Yarn

Yarn “Empty Pockets” (2008 release)

~ Eight First Round 2009 GRAMMY® Nominations

~ Nominated for a 2008 "Artist of the Year" Roots Music Association Award

~ Reached #5 on the Americana Music Association Top 40

~ Positioned in the AMA Top 10 for 10 weeks (and counting), and the AMA Top 40 for 3 months (and counting)

~ Reached #17 on the FAR Chart and climbing, debuting at #23

~ Edie Brickell Performs Yarn’s Original Song “I’m Down

~ Performed with Mike Gordon of Phish on Bass at Nectar’s in Burlington, VT

~ Features Tony Trischka, Casey Driessen, & Caitlin Cary of Whiskeytown all as Special Guests


Yarn “Yarn” (2007 release)

~ #79 on the Americana Music Association Top 100 Albums, for November 2007 through November 2008

~ Reached #9 on Freeform American Radio (FAR) Chart

~ Won Musicians Atlas Independent Music Award for Best Alt-Country Song 2007 for their song “No Future Together”

~ Honorary Artist for The 2007 Great American Song Contest Country Category

~ “Don’t Break My Heart Again” Comes in at #2 on Bear Country’s Top 10 Americana Tracks of 2007 Just Behind The Eagles’ “Long Road Out Of Eden”

~ “Yarn” Named Best of 2007 by 3rd Coast Music Coming in at 18 Just Behind Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand

~ Spent 20 Weeks on Roots Music Reports Top 50 Bluesgrass Chart

~ Reached #20 on XM Radio’s Top 40 XCountry Chart

~ Yarn” Named New Mexico's KSIL Radio, Record of the Week

~ Featured Performance on Fox TV’s “Fearless Music”

~ Over 4,000 Downloads of Live Shows on ARCHIVE.ORG

~ Runner-up in Relix Magazine's Jam-Off Contest January 2007

- Yarn

“Crushing, Perfect Twang”
—State of Mind Magazine

“Sometimes you know from the first note you are listening to a winner”
—Sing Out! Magazine

“Yarn has added its own signature to a genre you think you know intimately.”
—Americana UK

"I'm excited to get to sing with this band. They have a lot of heart and soul."
—Edie Brickell

“This band is flat out great! The songs are well crafted and often catchy and their playing is outstanding.”
—Americana Roots

“Hot diggety, this is one cool, swingin', bluegrassy, country, honky-tonked quintet! Lead singer Blake Christiana is dead-nuts molded in a hoots-n-hollers timbre and when he sharps out while squeezing the lines for that last drop of countrified tang, it sends shivers up the spine.”
—Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

“...Yarn has a languid acoustic country sound magnified by the tasty use of mandolin, fiddle, banjo and pedal steel. Christiana's smooth and expressive vocals have earned comparisons to Lyle Lovett, Chris Isaak, Ryan Adams and even Jerry Garcia.”
—Mountain Times

“...beautiful melodies and upbeat rhythms. If your tastes lean towards classic honky-tonk country tempered with a dash of contemporary urban angst, Yarn should hit the spot.”
—Vintage Guitar Magazine

“On Empty Pockets, Yarn combines that casual flair with some masterful musicianship.”
—Orlando Sentinel

“A big city band with a country heart, Yarn weaves richly textured vocal harmonies over sparkling bluegrass-flavored instrumentation.”
—Albany Time’s Union

“The band has chops, no question. Yarn is a virtuosic collective whose members blended fluid mandolin runs with lovely close vocal harmonies, firm, crisp bass lines, and on-point drums on bluegrass-inflected, country-leaning songs”
—Hartford Courant

“This is highly recommended music for fans of real country music with an outsider’s edge, and while that’s not always my thing, this is too good to ignore”
—Pop Headwound

“Each independent member of Yarn really brings their own flavor to the group, melding it into a treat for everyone’s ears.”
—Roots Music Report

“This debut album is full of seasoned music from a group that is truly enjoying themselves and will never have to look back. Here’s a chance to hop on board and be among the first to discover this band.”
—Village Records

“This Brooklyn-based band scores the rare triple-header of excellent country-bluegrass musicianship, memorable melodies and honeyed vocals.”
—Miles of Music

“For a long time, I said that I don’t like country music, but it turns out that I just don’t like pop country.”
—No Evil Twin

“Between the comfortable vocals of Blake Christiana and the mandolin from Andrew Hendryx, just about every track on the album shines.”
—Portland Herald Press

“Yarn's debut self-titled CD reminds me of the early days of Paul Simon and Gram Parsons. Upbeat, feel good music with lyrics and musicianship that cut to the nub of American music.”
—Taproot Radio

“A country-tinged bluegrass/folk album that could easily be in country mainstream”
—WYCE Music Journal

“After hearing the first song off Yarn — the beeeeaaauuuutiful, mellow, Americana love song "Listen Up Sweetheart" — I was already sold. Blake Christiana and his bandmates didn't have to prove anything else to me. And yet, for fifty-one straight minutes, they did.”
—Dissolver Magazine

“musically, Christiana and his Brooklyn-based band Yarn have little to worry about.”
—Charleston City Paper

“a very enjoyable album from start to finish”
—Americana Roots

“So rooted in the American culture that it is hard not to be drawn to it.”
—Brooklyn Courier News

"The music, as with all good honk, sounds worlds sunnier than the subject matter – heartbreak and heartache, predominately – proving yet again that a little bit of sugar makes even the harshest medicine go down easier."
—Creative Loafing

"One of the best records (Empty Pockets) I've heard all the way through in the newgrass/bluegrass/alt-country style is from the Brooklyn based band Yarn."
—Chris Bonnell, Songs Illinois

"Empty Pockets -- an unusually smooth, low-key collection of heartfelt, bluegrass-tinged alt-country songs."
—Charleston City Paper

"...simply great writers and musicians playing songs that the common man can relate to..."
—Jeffrey Kurtis, Today's Country Magazine

"Empty Pockets is one of my favorite releases of the year thus far."
—Jonathan Keller, Marquee Magazine

"You can spin yarns or knit with yarn, either of which sounds warm and inviting. The same is true for the music of Yarn..."
—Brent Hallenbeck, Burlington Free Press

"Empty Pockets is promising to be one of the year's best follow-ups."
—Routes & Branches KRFC 88.9FM - Yarn