<\/p>\n
Banshee Tree<\/a> is debuting a new look this spring.<\/p>\n The Boulder band has been active for over a decade at this point, quickly becoming regular players in the local and state festival circuit. The ability to jump between genres, whether it be bluegrass or EDM, helped establish the four-piece as one that could easily fit into many pockets and scenes, as evidenced on its 2021 self-titled debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n A sophomore follow-up seemed imminent \u2014 at least, that was the plan. But work on the second LP temporarily stalled when violinist Nick Carter decided to move out to California to pursue his solo career before recording began. Banshee Tree faced an unexpected crossroads.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was kind of an interesting journey because we started it with Nick about three years ago,\u201d says drummer Michelle Milo, adding that she and bassist Jason Bertone\u2019s parts had already been laid down by the time Carter announced his departure. \u201cThose have been complete for that long, and we started building guitar tracks around it. We were waiting on Nick\u2019s parts, but he left in the middle of the project, so we had this half-finished album.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of panicking, scrapping and abandoning the whole idea, while searching for a new fourth member, Milo, Bertone and vocalist-guitarist Thom LaFond had an idea, and person \u2014 on-stage collaborator and saxophonist Jesse Shantor \u2014 in mind. It wasn\u2019t too much of a long shot, either.<\/p>\n \u201cAll four of us, including Nick, individually were like, \u2018What about Jesse?\u2019 He\u2019s someone we played with many times, and we stay with him on tour. He\u2019s become a great friend,\u201d Milo explains. \u201cIt was kind of like a wide left turn, but we all were like, \u2018This guy seems like he\u2019d be perfect.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Restructuring the framework of the existing new material, Banshee Tree went about making space for Shantor\u2019s sax where initially Carter\u2019s violin would have been placed. Shantor even flew from his California home for an intensive workshop and tryout.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a week straight of eight-hour rehearsal and reimagining the songs and seeing if it would work with him. By the end of it we were like, \u2018Yes, this works,\u2019\u201d Milo recalls. \u201cSo he moved to Boulder and he just finished the album with us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the studio, Thom would sometimes just let me lay sax tracks over the whole track, often leaving me alone in the booth to generate ideas,\u201d Shantor, who officially joined the group in 2024, says. \u201cThen we would come together and work on ideas one by one and see what was fitting best into the existing arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n The final results can be heard on upcoming record, Bad Luck<\/em>, set to be released on April 17. The revamped Banshee Tree already played a hometown sneak-peak last month at the Fox Theatre<\/a> but will be back in town after a quick West Coast run for another show on April 12 at the Bluebird Theater<\/a> opening for MarchFourth Marching Band<\/a>.<\/p>\n Courtesy Christian O\u2019Rourke<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Capturing the metamorphosis made for a more impactful process, as Milo sees it, and in some ways, the forced progress felt necessary. Carter even contributed a violin yarn that can be heard on a musical interlude alongside Shantor\u2019s sax, a little nod to the fiddler who brought and meant so much to Banshee Tree.<\/p>\n \u201cIt kind of became so much more than we expected it to because of that whole process. The growth of us as musicians and producers and writers over the course of three years,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe even have one track in there where we left Nick\u2019s old violin part and threaded it with the saxophone as kind of an ode, a passing of a baton song, so we\u2019ve got both members in there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like an encapsulation of an entire period of three years for us,\u201d Milo continues. \u201cEven though it took longer than we thought, I\u2019m very glad for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lead single \u201cBright Blue Light\u201d<\/a> shines in its optimistic tone and flow, though LaFond found some unlikely inspiration in an odd exchange after Banshee Tree played Northwest String Summit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe finished our set and our tent neighbors came up to us afterwards and they were like, \u2018Woah, you guys are, like, kind of demonic. That was kind of demonic,\u2019\u201d Milo recalls of the freaked-out fans. \u201cWe can get a little dissonant and jammy playing live, and Thom was like, \u2018Thank you,\u2019 and they were like, \u2018No, we\u2019re serious. We\u2019re actually scared of you,\u2019 and then they moved their tents. I think they were tripping on mushrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n The incident left a less sinister impression on LaFond, who wrote \u201cBright Blue Light\u201d about the innate duality of music and the people responsibly for making and performing.<\/p>\n \u201cThom wrote that song coming out of that experience as a meditation on you can\u2019t help what comes through you,\u201d Milo relays. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be dark and there\u2019s going to be light that comes through you, and the music is just meant to express that. We\u2019re not meant to hide the dark side and only show the light side.<\/p>\n \u201cThis album is an exploration of both of those things, and it\u2019s okay. It\u2019s okay to have the melancholy, the dark and the light all in one thing,\u201d she adds. \u201cThat\u2019s just the experience of life. It helps and hurts us.\u201d<\/p>\n We won\u2019t give too much away before it drops, but Bad Luck<\/em> also includes a heartfelt bluegrass ballad, featuring Leftover Salmon<\/a> banjo picker Andy Thorn, while the title track<\/a> leans on lo-fi indie. It\u2019s no surprise that Banshee Tree can do both, a chameleon-like approach is one of its calling cards. That\u2019s why they\u2019ve been tagged as bluegrass, Americana, indie rock and even EDM-swing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just embraced it, like, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s just find the sound we want\u2019 instead of being stuck to it the way it always was,\u201d Milo says. \u201cWe allowed it to open our minds to new possibilities. Then it started to sink in. I really started to embrace the sound that was unfolding, and the more we played, the more a sound started to unfold. Yes, we dip into bluegrass, we dip into electro-swing, but the main core of the sound is psychedelic indie-rock.\u201d<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t sound too demonic when it\u2019s broken down that way, now does it. Sometimes it\u2019s better to have \u201cbad luck\u201d than no luck at all, too. The title is meant to be ironic, in that sense. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what the album kind of became about, transitions,\u201d Milo says about the band\u2019s decision to go with the flow and embrace whatever changes may be. \u201cSometimes something that comes across might present itself and seem like bad luck, but if you lean into it, it can be a transition to something beautiful that you never expected.\u201d<\/p>\n Even after the local release show, Milo can tell it\u2019s going to be a whole different vibe once Banshee Tree fully unleashes Bad Luck<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you push yourself to do something completely new, and you\u2019re on stage doing a bunch of new stuff you\u2019ve never played before, it\u2019s like entering beyond what you thought was possible for yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s expansion for the music and yourself. Jesse always says, \u2018I love doing hard shit with my friends.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n