Saturday, March 27th, 7:30 pm

Common Ground Coffeehouse at the First Unitarian Society of Westchester Presents

Special Double Bill!

Winterpills and KaiserCartel

While KaiserCartel look like a couple of emo kids who have lost their way don’t be deceived, they certainly bring their own brand sunshine with them and that reflected light is as warm and inviting as anything you’ll find.. A fantastic collection of songs from two people that know how to play with each other and for each other. My album of the year so far. – 411mania.com

KaiserCartel are the dynamic duo of Courtney Kaiser & Benjamin Cartel. Each previously leaders of their own indie bands, they met on March 4th four years ago and formed KaiserCartel when they joined forces to tour the country that summer.  They self-released an EP (Double Standard) and toured throughout the US and UK on their own before signing to bluhammock music late last year. March Forth, their debut album – was produced by Matt Hales (aka aqualung) and mixed by Matt and Ken Thomas (Sigur Ros) – and is full of low-fi, harmony-heavy, bittersweet songs full of charm. KaiserCartel is currently on tour and intend to stay there until they’ve played for all of you.

“This Massachusetts band [makes] lush, off-kilter pop-rock in which nothing makes sense but everything sounds wondrous.”   – USA TODAY on Winterpills

“Pain, sadness and fractious circumstances are an inescapable fact of life; Winterpills’ music doesn’t seek to amplify the hurt as place it in life affirming settings of richly articulated melodies and carefully rendered arrangements.” – Paste Magazine

Critically praised as a mirror of sorrows and a beacon of hope, the music of Winterpills – true to its name – is medicine for weary hearts.

At the core of Central Chambers, their newest album and third overall, the Northampton, Mass. quintet maintains its signature chamber-indie ambience while exploring new grounds sonically and lyrically. In it, you’ll hear production running the gamut from boombox lo-fi to crisp studio sonorousness; dense rockers balanced by quiet hymns; and an overall diversity in instruments and textures. All of this backs the wandering words of songwriter Philip Price, and here we can see him condensing his meditative lyrical approach into mantras contemplating the frailty of humanity.

A performer with a background in 90s powerpop (The Maggies) as well as solo-acoustic songwriting, Price sought something of a middle ground. Woodshedding sessions in the winter of 2004 led him and friends Flora Reed (piano, vocals), Dennis Crommett (guitar) and Dave Hower (drums) to become Winterpills, crafting a neat balance of heartrending lyrics, lush pop and dreamy guy-girl harmonies. Their self-titled debut, released in November of 2005, drew numerous comparisons to Elliott Smith, Ida and 60s torchbearers like Simon and Garfunkel and Neil Young. It was hailed as “a disc of faultless, sparkling indie pop” by NPR’s David Dye, while No Depression called it “alternately sad, cynical and deeply moving.” Soon the band recruited bassist Brian Akey and returned to writing and recording. Their stunning follow-up, The Light Divides, was released in February of 2007 to much acclaim, described by The Boston Globe as “dusky, quietly ripping folk-pop that sounded at once intimate and universal.” It was dubbed “painfully pretty” and “sublime” by the Philadelphia Daily News, and The Washington Post said “Price’s lyrics are densely packed but hugely evocative, tiny bombs of feeling and meaning.”

Tickets: $18 for adults and $15 for seniors (60+) and students (12+); kids under 12, free