Cinder Bridge
Tucson, Arizona, United States | SELF
Music
Press
Cinder Bridge delivers a unique sound with a captivating, bluesy style. Wenger's bold vocals truly make Cinder Bridge's music and are perfectly complimented by the engaging, minimalist arrangements and universal themes addressed in the lyrics. - Whitney Vass, Local Radio Host for NPR affiliate WPSU
_Highways_ is folk/light jazz sung Joan Armatrading style. Wenger's voice is like bootstrap molasses, sweet-salty and powerful but more husky than smooth. Her lyrics map the heart of a woman both wise and fragile, whose search for life's touchstone recounts both bumps and smooth rides in a style poetic and true. The songs on this album run the gamut; circling quicksand friendships, racing headlong into the uncomfortable unknown, overtaking heartache to finding home (Dry Ground, Moths in Search of the Moon, Moving On, Center of the Universe). My favorite song is _Cheap Drug_ where Wenger defiantly admits her neediness - "Hope is a cheap drug, I need a hit to carry on". Here is a soul with too many bootmarks, remaining tenaciously ready to face the future.
As for the music portion, although original and fitting, some tracts after a few (dozen) listens, contain a couple piano refrains that seem a bit like a road traveled. Drum work is very good, matching Wenger's style so perfectly that it seems to disappear, enhancing rather than bringing attention to itself.
How glad I am that I can happily recommend Cinder Bridge's first album. Wenger fits the listener into her shoes and makes you walk her world in them - this gift, to me, is the defining quality of one of music's true children. I'm already looking forward to her next tour.
To explore this highway and sample the sights, visit cdbaby.com or cinderbridge.com. - Kessel Day, Bound for Sound, issue #166
Discography
Album: Highways and Hiking Shoes
Airplay: "Dry Ground," "The Line," "Quicksand"
Featured live on KOLD's "Toast and Jam" segment: "Quicksand," "Dry Ground," "The Line," "Everybody Knows About Me"
"Everybody Knows About Me" used in advocacy video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00BZCjVK_6I
Photos
Bio
Anyone who's ever started a band in Tucson, Arizona, will tell you that good drummers are hard to find. If you're hoping to get someone good, experienced, AND capable of remembering to show up to your audition, you may have a wait on your hands. So when Tucson drummer Ron Amistadi began looking for a project in 2003, he should have been drowning in opportunities.
But finding people whose musical sensibilities matched his own was a challenge. Ron loved rock and roll, but didn't care for bands whose main purpose seemed to be destroying the eardrums of every individual within a five-mile radius. He liked pop songs done right, but steered clear of the plastic sounds populating much of today's airwaves. And while he hated tunes that were too formulaic, wandering 20-minute jams usually didn't do it for him either.
One day Ron got a call from a friend who ran a small studio in the area. The friend had just recorded a demo for a keyboardist, Susan Wenger, who was looking to start a band sometime the following year, and he thought the two would be a good match.
On April 14, 2003, Ron and Susan got together for an informal jam session and clicked immediately. Ron loved Susan's lyrics and melodies. Susan discovered that her songs evolved into something far better when Ron's drumming was added to the mix.
"This is a special situation," said Ron, after they played a few songs. "We should start a band."
"I dunno," Susan replied. "I was thinking maybe sometime next year, after, you know, I learn to sing."
A little backstory here. Susan had been playing piano for years, but until recently she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. She had no motivation to learn how to sing until after she started writing her own songs. With the help of a vocal coach and a lot of practice, Susan had become good enough to perform at an open mic without being openly mocked, but ... let's just say there was still work to be done.
Ron, who had more faith in Susan's potential than Susan did, insisted they should start their project NOW. She had her doubts, but figured that if one of the only good, available drummers in Tucson wanted to work with her that badly, she wouldn't be stupid enough to turn him away.
It was the right decision. Just a few months later, they attracted the attention of a financial backer and went on to record their first album, HIGHWAYS AND HIKING SHOES, at Philadelphia's Big Sky Audio. Reviewers and fans had high praise for the lyrics, the arrangements, the drum and piano work, and -- to Susan's great relief -- the vocals.
Since then, three of the songs from HIGHWAYS AND HIKING SHOES have gotten airplay on local Tucson radio station KXCI. The band was also featured on KOLD morning news segment "Toast and Jam" in the summer of 2006, where they performed three of their songs live.
Cinder Bridge's current endeavors include attracting listeners from outside Arizona and promoting awareness of ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis, more commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome). Their song "Everybody Knows About Me," about someone living with undiagnosed CFIDS, is available for play on the Audio page of this press kit.
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