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Eyestrings
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Eyestrings are:
Ryan Parmenter -
vocals, keyboards, trombone
Alan Rutter - guitars, backing vocals
Mathew Kennedy - bass, Moog
Bob Young - drums
Genre: Melodic progressive rock |
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EYESTRINGS
FACTS
Eyestrings is a four-piece band from Detroit, Michigan, USA. Ryan Parmenter
is the primary composer, keyboardist and vocalist. Alan Rutter plays guitars
and provides backup vocals. Mathew Kennedy plays bass. Bob Young plays drums
and percussion.
Eyestrings's debut album, Burdened Hands was released in January 2004 by
Split Difference Records.
MUSIC
Sometimes dark, sometimes light, but always compelling, Eyestrings creates
music that is as emotionally charged as it is complex. Live performances
have earned everything from wild hoots to attentive quiet, in following with
the dynamic range of the band's music. Burdened Hands is a fine
representation of this range. With songs varying widely in mood, sound,
theme, arrangement, and duration, but still quite cohesive as an album,
Burdened Hands offers plenty to be appreciated by music lovers. The songs
are often complex in form but also ripe with memorable melodies--as is
common with progressive music, some take several listens to sink in--and
lyrics that can be poetically subtle ("Recovery"), cleverly silly ("Just a
Body"), or wickedly blunt ("Time Will Tell"). Eyestrings takes the listener
on a journey that is often challenging, and always rewarding.
HISTORY
2000: Mathew Kennedy had grown up with Ryan's uncle Matthew Parmenter,
and the two musicians had played together for years in the band Discipline.
With Discipline being on something of a hiatus, and Ryan just returning from
college, Mathew Kennedy invited Ryan to join a couple other local musicians
for some casual playing to keep in practice. Ryan quickly started bringing
in some of the many songs he'd been composing, and before long he and Mathew
saught to find musicians who could make a commitment to something more than
casual.
2001: Ryan's old schoolmate, Alan Rutter, had just returned to
Detroit from Los Angeles, where he had played as part of the progressive
band RCA Project and recorded a live album during his year living there. The
timing was right, and Alan was recruited to start learning some of Ryan's
compositions. Ryan, Alan, and Mathew got together to work on a handful of
pieces throughout the summer before finally getting drummer Bob Young on
board. Bob and Mathew had played together previously, and were familiar with
each other's styles, which helped the band to gel rhythmically.
2002: The band was performing occasionally and learning new material.
Ryan was now very happy to be composing with a band in mind, and one of his
first compositions for the band, "Recovery," would turn up as the opener on
their debut album.
2003: They stopped performing almost entirely in order to devote time
to recording an album. What was initially conceived as a project to produce
quality demos blossomed into a months-long labor of love: a fully-produced
ten-track album. With the exception of studio-recorded drums, the album was
recorded and mixed entirely in Ryan's basement. A mantra of the band during
the mixing process led to the naming of their independent label: Split
Difference Records.
Prior to the recording, the band had been performing under a different,
relatively generic name, which when "Googled" ultimately produced results
for a couple other bands across the country. Wanting to avoid that pitfall
of confusion, Ryan yanked the term "Eyestrings" directly from a volume of
Shakespeare, an unnerving term which now serves as the band's moniker and "Googles"
as desired.
2004: Eyestrings's debut album, Burdened Hands was released on the
first of January 2004, and continues to attract critical acclaim and new
listeners. The first major result of their new album was an invitation to
perform in April, 2004 as part of the Baltimore Progressive Rock Showcase
Series at Orion Sound Studios. Eyestrings performed along with the band
Sonus Umbra, who were celebrating their first performance in the United
States.
Currently: When not promoting Burdened Hands, Ryan is hard at work composing
for the second album, and Eyestrings performs regularly in the Detroit area
and beyond.
: : DISCOGRAPHY : :
Burdened Hands - 2004
Official website -
http://www.eyestrings.com/index.php
Buy Eyestrings music @
http://www.eyestrings.com/order.php
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