha, Colorlist, L’altra, the Leaves
Matthew Golombisky, bass Tomorrow Music Orchestra, Zing! Ears & Eyes Festival
Ben Boye, keyboards Health & Beauty, David Boykin Expanse
Greg Ward, guests on clarinet Occidental Bros. Dance Band, Blink, Rebel Souls
on Black Leaves
Songs
As I Knew Her | Behind the summer | Black Leaves
Road to the Seaway |Do not Follow | Whispers |New Song
History
Darts & Arrows emerged as an experimental outfit, melding the avant-garde with folkloric sensibilities. One listener likened it to a ‘carnival of strings’ for its mixing of folk and dark autumnal-themed improvisations, both of which lent themselves to the early lineup of acoustic guitar, double bass, cello, violin and drums.
The band’s first show took place in 2006 in a church/performance space called South Union Arts, and featured Bill MacKay, guitar. Charles Rumback, drums. Lili Wosko, cello & Martha Stahl, voice. The ethereal (the very reverberant church did most of the work) half-hour long performance proved to be an inspiring seed. The current lineup is MacKay, Rumback, Boye and Kyle Hernandez on bass.
Quote
[Darts & Arrows is a] “Genre-busting Chicago quartet that takes folk/pop instrumentals and turns them into improvised explorations. Instrumental pop music - if such a thing can exist - is rare to hear played live, and played well, rarer still, but MacKay’s compositions are much more nuanced than your typical jam band.”
—WNUR 89.3 FM
Various Venues
The Skylark, the Charleston, South Union Arts, the Whistler, Hungry Brain, Velvet Lounge, WNUR Studio session, Strobe Recording (Concert Series), Music Garage, etc.
Some inspirations & sources;
The Beatles, Sandy Bull, Laura Nyro, Nick Drake, John Coltrane, Jane’s Addiction, The Clash, Victor Jara, Brigitte Fontaine, Jacques Brel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Albert King, Leadbelly, Opal/Mazzy Star, The Who, Os Mutantes, Bela Bartok, The Doors, Sylvia Plath, Roy Buchanan, Alice Coltrane, Velvet Underground, Georges Bolet, Jorma Kaukonen, My Bloody Valentine, Pentangle, Gram Parsons, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Jack Kerouac, Thomas Wolfe. Joseph Amiel.
All Songs/MacKay Copyright 2010
Published by Son of Fire Recordings/ASCAP
www.billmackay.com [www.myspace.com/billmackay]
www.billmackay.bandcamp.com
Read more...