The Falderals want to answer Lucinda Williams’ question: “Is it too much to demand / I want a full house and a rock and roll band?” Rebecca and Andy Andestic are determined, despite day jobs and three young kids, to keep writing and performing original Americana music. Their third album together, Radio, was released this April.
What started out as a campfire collaboration in the Peace Corps (a Wisconsinite and a Minnesotan had to travel all the way to Armenia to meet each other), continued on in Chicago, where Rebecca and Andy performed as registered street musicians (they still have the badges to prove it). Lured to the Twin Cities in 2005, they now play regularly around town. Their third child never a missed a gig (for nine months), despite the loud thump of Rebecca’s acoustic bass just inches from her head.
The Falderals take their name from an old nonsense folk lyric (“fal-de-ral-diddle-o-day”) and trace their sound to Andy’s childhood obsession with The Kingston Trio (their greatest hits was the only album his parents didn’t sell off in a rummage sale). With Andy on his 000-15 Mahogany Martin (the same guitar Woody Guthrie preferred), along with some harmonica and a kick drum, and Rebecca on her over-sized acoustic bass, they strum, sing, and pound their way through a melodic songbook of original Americana tunes. Occasionally, they’re joined by friends, including the incomparable Shane Akers on dobro.
With their third album, Radio, The Falderals have created a song cycle that’s bursting with harmony and heartache, songs so raw and intimate that you can feel the tremble in their voices and the blisters forming on their fingers. The Falderals have been hailed as ”new folk for old souls” and are praised for their “smooth as silk vocals, pleasing lyrics, and tight playing.” (KFAI Radio, Live from Studio-5, Doug the Thug) The Superior Telegram declared “[The] Falderals ‘Radio’ a taste of true American folk music.
Radio opens with the blazing, neo-bluegrass foot-stomper “Quick to Steal,” then immediately tumbles into the somber and rich “Radio,” a simple song that channels John Prine’s ”Angel from Montgomery.” Several upbeat slices of Americana follow, including the tongue and cheek “Don’t Feed the Band” and the contagious barroom sing-a-long “Oh My My (Sound Advice). With “Warm Things” and “Old Man on a Train,” The Falderals update the timeless heartbreak ballad. The whole album feels like they decided to setup in your kitchen and play their hearts out for you. Special guest Shane Akers (of The Dollys and Sister Shaw, to a name a few of the bands he supports) adds a haunting and playful layer of dobro. And special guest Kari Shaw (of The Dollys and Sister Shaw) adds a rich layer of harmonies on “Radio,” “Koan,” and “Don’t Feed the Band.”
Contact and Booking:
Rebecca and Andrew Andestic
thefalderals (@) gmail.com
www.thefalderals.com