Pages tagged “the bridges”

We first brought you The Bridges as a 4 to Watch in January, and the familial quintet has since released its debut album, Limits of the Sky, and embarked on tours with Matthew Sweet and others. (They’re pretty solid live, too.) Now the group has announced a new national tour, its first in years as headliners, which kicks off tomorrow in Memphis, Tenn.

[Edit: Congratulations to our winner! Keep reading Paste:Local for more ticket giveaways!]

Atlantans! No one has claimed the pair of free tickets we're giving away to see The Bridges play at The Loft this Saturday with Matt Costa and The Smart Brothers! Be the first to email atlanta@pastemagazine.com and win the tickets as well as an autographed copy of Paste and The Bridges' new album! Email now!

They're the Best of What's Next, and they're coming to our fair city this weekend to perform during the Atlantis Music Conference and Festival, joining Matt Costa and The Smart Brothers at The Loft this Saturday, Sept. 20 at 9 p.m. (doors at 8). And you have the chance to see them live-- for free!

Paste favorites The Bridges are just one of the 250-some artists spanning a melange of musical genres gathered in Nashville for the third annual Next BIG Nashville festival, which kicked off today and runs through Sunday.

Since the release of his third album, Girlfriend, in 1991, Matthew Sweet has remained one of the beacons of power pop, stretching the boundaries of the genre without sacrificing big guitars and ringing melodies. In 2006 he took a detour in teaming with Bangles star Susanna Hoffs to record Under the Covers, an album of '60s classics, but now he’s back with a proper solo outing, Sunshine Lies.

Click above to watch "Pieces" from The Bridges' new album Limits of the Sky, out now on Verve Forecast.

Related Links:
The Bridges: All in the Family
4 to Watch: The Bridges

Fox 5 came to the Paste offices this morning for live coverage of The Bridges, one of the cover subjects of our Best of What's Next issue that just hit newsstands. The three sisters, one brother and one cousin from Oxford, Alabama, showed up at 6 a.m. on the dot this morning ready to play, and they were a joy to have in the office. Fox 5 studios cut live to us several times throughout the morning, including a couple Bridges songs. You can watch three of the segments on the Fox 5 site now.

Hometown: Oxford, Ala.
Album: Limits of the Sky
Why They're Worth Watching: Raised on praise-and-worship hymns and classic-rock vinyl, The Bridges deliver organic pop bliss devoid of saccharine filler. Their debut, Limits of the Sky, perfectly captures the majestic folk harmonies
of its three female vocalists with retro production flourishes from Matthew Sweet. The Bridges are poised to introduce the digital generation to the forgotten analog beauty
of ’70s-era album rock.
For Fans Of: Eisley, Fleetwood Mac, the beach

It’s hard to imagine another band with members as close as the musicians in folk-rock collective The Bridges. The group—consisting of three sisters, one brother and one cousin—has lived under the same roof in Oxford, Ala., since lead singer Brittany Painter moved in with her Byrd family bandmates in 2002. Six years and one magnificent debut album later, the quintet is still spending every conceivable moment in each other’s company. How a tour van full of siblings made its way from an extended family reunion to a signed contract with Verve Forecast is a tale as charmingly surreal as the pop gems the group has spent the last year polishing.

Lots of good records out today, including new ones from Jakob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, The Fratellis, Joan as Policewoman and Solomon Burke, but there can be only one...

CD OF THE WEEK
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Back in 2006, when we recruited Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood to write about one of our 100 Best Living Songwriters, I was surprised that he chose Prince. But listening to My Morning Jacket's latest makes me realize Mr. Purple Rain's influence on Southern rockers is more widespread. Jim James gets downright funky on songs like "Highly Suspicious" which has half our office scoffing and the other half rocking out. The album is the biggest departure for the band yet, but I think it's a trip that most of their fans, including me, will be more than willing to take. Check out our July cover story hitting newsstands (and hopefully your mailbox) soon.

Sweet SoCal sounds from sweet home Alabama

Belying their religious upbringing in Alabama, The Bridges—three sisters, a brother and a cousin, aged 18 to 24—base their sound on Fletwood Mac and the balmy West Coast folk-rock of The Mamas and the Papas. Logically, the Byrd siblings and their cousin Brittany Painter recorded their debut in L.A. with producer Matthew Sweet and string wizard Greg Leisz, who fashioned settings that showcase the sisters’ billowing blood harmonies as they alternately surround and counterpoint Painter’s accomplished lead vocals. Powered by Natalie Byrd’s piano, the verses of opener “All the Words” hit the choruses like waves crashing against Big Sur rocks. “Echo” features stunning multipart vocal interplay buoyed by Leisz’s pillowy pedal steel, and “Under the Sun” swells to symphonic grandeur. Throughout, the group’s blend of emotional innocence and musical sophistication is matched by something just as disarming—a complete absence of irony and cynicism.

The Bridges are good for a sunny day. Most importantly, the bubbly rock/pop family band has recently piqued our interest here at Paste. On pretty days we like to blast songs from the Alabama group's upcoming album, Limits of the Sky, and skip through the office, intermittently patting each other on the backs. OK, not really. But that’s sort of what The Bridges’ music makes you want to do. And we’re not the only ones who have taken note of this harmonious bunch. Matthew Sweet produced Limits, which is due out June 10 on Verve Forecast.  

That's right faithful podcast listeners, The Culture Club is back from a long nap. We've been busy here at in Multimedia land since the beginning of the year and have tons of content coming your way soon. On with the podcast!



Links:
The National
The Signal
Doug Burr
Hallelujah The Hills
Soulsavers
Don DiLego
Dax Riggs
The Wombats
The Bridges
The Mondegreens
Pale Young Gentlemen

Related Links:
Review: The Signal
Feature: The National - Grow Up! Look Sharp! Be Responsible!
Review: The National - Boxer

Hometown: Oxford, Ala.
Members [L-R]: Jeremy Byrd, Natalie Byrd, Brittany Painter, Isaaca Byrd, Stacey Byrd
Fun fact: The entire band lives together in the same house, with a practice room in the basement.
Why they’re worth watching: The Bridges have already caught the ear of Matthew Sweet, who recorded several songs with them last year.
For fans of: The Cardigans, The Bangles, Fleetwood Mac

In the past, AAA (Adult Album Alternative) has too often stood for: middle-aged adult who eats at Ruby Tuesday and TiVos Everybody Loves Raymond; uninteresting, frequently sucky album; and decidedly unalternative, even anti-alternative. But Oxford, Ala.’s The Bridges—along with bands like The Magic Numbers and The Weepies—are doing their best to re-invigorate the genre. This is how alternative music for grownups should sound: interesting and approachable songs you can listen to in the car with your mom (or your daughter).

“I don’t know if anyone would call it rock ’n’ roll, but I’ll say ‘rock/pop’ instead of ‘pop/rock,’” jokes singer/keyboardist Natalie Byrd from L.A., where The Bridges spent the Thanksgiving holiday finishing their debut full-length and adding an edge to their polished songs.

The band’s three-part harmonies are catchy every time, and their straightforward lyrics fit comfortably with the sunshine-pop vibe ("Take a hit / Take a swing / You’re the one I love / Let it all / Balance out / I’m the one you need”). The Bridges deliver their material with exuberance, creating a country-tinged sound that’s not specific to 2008—but it’s not cheesy nostalgia rock, either. And their story is as charming as the music.

All the band members are siblings, except lead singer Brittany Painter, who’s their first cousin. (“She’s basically like our sister,” Byrd says. “You’ll catch her saying ‘my sister’ or ‘my brother’ about us.”) See The Bridges perform once, and it’s clear that their charisma comes from a unique closeness.

This is a vintage-style family band, even down to the name. “It comes from a club called The Bridge, a place our dad used to go to see bands play when he was younger,” Byrd says. “And we couldn’t be The Byrds, for obvious reasons.”