Columbia Fields: Press

"(Columbia Fields) has a well-honed sense of pop songcraft"

"Columbia Fields has evolved into an indie-rock asskicking machine with a fine-tuned balance between eloquent songwriting and deep grooves."

I didn't really think of piano rock as an entity unto itself until I started writing Local Motion and realized, "damn — Connecticut is good at this!" There's no scene for it, per se — probably because there aren't really fans who say "yeah, I like alternative, but it's a thousand times more awesome when there's a keyboard." Still, there's an unusual concentration of talent around these parts, and it's worth your attention, because at this rate it might just coalesce into something bigger.

So, to the corps that already includes André Balazs, Rachel Zamsteen, Quark, and Welcome, I'd like to introduce Columbia Fields. They played Farmington's Zen Bar this past Thursday night, and they kicked ass right out of the gates. Contrary to the typical bass-drums anchor, keyboardist Eric Heath glues the songs together alongside drummer Chris Bowes. Heath has a fluid, accessible style that doesn't over-rely on chunky block chords to make its point. He prefers extended melodies, and strikes a fine balance between the unexpected and the necessary.

Meanwhile, vocalist and guitarist Grayson Minney bears more than a passing resemblance to Jordan Catalano of My So-Called Life fame. The layered haircut, the eye-rolls during songs, the jumping up and down between verses to get psyched & The dude is 100 percent frontman. The overall effect is that Heath and Bowes demarcate the boundaries of the songs; Minney then comes in and frays the ends, burns the edges a little, creating a dynamic tension between the two simultaneous MOs. This also leaves a lot of room for bassist Jon Coates, whose monolithic six-stringer is matched by his assertive lead.

As far as Columbia Fields' songs, I had a hard time coming up with similar bands to compare them to. The boys actually sound that original. There was an occasional chord progression that smacked of Crash-era Dave Matthews, and at other moments there were glimmers of Counting Crows. But these influences were always filtered through a much younger sensibility that owes a bit to contemporary emo. They just released their debut disc, "When The Night Falls..."

When you hear the word pop music, you may think about a solo act performing over a backing track. Or maybe you think of extavagant choreography and bubbly melodies. These are both standard perceptions. However, pop music can reach further than that. In the case of Columbia Fields, pop music finds itself wrapped in a sound that seems to be a mix Coldplay, the Barenaked Ladies and Jason Mraz.When you hear the word pop music, you may think about a solo act performing over a backing track. Or maybe you think of extavagant choreography and bubbly melodies. These are both standard perceptions. However, pop music can reach further than that. In the case of Columbia Fields, pop music finds itself wrapped in a sound that seems to be a mix Coldplay, the Barenaked Ladies and Jason Mraz.

Columbia Fields gives you the best of every world with the catchy melodies of mainstream pop, the straight forward feel and songwriting of a singer/songwriter and the musicianship/complexity of a jam band. The group finds themselves somewhere between folk, pop and rock, evident in the driving acoustic guitars and intricate piano chord voicings in their song “My Chance

Having  released their latest album Bridging the Gap last year, the band is currently touring the northeast region of the US. They’ve had a song featured in a Ralph Lauren commercial and they’ve even shared the stage with such acts as Bon Jovi, Hinder, The Backstreet Boys, The Fray and Pete Francis. With a couple of Top 10 badges, they’re no slouches here on OurStage either. CF will be playing this year’s 45th Parallel Music Festival (headlined by Everclear), as well as a major festival in Germany. Check out their profile for more info.