James Dernoncourt, known to most as the bassist of All We Seabees, has ventured into the realm of singer songwriting with A Lionface Symphony. Backed by a revolving door of players (mostly friends and fellow Murfreesboro musicians), James has begun a musical transformation that places himself behind a mic and an acoustic guitar. If you’re looking for comfort- you need look else where, for A Lionface Symphony offers no such escape from the darkness that is our inherited earth. With strong influences ranging from Will Oldham and Tom Waits to Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips, James has his grip on the pulse of a ghost town in need of new blood. James bass-playing has garnered him a comparison to Cassius Clay*, apparently referring to the way he “boxes†his bass. The A Lionface Symphony version of himself is a little less playful, sounding like the musical equivalent of a hung-over Buster Douglass with a story to tell. It’s his punch drunk vocals and chilling lyrics that emanate the soundtrack to a man’s rite of passage and make A Lionface stand apart from local run-of-the-mill musical acts. It shouldn’t be too hard for A Lionface Symphony to stake a claim with music lovers in the Murfreesboro/Nashville area. –Drew DeBoard
*Nashville Scene
