The Acorn Play Three Nights in NYC/NJ in July

DOWNLOAD - The Acorn - "Restoration"

Ottawa band The Acorn will be performing three NYC dates in mid-July in support of their forthcoming Bella Union CD, No Ghost. There will also be a limited edition of 300 180-gram, red-pressed vinyl edition with hand-silkscreened covers.



Here are the local tour dates:

Tue. 7/13 at Maxwell's [Hoboken]
Wed. 7/14 at Mercury Lounge [NYC]
Thu. 7/15 at Littlefield [Brooklyn]

The band have been traveling the world for two years on headline runs in support of their concept album, Glory Hope Mountain, which is a concept album about front man Rolf Klausener's mother and her life story. After several dates with Phosphorescent, Calexico, and Bowerbirds among others, they retreated to an isolated cottage in northern Quebec earlier this year to work on No Ghost.

NPR calls The Acorn's music, "intimate and beautifully orchestrated," with Mojo saying it's "robust and kaleidoscopic." Pitchfork said Glory Hope Mountain was "epic and satisfying," SPIN made them an 'Artist of the Day,' calling their music "almost folkloric," and Billboard called the album,"an apt command for the listener."

Links:
The Acorn's MySpace Profile

The Acorn - Soundfix Records, Williamsburg, Brooklyn 5/4/08

The Acorn are in town for a 4 show run (all at different venues though). The second show was earlier this evening at Soundfix Records in Brooklyn. The band played what has to be close to a complete set, with the majority of the material coming from the new CD, Glory Hope Mountain.



The Acorn capture the intricacy and intimacy of Glory Hope Mountain in their live set and all the members of the band are impressive musicians. NY Press said that "[their] intricate polyrhythms and instrumentation absorbed me immediately and completely". If you are going to Monday or Tuesday's show, get to the club early so that you can get close enough to watch the band play.

The Acorn have two more shows in town. They are playing Piano's tomorrow night (May 5th) and Mercury Lounge on May 6th.

Links:
The Acorn's Website
The Acorn's MySpace Profile

The Acorn Play Union Hall and SoundFix in May/Video for "The Flood Pt. 1"

The Acorn are coming back through town next month with stops at Union Hall on May 3rd and an in-store performance at SoundFix on May 4th.

The band is touring behind their second CD, Glory Hope Mountain, which is homage to the life story of Gloria Montoya Esperanza (mother of Acorn main-man Rolf Klausener).

The Acorn - The Flood Pt. 1

The band's show at Union Hall in February sold out so I wouldn't wait on getting tickets. Given the buzz and press coverage of this band, I would expect the free show at SoundFix to be packed as well (...line up early).

Links:
The Acorn's Website
The Acorn's MySpace Profile

The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain CD Review

The Acorn's sophomore CD, "Glory Hope Road", has been generating considerable buzz in the blogs. The band played their first US show last month here in NYC to a sold-out crowd at Union Hall. CMJ was at the show and here is a link to their photos and a brief review.

The Acorn's press bio describes "Glory Hope Mountain" as "a touching homage to the life story of Gloria Montoya Esperanza(loosely translated as Glory "Montoya" Hope), as told by her son, Rolf Klausener...Glory Hope Mountain is part historical narrative and part surreal fairy tale." Rolf Klausener recently did an interview with My Old Kentucky Blog and he describes the background for Glory Hope Mountain as "[t]he themes and some of the stories were culled from about 9 hours of interviews I conducted with my mother in the Spring of 2006. Originally, I set out to record her stories so that I could add them to the Klausener family history that my Great Uncle George compiled in Switzerland in the 1950's. The book documents our family's history going back to early 1500's." (Here is a link to the complete interview)

Musically, The Acorn falls somewhere between world beat (as they incorporate Honduran instruments and rythms) and Appalachian folk. For the most part, this music is a soundscape that accompanies and complements Klausener's vocals but rarely overshadows the vocal narratives. The is also a brief vocal interlude from Gloria Montoya Esperanza on the track "Sister Margaret". Lyrically, the songs don't form an end-to-end story per-se but provide the basis for the re-telling of stories and events from Gloria's life.

This is an intimate and inviting record that should hold up well to repeated listenings.

Links:
The Acorn's MySpace page