The Appalucians

Bio

The Appalucians play music from the mountains of Western North Carolina, featuring spirited songwriting, sublime harmonies, and a layered interplay between dobro, guitars, harmonica and banjo. The band is the musical union of two couples Jay Brown and Aditi Sethi and Angie Heimann and Cas Sochacki who met at their kids’ preschool, gradually realized their seemingly cosmic musical alignment, and decided they better start a band.Their debut album “Bright Hills,” recorded at Higher Ground Studio in Birmingham, AL, released in early summer 2018, has flavors of mountain music, 70’s folk-rock and barroom twang.

The moniker “the Appalucians” belies the band’s playful relationship with words, pairing their often mountain-esque sound with the root word “lucia” (latin for “light.”)The Appalucians’ repetoire, comprised mainly of songs penned by Ohio-born Angie Heimann (guitar, vocals, banjo,) and Alabama native Jay Brown (guitar, vocals, harmonica) explores themes both dark and light, connecting to the peaks and valleys of the human experience. Brown’s other projects include rhythm/roots band Lazybirds, his solo work as a one-man-band, and Aditi and Jay, duet project with his wife Aditi Sethi. Heimann's other projects include performing solo as well as with fellow Appalcuian Cas Sochacki in the California-born folk group the Blushin’ Roulettes.

The life experiences of the band members have contributed largely to both the depth and the playfulness of their music’s running themes. India-born, Georgia raised Aditi Sethi (bass, vocals) works as an end-of-life care physician and doula. Jay Brown works as a music therapist in hospice. As songwriters, Jay Brown and Angie Heimann are often both drawn to themes of the passing of time in life and the great beyond. All members of the Appalucians have endured the deaths of dear friends and bandmates in their musical pasts, which informs the depth of their performance in songs like “Rhythm in the Wind,” “Hailbop” and “Summerlawn.”

The band’s sillier side is expressed in off-the-cuff witty stage banter, and funny songs like “Don’t Bother Me,” a song for parents of young children, penned by Cas Sochacki- (dobro, occasional baritone vocals.) Sochacki also engineers Farmstead Studio, the birthplace of the side project “Old Mill Radio Hour” a comedy/music show which includes writing and music of members of the Appalucians, Lazybirds and Blushin’ Roulettes.

The Appalucians toured California and Alaska in the summer of 2018 to celebrate the release of their debut album Bright Hills.

Press Photos

Sample Tracks

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Forty Seven Main 4:01

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Champagne Annie 4:06

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Hailbop 3:18

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Video

Press

Mountain Xpress Album Review: 'Bright Hills' by the Appalucians

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Bill Kopp on www.mountainxpress.com

Bright Hills, the debut album from Asheville-based folk quartet The Appalucians, reveals a charming and close-knit vibe within seconds of its opening track. Two of the group members — bassist/harpist Aditi Sethi and guitarist Angie Heimann — engage in a dual-lead harmony vocal on “Bloom in the Seed.” The two allow their vocal lines to wrap around each other, always remaining within the confines of harmony yet bounding effortlessly within that context to create a sound that’s somehow both precise and relaxed.

“Bloom in the Seed” effectively sets the tone for the album. All but one of the 14 original compositions on Bright Hills were written either by Heimann or guitarist Jay Brown (who is married to Sethi). Heimann’s husband, guitarist Cas Sochacki, rounds out the quartet. The instrumentation on the songs generally stays within the folk and Americana idioms: acoustic and resophonic guitars, harmonica and so forth. But the group’s classic pop songwriting influences filter through to the choice of instruments — electric piano and electric bass guitar are used judiciously within the songs.

But as fine and note-perfect as the playing is throughout Bright Hills, it’s the vocal blend that is most likely to win the hearts and minds of listeners. Heimann and Sethi’s voices seem custom-made to work as a team. There’s a playful tone in songs like “47 Main” that’s irresistibly appealing.

The two female singer-musicians don’t hog the spotlight, though; Jay Brown steps forward for the lead vocal on his own “Champagne Annie,” a breezy, catchy story-song in the tradition of the best country-rock hybrids from acts like Flying Burrito Brothers and Poco. The dueling lead guitar lines are effective, too, making “Champagne Annie” sound like a hit single.

With the subtle and buttery tones of a Fender Rhodes piano, the two-step vibe of “Breakin’ Even and Breakin’” sounds like a nod to the country of 1970s AM radio. Heimann’s contemplative “Farmtown Waltz” is a melancholy piece brightened by the songwriter’s crystalline, edge-of-heartbreak vocal delivery. “Smokin’ Ashes” is another heaping helping of classic country; its melodic line may be familiar to the point of predictability, but the song’s homespun charms and sincere delivery outweigh the shopworn nature of the melody.

Brown’s “Adibelle” is — one suspects — a love song to his partner. It’s also a showcase for more lovely harmony singing, this time of the male/female variety. Sethi initially takes the solo lead vocal on “Rhythm in the Wind,” a tune with a relatively unconventional (in this context) melody; it has a distinctly Eastern feel, underscored by the tabla work of guest artist Avi Chopra.

Heimann’s punningly titled “Hailbop” is a softly sung, plaintive mountain melody. A love song referencing one of the brightest comets to pass near Earth, it’s followed by “Ketchikan,” a tune with a picked guitar melody reminiscent of Arlo Gurthrie’s style (and wordplay that recalls Guthrie’s approach as well).

Sochacki sings baritone lead on his songwriting contribution to the record. Stylistically, “Don’t Bother Me” is an outlier on Bright Hills, but it’s fun nonetheless. What it has in common with the disc’s other songs is its display of the sheer enjoyment the musicians have in making music together. “One Man Woman” is an original, but it’s such an effective capturing of the easygoing pop-country aesthetic that it feels like a cover of a classic.

The a cappella harmonies that introduce “Sweet Later On” preview a more serious and thoughtful side of The Appalucians. The song balances the lighthearted moments nicely, rounding out a warm and inviting collection of songs. Bright Hills is a strong debut, one that effectively showcases the strengths of the quartet.

Review from The Alternate Root

http://www.thealternateroot.com/reviewarchives/the-appalucians

The Appalucians (from the album Bright Hills available as a self-release)

A pre-school isn’t the most fertile ground for a musical group formation but even the most unlikely locations can serve as a catalyst for band-making. Two sets of parents met at said pre-school, and small talk during a drop-off or pick-up revealed musical similarities; The Appalucians were formed and little time wasted on the recording front.

The Appalucians debut, Bright Hills, is a record of loose acoustic country, subtle twang and southern charm, an album that has harmonies for miles.

Bright Hills starts with a 1-2-3 punch of greatness. Opener “Bloom in the Seed” sets a laid-back vibe; “Forty Seven Main” is does dual-duty as a train and escape song where the narrator just wants to go somewhere to ‘just be another Jane’, right into “Champagne Annie”, a country rock torn from the pages of The Flying Burrito Brothers. Stop right there and you’ve got the folk E.P. of the year. Fortunately, they don’t.

“Don’t Bother Me” is an almost spoken word tune in the vein of Country Dick Montana (The Beat Farmers) and “One Man Woman” is like a bit of country Motown. The final track is “Sweet Later On”, a mournful gospel number with the instruments hushed behind the vocals….. a beautiful closer. The dominant instruments on this Bright Hills remain dobro and harmonica, lending a bluegrass and blues vibe. The Appalucians hit on all the great parts of roots music, Bright Hills a harmony driven album of folk, bluegrass and cosmic country. (by Bryant Liggett)

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Listen and buy the music of The Appalucians from AMAZON

https://theappalucians.com/

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