CONGRESS OF A CROW

Perfect love

Jeremy Charles Congress of a Crow: Coat and tie optional.

By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
9/21/2007

Congress of a Crow puts the talents of multi-instrumentalists on show

It all started simply enough. To hear Adam Tichenor tell it, the Spot Music Awards brought popular local hard rock act Congress of a Crow together.

It began as he watched Danelle Phillips sing her powerful croon for local indie rock act Fridgebuzz at the 2005 awards show.

Tichenor, who was guitarist for local band Vastu (also nominated for a Spotnik back in 2003), “instantly knew that we would be able to write some great music with whoever that little girl with the big voice was,” he said.

“So I … met Danelle in person, and invited her to jam with Wil (Sutherland, guitarist) and me at an open mike night at a little bar called Fourplay. She loved that session and soon was in the band.”

So, two years, two drummers, three bass players — and two Spot Music Award nominations later (the act won Best Rock Act in 2006, and is nominated for Best Hard Rock Act this year) — the soulful, poppy, hard rock quintet (that’s a mouthful) will celebrate its first full-length CD release on Saturday with a show at the Blue Dome Diner, he said.

The album, “Shadows and Sunrise,” was recorded over 2 ½ months at Tulsa’s Yellow Dog Studios with studio founder (and Congress of a Crow producer) Dave Percefull, and is a metaphor for the lead singer’s life, Tichenor said in a recent e-mail interview.

“All the lyrics on the album are things she has seen and gone through and the choices she has made because of those experiences,” he said.

“It’s a metaphor for her and, in turn, humanity’s struggle to find a balance between good and evil.”

The music comes from an exhaustive set of influences. Each band member has a unique lifetime of music experience — and passion — to back up the energetic sound.

Tichenor, for instance, studied music theory in college, was a drummer in his high school marching band and played strings for the school’s jazz program.

Phillips “was raised in a musical family and learned a lot that way, but most of her raw talent was nurtured by the fact that she had nothing better to do than play guitar and sing at the top of her lungs,” he said of Phillips’ youth spent on a Kansas farm.

Drummer Nathan Lindley grew up watching his father play drums, and has played along at and attended live shows since he was an infant, said Tichenor.

Bassman Todd Shaver studied some music in middle school and has played in the local rock act My Solstice, too, “but mainly his training comes from his own passion for music. He has heard of more bands that span all genres— more than I could ever imagine.

“He can sit down and learn any of those songs by ear, at will. It’s amazing,” he said. Tichenor and guitarist Wil Sutherland are longtime friends in music — they grew up playing music in the same high school classes, he said.

All that experience partially explains why live sets are so, well, lively.

To boot, nearly every member is a multi-instrumentalist, he said.

Almost all members play guitar and bass. Phillips and Shaver can play piano. She also plays trumpet.

“Honestly, I can’t think of any other reason why we’d be interested (in music), besides the fact that we all love being artists more than anything else in the world,” he said.

He also said that Tulsa is a hotbed of local music — and loyal music lovers.

“We’ve all been going to local music concerts in Tulsa for awhile — if you can get the people to get out, they will love you. It’s a challenge that has hardened our tenacity.

“Tulsa local music fans are loyal, dedicated and downright cool,” he said.

Which is appropriate, given the band’s name, which Tichenor said is a reference from the Kama Sutra.

“Congress of a Crow . . . symbolizes a balanced union between people — a perfect love, if you will.”

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CONGRESS OF A CROW

When: 9 p.m. Saturday, with openers Brian Parton, My Solstice and Sam & the Stylees

Where: Blue Dome Diner, Second Street and Detroit Avenue, downtown Tulsa (next to Tsunami Sushi)

Admission: all ages, $7; or free with $10 CD purchase at the door. Or, stop by Under the Mooch record store, 1425 S. Harvard Ave., after 5 p.m. Friday for a meet-and-greet and to purchase advance “no wait, no line” VIP passes for $15.

By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer