Fuzzy Logic @ STPP Fest - Kindlewood

It's almost here, friends! The Fall installment of the STPP Fest is nigh upon us, and it's about time to get to know the musicians that are part of the showcase yours truly has put together. Come spend your weekend at The Islander with us!

BIO: “If Joanna Newsom and Leo Kotke got together and had a baby, it would be kindlewood,” In Your Speakers declares of the Washington D.C. trio who have a baby of their own, the debut album Desiderium, released in May 2011. In August, kindlewood will pack up their 1985 Jamboree and bring their “lustruous brand of alternative folk” (Knox Road) across the U.S. on tour.

kindlewood is fronted by Kelci Smith, sister of Fleet Foxes’ J. Tillman and Pearly Gate Music’s Zach Tillman. She is backed by her husband, Galen Smith and friend, Jamison Lyman. Family ties aside, Kelci has proven herself an adept songwriter through and through. Drawing inspiration from nature, art and fantasy and artists like Simon & Garfunkel, Feist and Jeff Buckley, she consistently showcases her extraordinary facility for nuance and color both lyrically and vocally. Galen and Jamison’s technical proficiency on the guitar and proclivity to fingerstyle picking provide the perfect landscape for Kelci’s imagery and are often times the catalysts for her inspiration. With the incorporation of assorted percussion and various instruments like the ukulele, Shruti box, harmonica and glockenspiel, the trio delivers both “a lustrous brand of alternative folk” (Knox Road), and a remarkable live performance.

Desiderium was sporadically recorded from January to April of 2011 in a friend’s basement. Determined to achieve a more textured and mature sound than that of their debut EP, I Don’t Believe in Ghosts (released November 2010), the trio tirelessly wrote and practiced and Lyman looked for ways to incorporate his influences (e.g., Radiohead, Future of Forestry and Sigur Rós). As schedules from full time jobs allowed, kindlewood recorded on Saturdays and a few weeknights. The album was mixed at Bias Studios by Grammy Award-winning engineer and Washington, D.C. music veteran, Jim Robeson and mastered by his colleague, Mike Monseur.



Kindlewood plays Sunday at 6pm.