Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Local band plays in Providence on Sunday

Charlestown-based Haunt the House nominated for best band in Rhode Island
Jack Rabbit Jones cover artBy Regina DeAngelo

With a sound that seems indigenous to woods in late autumn, you can hear Charlestown in the songs of Haunt the House, a local band that was just nominated for Best Band in the State of Rhode Island for the upcoming New England Music Awards.

Listening to their album Rural Introspection Study Group, I could hear Bob Dylan's harmonica from a passing freight car and the ghost of Jeff Buckley singing Leonard Cohen's famous Hallelujah in the sparse, cedar call of Will Houlihan's leading voice.

The tags at the bottom of the band's web site, which read "devotional americana experimental folk indie Westerly," don't quite paint the spare, Shaker simplicity of Haunt the House's songs. 

Also they're from Charlestown.

To sample the delight of this band, listen to the lovely "Little Bird" from the album Jack Rabbit Jones <link:http://hauntthehouse.bandcamp.com/album/jack-rabbit-jones>, or "Bright Star" from Rural Introspection.

To really get them, join me when I go to experience them live in Providence on January 28 as they headline The Grange in Providence. They will also play the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge on February 28, and, should you find yourself south of New England, the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City on March 13.

The New England Music Awards happen on Saturday, April 18 at Showcase Live in Foxboro, MA.

World, here comes the Charlestown sound.