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Win Tickets to See Fruition in Birmingham on May 3rd April 13, 2018 11:25
Kellen Asebroek - vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
Mimi Naja - vocals, mandolin, electric & acoustic guitar
Jeff Leonard - bass
Tyler Thompson - drums, banjo
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“The songs are mostly breakup songs,” says Asebroek. “There was love and now it’s gone—we fucked it up, or some outside circumstance brought it to an end. It’s about dealing with all that but still having hope in your heart, even if you’re feeling a little lost and jaded.”
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In a departure from their usual DIY approach, Fruition teamed up with producer/mixer Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists, First Aid Kit, case/lang/veirs) to adorn their folk-rooted sound with delicately crafted elements of psychedelia and soul. Showcasing the sublime harmonies the band first discovered during an impromptu busking session in 2008, Watching It All Fall Apart also finds Fruition more fully embracing their rock-and-roll sensibilities and bringing a gritty vitality to each track. “We’ve been a band almost ten years now, and we’re at the point of being comfortable in our skin and unafraid to be whatever we want as time goes on,” Anderson notes.
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Recorded in ten days at Flora Recording & Playback in Portland, Watching It All Fall Apart came to life with the same kinetic urgency found in Fruition’s live sound. “It’s kind of an impossible task, this idea of transmuting the live energy into something you can play on your stereo, but I feel like this record comes close to that,” says Asebroek. At the same time, the band pursued a purposeful inventiveness that resulted in their most intricately textured work to date. “Tucker helped us push ourselves to create something that glistens in subtle little ways that you might not even pick up on at first,” says Asebroek. “We got to play around with all this analog gear and these weird old keyboards we wouldn’t ordinarily use, like a bunch of kids in a toy store where everything is free.”
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On lead single “I’ll Never Sing Your Name,” that unrestrained creativity manifests in a fuzzed-out, gracefully chaotic track complete with sing-along-ready chorus. Built on brilliantly piercing lyrics (“And all those kisses that you were blowing/Somehow they all got blown right out”), the song echoes the album’s emotional arc by painfully charting the journey from heartache to acceptance. “It’s about going through a breakup, moping around, and then finally getting to the point where it’s like, ‘Okay—I’m done with feeling this way now,’” says Anderson.
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Throughout Watching It All Fall Apart, the band’s let-the-bad-times-roll mentality reveals itself in ever-shifting tones and moods. On the stark and sleepy “Northern Town,” Naja’s smoldering vocals channel the ache of longing, the track’s twangy guitar lines blending beautifully with its swirling string arrangement. One of the few album cuts to have already appeared in Fruition’s setlist, “There She Was” sheds the heavy funk influence of its live version and gets reimagined as a shimmering, soulful number documenting Asebroek’s real-life run-in with an ex at a local bar. Meanwhile, “Turn to Dust” emerges as a weary but giddy piece of psych-pop chronicling the end of a failed romance. The song’s opening lyric also lends the album its title, which partly serves as “a commentary on the general state of the world today,” according to Asebroek. “Even if you’re mostly an optimistic person, it’s hard not to feel down when you look at all the insanity happening right now,” he says.
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While those unflinchingly intimate breakup songs form the core of Watching It All Fall Apart, Fruition infuse an element of social commentary into songs like “FOMO” as well. Written on the Fourth of July, with its references to wasted white girls and cocaine cowboys, the mournful yet strangely reassuring track unfolds as what Anderson calls “an anti-party party song.” “It’s about one of those situations where you said you’d go to party but you really don’t want to go, because you know it’s going to be the same old bullshit,” he says. “The song is a call to defuse that guilt in your brain.” And on the sweetly uplifting “Let’s Take It Too Far,” the band offers one of the album’s most purely romantic moments by paying loving tribute to music as solace and salvation (“But don’t you worry ’bout dyin’/’Cause there’s no better way to go/We’ll sing until we’re out of honey/Then pour the gravel down our throats”).
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From song to song, Fruition display the dynamic musicality they’ve shown since making their debut with 2008’s Hawthorne Hoedown LP. Through the years, the band has evolved from a rootsy, string-centric outfit to a full-fledged rock act, eventually taking the stage at such major festivals as Bonnaroo and Telluride Bluegrass (a set that inspired Rolling Stone to praise their “raucous originals filled with heartfelt lyrics and stadium-worthy energy”). Following the release of 2016’s Labor of Love, Fruition again made the rounds at festivals across the U.S., prompting Rolling Stone to feature the band on its “8 Best Things We Saw” at DelFest 2016.
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In choosing a closing track for Watching It All Fall Apart, Fruition landed on “Eraser”—a slow-building, gently determined epic delivering a quiet message of hope in its final line: “Let it help you heal.” “Because there’s so much heartbreak on this album, we wanted to end on Kellen singing that last line very sweetly,” explains Anderson. “The whole point of having all these sad songs is helping people to let those emotions out—and then hopefully when they get to the end, they feel a little better about everything they’ve gone through along the way.”
Twiddle Reveals Lineup For 2nd Annual Tumble Down March 1, 2017 12:11
Twiddle will host their Tumble Down Festival at Burlington, VT’s Waterfront Park for the second year, with the host band playing four sets over the weekend and a lineup that includes Fruition, Madaila, Aqueous, Midnight North, Lucid, Strange Machines, Holly Bowling and more.
The festival will also offer up late night shows at Higher Ground and Nectar’s throughout the weekend. On July 28, Everyone Orchestra will hit the stage at Higher Ground with members of Twiddle, Fruition, Midnight North and Holly Bowling. Gang of Thieves and Backup Planet will perform at Nectar’s. The following night, Twiddle’s Mihali & Friends will play a show at Higher Ground while Lespecial and Pitch Blak Bras Band will headline Nectar’s. Tickets to the late nights will be sold separately.
Tumble Down is slated for July 28-29. All ticketing information is available here.
Tumble Down Lineup:
Twiddle (4 sets)
Fruition
Madaila
Aqueous
Midnight North
Lucid
Strange Machines
Holly Bowling
Teddy Midnight
Navytrain
The Mangroves
Fruition Announces Fall Tour + Three-Night New Year's Run in Portland August 18, 2016 14:08
With the release of Labor of Love, Fruition has received a wide variety of support, from Paste, Relix, Elmore, SiriusXM's JamOn and The Oregonian, to Live For Live Music who said, "Fruition have reached a new level with this album…they’ve given the world a wonderful example of what dedication and soul can accomplish when people work together." Check out the band's new live clip of "The Meaning" shot in Portland before they left for tour below.
Though the stages continue to become bigger with audiences growing in size, Fruition remains true and humble to their roots. They recently were the topic of discussion in the band's hometown paper The Oregonian (view the feature HERE) and performed onOregon Public Broadcasting (view the live performances HERE).
Labor of Love displays Fruition achieving a progressive sound that showcases the band's ability to feel free in songcraft exploration. The result is an album that Sound & Silencecalls "...mature, bold and captivating..."
Catch Fruition on tour in a city near you this Fall! For ticketing, concert information and more, visit: http://www.fruitionband.com/
Fruition Fall Tour 2016
8/19 - John’s Alley - Moscow, ID
8/20 - Sawtooth Valley Gathering - Stanley, ID
8/23 - State Room - Salt Lake City, UT
8/24 - Town Square - Jackson, WY
8/25 - Concert Series - Big Sky, MT
8/26 - River City Roots - Missoula, MT
8/27 - Dedication Festival - Columbia Falls, MT
9/10 - Worthy Brewing - Bend, OR
9/15 - Kent Stage - Cleveland, OH
9/16 - Deep Roots Mountain Revival - Cascade, WV
9/17 - The Festy New England - Canton, MA
9/18 - CityFolk Festival - Ottawa, ON
9/19 - Drake Hotel - Toronto, Canada
9/21 - Iron Horse - Northhampton, MA
9/22 - State Theatre - Portland, ME (w/ Greensky Bluegrass)
9/23-24 - Higher Ground - Burlington, VT (w/ Greensky Bluegrass)
9/25 - Waterhole - Saranac Lake, NY
9/28 - TBA
9/29 - Brooklyn Bowl - Brooklyn, NY
9/30 - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA
10/1 - The Hamilton Live - Washington, DC
10/3 - Capital Ale House - Richmond, VA
10/5 - Workplay - Birmingham, AL (w/ Yonder Mountain String Band)
10/6 - Jessye Norman Amphitheatre - Augusta, GA (w/ Yonder Mountain String Band)
10/7 - Mustang Music Festival - Mustang, NC
10/8 - The Festy Experience - near Charlottesville, VA
10/10-14 - TBA
10/15 - Hillberry - Ozark, AR
10/18 - TBA
10/19 - Slowdown - Omaha, NE
10/21 - Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO
10/22 - Belly Up - Aspen, CO
10/27 - Hulaween - Live Oak, FL
11/4 - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA (w/ Galactic)
11/5 - Georgia Theatre - Athens, GA (w/ Galactic)
11/6 - Duling Hall - Jackson, MS (w/ Galactic)
11/9 - Varsity Theatre - Baton Rouge, LA (w/ Galactic)
11/10 - Aztec - San Antonio, TX (w/ Galactic)
11/11 - House of Blues - Houston, TX (w/ Galactic)
11/12 - Emo’s - Austin, TX (w/ Galactic)
11/13 - TBA
12/29-31 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR*
ALL DATES ONSALE NOW EXCEPT 12/29-31 (ONSALE 8/26)
Win Two Weekend Passes to Aiken Bluegrass Festival 2016 April 19, 2016 18:51
Live & Listen and The Mischief Collective are offering you the chance to win two weekend passes to Aiken Bluegrass Festival. Fill out all areas below to enter. You may re-enter once per day, so keep coming back to increase your chances to win. We will select one lucky winner on May 4th!
Celebrating 12 years of The Aiken Bluegrass Festival
Friday, May 13th & Saturday, May 14th, 2016
WHAT MAKES A FESTIVAL SPECIAL? THAT’S A QUESTION WE HAVE ASKED OURSELVES MANY TIMES AT THE AIKEN BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL.
ULTIMATELY WE HAVE DECIDED THAT WHAT MAKES OUR FESTIVAL SPECIAL IS THE FOCUS WE HAVE AN OUR ARTISTS, ALWAYS TRYING TO BOOK BANDS THAT WE KNOW HAVE A HISTORY TOGETHER THUS ENSURING THAT WE PROVIDE OUR PATRONS WITH A ONE OF A KIND EXPERIENCE. THIS YEAR WE ARE TAKING THAT CONCEPT ONE STEP FURTHER. INSTEAD OF JUST BOOKING BANDS, WE HAVE WORKED WITH INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS, HAND PICKING MUSICIANS TO PLAY TOGETHER. AND WE WILL HAVE SOME BANDS TOO! THIS WAY WE CAN GUARANTEE YOU WILL HAVE A ONE OF A KIND EXPERIENCE AT THE 2016 AIKEN BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL WHERE YOU WILL FIND MANY OF THE FINEST NAMES IN NEW-GRASS AND BLUEGRASS ALL SHARING OUR STAGE. WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL SHARE IN OUR EXCITEMENT AND THAT YOU WILL JOIN US AT 13TH AND 14TH, 2016!
AIKEN BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL SCHEDULE & LINEUP
FRIDAY, MAY 13TH – GATES OPEN AT 4:00 PM
- Larry Keel Experience – 8:10pm
- Josh Daniel & Mark Schimick Project – 7:15pm
- Mountain Express Band (reunion show!) – 10:30am
- Doug and the Henrys – 6:00pm
- Blackwater Deep – 4:30pm
SATURDAY, MAY 14TH – GATES OPEN AT 11:00 AM
- Phoffman & Anders Beck Quartet – 8:00pm
- Paul Hoffman (Greensky Bluegrass)
- Anders Beck (Greensky Bluegrass)
- Travis Book
- Jay Cobb Anderson (Fruition)
- Keller (Williams) and the Keels – 4:00pm
- Larry Keel’s Aiken Experience / Super Jam – 6:00pm
- Larry & Jenny Keel
- Keller Williams
- Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon)
- Paul Hoffman (Greensky Bluegrass)
- Mimi Naja (Fruition)
- Fruition – 10:00pm
- Greg Burns and Friends – 2:30pm
- Gipsy Moon Band – 1:00pm