Faux Star

Hanging out one day along on the Lower East Side of New York City, Jesse Soursourian stepped into Rivington Guitars. Howie Statland, the owner of the shop and the lead singer/songwriter of the band New York City Smoke, took a shine to him and had him audition for the band. As NYCSmoke’s keyboardist, Soursourian recorded two albums, “Musique Noir” and “Planes”, and was dubbed NYCS’ “Literal cherry on top” for his “deft skill, inventive and complicated riffs”. Staying in the background could not hold him back for long, and he began writing his own work, beginning with the haunting ballad, “Lay Me Down”, a ripped-from-the-headlines account of a murder, sung from the point of view of the victim, the victim’s lover and her killer. Soursourian decided to form his own band, using instruments that were not conventionally considered rock and roll, and arranging the music into a thoroughly unique sound.In August of 2008, Faux Star went down to rural Pennsylvania with producer and sound engineer, Dave Ahl (Vieux Farka Toure, Zozo Afrobeat) to record an EP. Jennifer Harder played trumpet and backing vocals, Ruth Jeyareevran on violin and vocals and the inimitable Raymond James Hill on the skins. The quiet roads and fresh air provided an ideal backdrop for Soursourian’s songs and they laid down twice as many tracks as they had originally intended. After culling their work down to four stellar tracks, Faux Star was ready to release their much-anticipated debut, “When We Were Boys”, set for release Spring 2009. At a show in his native Brooklyn, Jesse met Meg Bednarczyk, a musician who had come to New York on a different journey. Meg had grown up outside of Syracuse, NY. She started studying classical piano at age eight. By age fifteen, she had toured through 40 states and 6 European countries playing piano with the Continental Orchestra. On off nights, she charmed audiences with Tori Amos covers at local coffeeshops. The staid life of a classical musician was not for her, though, and at sixteen she moved out spent large parts of the next 6 years following the Grateful Dead, Phish, and other jam bands. After calling New Hampshire, Boston, Oregon, and Colorado home, Meg landed in the NYC area in 1999, where she worked in bars and restaurants, trying to make sense of her experiences and where she would go from here. She decided to go back to school to study piano performance, moved to Brooklyn where she was intent on getting her music career back in action. Jesse has sung with Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bill Sherman. As a writer, he has studied under Pulitzer Prize nominated writers Maria Irene Fornes and Adam Rapp. Meg has toured the world. But it was as a folk duo on guitar and piano that their talents combined for a uniquely sensitive yet hard-edged sound that has been likened to Okkervil River and Nick Drake.