After a 7-year stint in a prison van with the double drum, frenetic rock n’ roll assault known as The Cherry Valence, guitarists Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler, felt a growing desire to move on. In a final whirlwind year that saw The Cherry Valence touring Europe multiple times, the couple, Kumar and Siler, got married and made the difficult decision to divorce their band.
Returning hometown of Raleigh North Carolina hitched and band-less, they began late night clandestine meetings with neighbor and local crooner Craig Tilley (The Weather), where they hatched a plan to form BIRDS OF AVALON and laid the foundation for what was to become the first batch of BIRDS OF AVALON songs. Still needing to round out their line up they snared their favorite area drummer Scott Nurkin (Dynamite Brothers) and soon added multi-instrumentalist and fanatical 4-tracker, David Mueller on bass.
May 2007 saw the release of BIRDS OF AVALON’S debut full length, Bazaar Bazaar, an album possessing uniquely psychedelic and progressive sounds, but still managing to transcend the conventions of both. Spin Magazine ultimately described it as “twin-guitar blast of scuzzed, fuzzed, and buzzed Cheap Trick cheekiness,” and Harp Magazine said “these Birds fly high by virtue of sheer chops ’n’ chutzpah.”
And fly high they did. BIRDS OF AVALON then spent the rest of 2007 touring the North America with bands like Flaming Lips, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and Fucking Champs, as well as hitting a number of summer festivals, most notably JellyNYC’s weekly Pool Party at Brooklyn, NY’s McCarren Pool.
This spring BIRDS OF AVALON will release a brand new 6-song EP, entitled Outer Upper Inner. Recorded without the use of any computers, whatsoever, it was as if the band traveled back in time to 1967 to enter the studio. Having co-produced Bazaar Bazaar, Mitch Easter, who was the championing force behind such an experiment, knew that BIRDS OF AVALON’S updated vintage sound would be best suited for this time-space continuum. Having produced pinnacle recordings for REM, Pavement and Wilco, Easter is one of the few people qualified and motivated enough to take on such a project today.
Now with this audio test about to be set free to the masses, BIRDS OF AVALON are ready to continue to win crowds across the world over with their fretboard virtuosity and stunning live show.
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