New Video, New Song "When Loving is Leaving" Live on the 88.1 KZSC Santa Cruz 10.24.07Buckeye Knoll is the imagination of Doug Streblow brought to life with the help of his two friends Josh Roman and Cian Riordan. Feeling like a stranger in a music scene that embellishes on its artist’s problems, however large or dire, Doug chooses to elaborate on the lighter side of things. Because at the simplest level, Buckeye Knoll is ode to all things beautiful; a celebration of what makes people happy, and it began on a ranch not too far off from the San Francisco Bay. You see, there is rather peculiar hill overlooking the entire Napa Valley on which a lone buckeye tree stands – this is where the trio appropriates its name. This is the knoll that served as a backdrop to Doug’s upbringing. A happy kid turned bewildered college student, he knew not what to do with his life. Being the front man for his former band Shafter only wet his lips with the taste of making music. The band was together for five years, and in that time they had released several records and played shows all over the west coast. When the curtains closed on Shafter, Doug packed his backpack and guitar and spent a few months in the wilderness learning about his surroundings, its inhabitants, and in turn began deciphering himself. This was the inspiration for the songs that now define Buckeye Knoll. Josh, having some band experience under his own belt, began drumming with Doug and arranging the songs in 2005 only to be joined by Cian Riordan on the bass guitar. With Doug – a star struck romantic humming James Taylor under his breath, Josh – a lead-armed drummer with a wicked sense for all things business, and Cian – who guy who just liked to make things work, an exciting trifecta was now in place to take a stab at creating the music they had always wanted to make.
Name-dropping one artist to describe another is like plugging a leak with a sponge – it just doesn’t work. However, Buckeye Knoll does feel influenced by the likes of Ted Leo, for his straight-ahead songwriting and vibrant stage presence; Death Cab for Cutie, for their unforgettable melodies and sharp attention to sonics that bring them to life; and the aforementioned James Taylor, for reasons that could never be summed up in a pithy one liner. Their sound is not unpleasantly strange, yet it is unique enough to set it apart; and they certainly aren’t afraid to call it pop music.
Buckeye Knoll has just sent their debut EP to press and will be available to the masses on Tuesday April 10th. It was recorded at Gadgetbox Studios by Andy Zenczak and includes five of the bands strongest songs. The group is set to tour California, Arizona, and Nevada at the end of March to support their new record.
www.buckeyeknoll.com
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