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Northern Redemption – Abrams Brothers

For fans of popular folk rock bands such as the Lumineers and Mumford and Sons who are looking to get a little closer to the Americana and bluegrass worlds, the new album from the Abrams Brothers might be just the ticket. Northern Redemption, a collection of nine songs from Canadian brothers John and James Abrams, offers listeners an interesting mix of folk, pop, country, and Americana with bluegrass influences scattered throughout.

The majority of the songs on the album are originals written or cowritten by at least one of the brothers. The title track is one of the more bluegrass sounding on the album, and speaks of regrets as the singer wonders why he “failed to try and said goodbye.” While the liner notes state that James plays the violin on the album, it’s definitely fiddling on this track, as well as on the country-grass song Where I’m Bound. This tune (one of the most enjoyable on the album), with its drums, pedal steel, and tale of rambling, is a little reminiscent of J.D. Crowe and the New South’s more progressive work from the late 1970s.

The group channels the 1960s and ’70s on a few of the tunes. Window, a slow love song, has a hazy Beatles feel to it, while Thirteen, a cover courtesy of ’70s rock band Big Star, was actually inspired by cowriter Alex Chilton having seen the Beatles in concert. While You Sleep, a hopeful tune about moving on from sadness and the past, is folky and cheerful-sounding. Bluegrass and rock meet on Viva La Vida, a banjo-fueled cover of the 2008 Coldplay hit.

Much of the lyrics here are of the somewhat vague, reflective variety common to indie and emo music, with some nice images and even a reference to classic literature (The Great Gatsby) in closing track Planet of Seasons. It may not be what bluegrass fans are used to hearing, but this writing style fits the music well.

The Abrams Brothers include a wide variety of instruments on this album, ranging from the traditional acoustic bluegrass instruments to French horn, Clavinet, and electric guitars. John and James share lead vocal duty, with John contributing guitar, mandolin, keyboards, and percussion, and James playing violin, electric guitar, and percussion. They are joined by their cousin Elijah Abrams (bass), producer Chris Brown (organ, piano, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, synthesizers), Anton Fier (drums), Nick Piccininni and Brandon Green (banjo), and Burke Carroll (pedal steel), among several others. These musicians come together to create a unique blend of musical styles which isn’t quite bluegrass but which is enjoyable nonetheless.

For more information on the Abrams Brothers, visit their website at theabramsbrothers.com.

Northern Redemption can be purchased from a variety of online music retailers.

Whatever happened to The Abrams Brothers?

The Abrams Brothers were a sensation on the bluegrass festival scene, and at IBMA, in the first few years of the 21st century. They even made an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in 2005.

It was an irresistible concept… a trio of Canadian teens composed of brothers John and James Abrams on guitar and fiddle, along with their cousin Elijah on bass. In the mid-aughts they toured with Brandon Green on banjo, now on the faculty of the ETSU Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music program.

Over the years, their sound has become a bit more polished and commercial, adding a drummer, utilizing a more youth-oriented look, and even releasing a grassy cover of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida in 2009.

Here’s a video they did in ’09.

With a June 21 release set for their latest project, Northern Redemption, the Abrams look to be finishing the transition to grass-inflected pop/county music. Both the aforementioned Viva La Vida and Where I’m Bound from the video above are included on this nine-track album, which showcases a number of their original songs as well.

It was produced by fellow Canadian Chris Brown of Bourbon Tabernacle Choir and Bare Naked Ladies fame.

You can use the player below to listen to four of the songs from Northern Redemption.

Let’s hope that these young Abrams have success bringing their bluegrass-flavored sound to a wide market of young music consumers.

Abrams Brothers on CMT

Just yesterday we mentioned that The Abrams Brothers would have a live CD out this year, and we now see that they have a major studio project in the works as well.

This Canadian teen bluegrass trio has hooked up with a New York management company, Invasion Group, and the guys have a new look and sound that is more polished and progressive than what people may have seen from them on the festival circuit in recent years. They are keeping the basic bluegrass approach, and including drums for their live shows.

The new CD on the United For Opportunity label is expected in the latter part of 2009, titled Viva La Vida for their grassy remake of the Coldplay hit from last year which anchors the project. In addition to Abrams Brothers John on guitar and James on fiddle, cousin Eli Abrams is on bass, Nick Piccinini is on banjo, Chris Brown on keyboards, and Anton Fier on drums. All three Abramses share vocal duties.

They have released a single and music video for Viva La Vida in advance of the CD. The video, directed by Derek Horn, debuted this past weekend on CMT and is getting some attention from the folks at the network. The single is available now in iTunes.

Here’s a look at the video…

If they can get a fraction of the attention going to another group of handsome young brothers in the pop music world, 2009 could be a very good year for The Abrams Brothers.

Abrams Brothers on WWB

This evening (10/23) at 6:00 p.m., you can tune into Uncle Billy Dunbar’s show on WorldWideBluegrass.com and hear John Abrams talk with Billy about his work as one half of The Abrams Brothers. Along with his younger brother James, these Canadian teenagers have been performing at bluegrass shows for several years, and have two CDs as The Abrams Brothers on Mastershield Records.

They were recipients of the 2006-2007 Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin Award, awarded by Mark O’Connor on behalf of the Daniel Pearl Foundation. Pearl was a Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. Many readers may recall the shock and outrage that accompanied his murder, but may not have known that he was also an avid fan of bluegrass and old time music, and played the fiddle at DC-area jams when he was at home in the US.

The brothers were awarded a hand crafted violin made by noted maker Jonathan Cooper. Two young award recipients are chosen each year at the Mark O’Conner Strings Conference in California, and the recipients get the use of the violin for a year, during which they are charged to uphold the values of Daniel Pearl: excellence, peace and belief in humanity.

The Abrams Brothers toured Israel earlier this year, specifically to take the opportunity to play the Pearl violin in his homeland, and they shared the poignancy of this gesture in their account of the visit.

“This was especially meaningful, as we soon have to return the violin to allow another person to play it and take forward Daniel’s message of peace and harmony through music and the written word. This is a responsibility we have taken very seriously, so we were especially pleased to be able to travel to Israel to share the memory of Daniel and what he stood for with the festival attendees.”

To listen to the 24/7 WWB audio stream online, just visit their streaming page, and choose a connection speed and file type. Uncle Billy’s show begins at 6:00 p.m. (eastern).