SXSW kicks off this week, and this year, the best place to hang (in our totally subjective, non-modest opinion) will be at the Brooklyn Country Cantina, of which we are proud to be a media sponsor, along with our friends at the Bluegrass Situation. The day party, on Saturday, March 15th at Licha’s Cantina, will feature an eclectic Americana, Country and roots lineup including Robbie Fulks, JD Wilkes & The Dirt Daubers, Humming House, The Defibulators, The Kernal, Tall Tall Trees and our next featured artist from the showcase, The Sea, The Sea. RSVP here (which will also enter you to win a sweet Deering banjo). :::
If The Sea, The Sea were a month, they would be March; that harbinger of seasonal change that flutters between hibernation and hopeful adventure. These days, springtime has suddenly poked its head out into our southern city, like an old friend that has been standing here all along, silently laughing as we’ve whimpered through a colder winter. Everywhere around me, people are worshipping the reissue of longer days under the blessed sun, praising the warmth on our backs and the Vitamin D.
The Sea, The Sea are a duo whose music is all about the emergence of faith in optimism after the dust on the last page of a darker chapter settles. Born out of Albany, NY, the group consists of singer-songwriters Chuck E. Costa and Mira Stanley. Lyrical drive and divinely inspired harmonies create a distinction in The Sea, The Sea; their debut album is received, in my mind, as a personal response to Andrew Bird’s “Lull.” The content of their songs deal with the transformative space between gut-wrenching situations and the spot in which we land when a new dawn awakens. “Cause I’ve been a water treader, don’t you see, spending time, spending energy, and I’ve almost run out, so I’m heading out into the deep,” the duo sings. Their music explores the theme of infinite liberation in the progress of energy, the moment that we break free from the anchors of a tainted past and begin to float upwards, close and closer to the a sun-spotted surface, guiding us in gentle thrusts to where faith wants us to be.
“We’re thrilled to be heading to SXSW this year, and can’t wait to share songs from our debut album, Love We Are Love! Austin is one of our favorite cities, and so many members of our musical family are based there (who are also playing this year)- Carrie Elkin, Danny Schmidt, Raina Rose, Sam Baker, Devon Sproule, BettySoo- and countless others not based in Austin, but also showering the town with their inspired tunes. It’s a beautiful thing when everyone is in the same place at the same time,” the band tells us.
Listen to them below, and catch The Sea, The Sea at SXSW this saturday, at the Brooklyn Country Cantina Showcase.
Lockeland Springsteen 