The Sound Of Ghosts

Inspired by a love of music and for late Brown Bird guitarist, Dave Lamb, L.A-based Americana band The Sound of Ghosts has been building a strong southern California following with their brand of music and multi-instrumentation.

Made up of the husband and wife team of James Orbison (upright bass /vocals) and Anna Orbison (vocals/ukulele), the band is rounded out with Ernesto Rivas (guitars), Jon Sarna (drums), Christian Robinson (trumpet) and Phoebe Silva (fiddle/mandolin).

The Sound of Ghosts recently completed debut album, Come Home showcases their combination of hook-laden songs and strong female vocals. They’ve also wrapped their first U.S. tour and are now back performing on the L.A. circuit.

AXS recently spoke with Anna and James Orbison about The Sound of Ghosts and more in this new interview.

AXS: To those who may not be familiar, how would describe the sound of The Sound of Ghosts?

Anna Orbison: We like to call our sound alt-Americana or Americana Rock. We love to create songs that celebrate not only the diversity of our musical backgrounds as a band but also the wide range of Americana sounds.

James Orbison: We’re a melting pot of musical backgrounds and I think everyone brings something different to the table, which makes our style unique.

AXS: Let’s discuss a few tracks from the band’s new album, Come Home. What can you tell me about the the title track?

AO: This was the first song that we wrote together. It 's a song that's dedicated to James' friend, Dave Lamb and features references to a bunch of his lyrics. The Sound of Ghosts actually exists because of Dave and we really wanted this song and the album to be a celebration of him.

AXS: How about the track, “Song No. 9”?

AO: That song was written about an ex of mine. It was one of those relationships where you know you're dating a great person and they're doing all the right things. There's nothing really wrong, but it's just not right. I still think about how I treated him and wish I’d have been better to him. Maybe he'd rather take the song over the relationship anyway [laughs].

AXS: What can you tell me about the band’s first southwestern U.S. tour?

AO: Our first tour was amazing! We kicked it off in Las Vegas and played all over Colorado and Arizona. We got to meet so many amazing people and can’t wait to get back on the road again!

AXS: James, you had a close friend, Dave Lamb (of Brown Bird) who passed away. How much of an influence did he have on you?

JO: Dave and his wife were a huge influence for me, and the main reason I wanted to start this band. He always inspired and motivated me to become a better player. After he passed, I spent a few days in Rhode Island and met a lot of the people and other bands he had worked with. It was so inspiring to see how many lives he had touched and when I got back home we immediately started writing music.

AXS: Having now completed your first album, what satisfies you most about the experience?

AO: It’s been so satisfying to see how people have responded to the music. There's an enormous feeling of accomplishment that goes along with completing a project like this. We didn't have any label to help us and we crowd sourced and played a ton of shows in order to raise money. We even called in favors and did the artwork ourselves to keep costs down. I never realized just how much time, energy, and money goes into making an album, but it feels incredible to have finally made it happen! - AXS by James WOod

We did a talk radio show discussing our first album and upcoming tour. - LA Talk Radio

Live coverage of our show while on tour in Denver, Co. - Femmusic.com