PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present Americana/roots quartet Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem at Next Stage on Friday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m.
This album-release concert celebrates the brand new CD Violets Are Blue, a collection of sugar-free love songs infused with the band's signature lush vocals and supple grooves.
Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem bring fiddle, guitar, bass, and junk percussion to bear on 100 years of American music, from Appalachian ballads to Bruce Springsteen covers, songs by contemporary writers, and their own originals.
Their sound is “tight, with stylish, unexpected choices” (Acoustic Guitar), a mix of New Orleans grooves, old-time gospel harmonies, bluesy swing fiddle, and fiery electric and acoustic guitars.
Rani Arbo, Andrew Kinsey, Scott Kessel, and Anand Nayak take turns singing lead, with Arbo's alto at the helm. Together, they plumb the human condition.
“Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem dig deep into their collective souls, finding joy in the moment, peace in the harmonies, and rapture in the rhythmic drive,” according to The Hartford Courant.
Violets Are Blue, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem's fifth CD, features original songs, as well as covers that are a grown-up take on love and relationships, both tempered and deepened by experience. Like the gospel traditions that the band celebrated on 2012's Some Bright Morning, the love songs on Violets Are Blue are expansive and uplifting.