04/27 - Cabinet “11″ Release Party
at The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company
Doors: 07:30 PM Starts: 09:00 PM - $10/$12 cover
Plus special guests MOON HOOCH
The official street date for the Cabinet live CD/DVD “11″ – recorded 11.11.11 at The Abbey Bar is Tuesday April 24 and we’re celebrating on Friday the 27th. Join us as we welcome back Pennsylvania’s favorite rockgrass band to The Abbey Bar. Special guests will be announced soon and tickets go on sale Friday February 3.
When it comes to the music of Cabinet, the essential bywords are soul, simplicity, and serious musicianship. In concert, the combination of these qualities invariably yields an experience that is so celebratory and moving that the very word Cabinet takes on a new, vivid meaning for anyone in the audience. An inclusive and engaging energy is the uniting through-line as Cabinet weaves bluegrass, country and folk influences to powerful effect. Tight dynamics punctuate gorgeous, soaring harmonies as down-to-earth rhythm and lyrics give way to dreamy jams that are the musical equivalent of the backroad scenic route. But this impressive result is no accident. Pappy Biondo [banjo, vocals], J.P. Biondo [mandolin, vocals], Mickey Coviello [acoustic guitar, vocals], Dylan Skursky [electric bass, double bass], Todd Kopec [fiddle, vocals], and Jami Novak [drums, percussion], all love and live music. They each have a nuanced approach and posses broad talents in their own rights. But the passionate, affirming, and joyous musical world that they create together is Cabinet.
Listeners that haven’t yet experienced Cabinet in person will no longer be left out, thanks to a series of live albums. The THIS IS CABINET series features tracks culled from concerts in Cabinet’s home region of Wilkes-Barre, PA and Stroudsburg, PA, as well as from shows in Erie and Cleveland, all popular stops on Cabinet’s touring routes. The most recent of the series, THIS IS CABINET – COVERS (a free album given to fans for the 2011 holiday season), features a collection of traditional and standard bluegrass and folk numbers plus a couple Paul Simon tracks thrown in for good measure. THIS IS CABINET – SET I (released Dec. 2010 on Ropeadope Records) showcases the band’s arrangement of a few more traditional songs as well as extended versions of tracks from their self-titled debut.
Cabinet is a band that has outgrown any “regional favorite” tag and has progressed to a broader fanbase, all while retaining their signature sound. The band self-released a debut album, “Cabinet,” before signing with Ropeadope, which took notice and re-released that album digitally.
Cabinet formed in 2006, bringing together players from various musical and personal backgrounds. Some of the members are barely old enough to drink legally, but their thirst for older music is unquenchable. Whether its rustic “American Beauty”-era Grateful Dead or old-timey bluegrass, Cabinet has digested it all. But that is not to say that Cabinet recreates older styles. No, this is music that might have its roots in the past, but it is current and vibrant, with a sense of celebrating the now.