Whippoorwill: Strong Female-Fronted Alterna-Folk Music
Hankerin’ for some strong female-fronted alterna-folk music? Hanker no more – we here at the Beartrap Summer Festival present…Whippoorwill, a folk-rock trio out of Fort Collins.
Whippoorwill is Alysia Kraft on guitar and vocals, Staci Foster on guitar, banjo, harmonica and vocals, and Tobias Bank on drums and vocals. Their bio tells us that “Kraft was raised on a family-owned Wyoming cattle ranch, Foster alongside the rivers of the Texas Hill Country. Foster and Kraft met by chance at a porch picking party at SXSW 2013. The two exchanged songs throughout the night before parting for separate tours, later naming themselves “Whippoorwill” for the bird cooing through the pauses in song on the night of their meeting. Tobias Bank (Von Stomper) joined the band on drums in November 2016, bringing depth and musicality to the rhythm section and adding third part harmonies to a rich set of singing.”
They’ve shared the stage with artists like Big Thief and Shovels and Rope –and that alone should entice folks to the mountain. “With palpable chemistry, dynamic live shows, and a long-game approach to their creative work, Whippoorwill has become a Colorado darling and one of the region’s most-hyped bands on the brink.” In fact, even our very own MyCountry 955 called ‘em a Top 10 Act to Watch in 2017.
Earlier this year they finished their first full length album, “honing a sound both expansive and raw, rootsy and otherworldly, and always landing in the grittier ‘alt’ corners of country and folk.”
This quote furthers their description as“Cathartic, experiential alt-folk written by boots-in-the-dirt, partner-in-crime country girls (Staci Foster and Alysia Kraft) and delivered across drummer Tobias Bank's vast percussive landscape. For Whippoorwill, there's little separation between the soul and the scenery-- heartbreak is a ripped floodplain and longing, an unbroken expanse of sky. It's Cormac McCarthy meets Neil Young via non-traditional banjo, long harmonica riffs, distorted guitar, and three-part harmonies that can scorch, soar, or haunt accordingly.” Their song “Blue-Eyed West,” for instance, lives up to this promise as the band opens the song with the sweet yet melancholy lyrics “Never thought I’d ever see a long-haired cowboy, he was draggin’ a guitar like a body behind him…” There’s more where that came from, but don’t take our – or anyone else’s – word for it – check ‘em out for yourself.
Their website contact page declares “We’d actually really love to hear from you… About business, bands you think we’d love, towns we need to visit, backyards we need to play, recipes that you’d recommend us trying… how you found us… how you found yourself…” – Just keep that in mind this August on the mountain, where you can chat with them in person.