Aurical + Sun Thief + Comic Tales of Tragic Heartbreak @ The Way Station

8pm- Aurical
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
For fans of: Tori Amos, Billy Joel, Herbie Hancock, Pearl Jam

Founded by musicians Rachel Rossos and Michael Gallant, Aurical is the sort of indie rock band your grandmother would love: honest, polite, well-groomed, and capable of telling a damn good story. Aurical pulls from influences ranging from grunge, modal jazz, and Motown to folk, soul, and French art songs. Their debut album, Something to Say (Gallant Music) was recorded in Berkeley and San Francisco, California and received praise from audiences and critics alike. They currently play and record in New York City, including recent appearances at CMJ Music Marathon and Lincoln Center.

“A rare talent” - The Times of Trenton

“Aurical finds the duo in pop-rock mode, and their cleverness comes through right away.” - M: Music and Musicians

“Things get really interesting on ‘Redhead Girl’, with a piano style that sounds like a cross between Ben Folds and Tori Amos. The most original and intriguing work on the album, ‘Redhead Girl’ shows Aurical’s ability to push the envelope and do it well.” - Wildy’s World

http://www.auricalmusic.com
www.facebook.com/auricalmusic
www.soundcloud.com/aurical
www.youtube.com/rachelrossos
www.cdbaby.com/aurical

9pm- Sun Thief
Genre: Folk Rock
For fans of: Fleet Foxes, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Avett Brothers

The dulcet harmonies of Sun Thief have been lauded by many a listener from the far reaches of Crown Heights to the stony rows of Park Slope. Formed in the Spring of 2014, Sun Thief consists of Nathaniel Riehl (vox/guitars), Patrick Cochrane (vox/guitars), and John Matson (vox/drums). All members contribute to the band’s catalogue of original music which can be described as folky, sometimes ethereal, and always introspective. The band plans to release their first EP this Spring.

soundcloud.com/nathan-riehl

10pm- Comic Tales of Tragic Heartbreak
“You must not try to make love definite. It is the divine accident of life.”

So said Sherwood Anderson in his great book, Winesburg, Ohio. Comic Tales of Tragic Heartbreak knows all about accidents. Of birth. Of place and strange times. Of music heard through screen windows in summer, of lonely faces in discos while blizzards raged outside in the Northern night.

What’s a young criminal to do? Read every book he can get his hands on, obsess over record club 45s, play the theme song to MASH over and over on a rented trumpet, lose a thousand fistfights till he finally wins one. Ride a stolen bike, a bus, a train, get out.

Years later, redemption at last. Robert Whaley is just about where he should be. Compared to everyone from David Byrne to Leonard Cohen, he’s been welcoming audiences into a private world of enchantment and debauchery, and oh the influences are clear: Anderson (words and emotions), Fossee (dance and controlled hysteria), poetry (Artaud and
O’Hara).

Whaley had a lot of practice riding the line between rock n’ roll, performance art, and stand up comedy as the front man for The Niagaras, a legendary force of Manhattan’s live music scene of 80s and 90s, when a wild front man could dance on bar tops and swing from the
rafters without getting banned, except for when he was:

“Lunacy? Spectacle? And music too??”- Rene Chun, New York Times

No wonder the attraction included a “celebrity” following – everyone from Ethan Hawke to
Kevin Spacey to Gwyneth Paltrow to the good people in Anthrax.

As a songwriter, Whaley has covered a lot of ground and has shown range through a number of outlets. He cowrote and recorded the original score for the feature film, Joe the King, starring Val Kilmer, and has also written for the stage –his rock musical Wrong Way Up ran off-Broadway at NYC’s Zipper Theater. He is currently working with playwright Matthew Freeman on a musical adaptation of the great 1908 novel, Buried Alive – now titled Selling Sacred Objects.

Meat Market Lullaby, the second album from Comic Tales of Tragic Heartbreak, reflects an obsession with pre-1974 soul, filled with nuance and tender bitter sweetness. Jazz pianist Mara Rosenbloom sets the tone with her loose/attacking, touch on grand piano and Rhodes. Pete O’Connell lends a sophisticated sense of drive and counterpoint as both bassist and co-arranger. Whaley’s long-time collaborator, lead guitarist and singer, Tony Grimaldi, shines with masterful harmonies and chunky guitar lines. Chris Schultz, percussionist with Blue Man Group, shimmers, cascades and of course, rocks.

Recorded live in the studio with a minimum of overdubs, a maximum of misfit charm, and this: “Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples.” (Sherwood Anderson, again.)

www.comictalesoftragicheartbreak.com