Recliners bring bluegrass to First Fridays This ain't no hillbilly jug band - complex harmonies abound.


June 9, 2008 · Updated 3:44 PM 

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"Their name might suggest repose, but the Recliners will test the floor joists of Island Center Hall April 6 with the rollicking, foot-stomping sound that is the bluegrass hallmark.Ranging in age from 16-45, and with day jobs that range from boat broker to bio-tech consultant, the new band perhaps more closely resembles the name they nearly adopted, the Eclectics.The group's rehearsal space - Ray Cummings' high-tech home office above his garage, pristine carpet and unblemished white walls at odds with the down-home bluegrass image - serves to underscore the band's eclectic nature. We came to this from totally different musical backgrounds, Cummings, one of the groups original members said, from blues, rock and roll, jazz and classical music. The core of the group - banjo player Mark Klein, mandolin player Joe Van Dyke, and guitarists Roby Gilbert and Cummings - have been together for three years, later joined by Adam Slonaker on bass, Chris Marshall on fiddle and Mike Grigoni on dobro. The Recliners have only recently coalesced enough to perform publicly, however.I've played music all my life, but I'm fairly recent to bluegrass, Cummings said. Mark kept handing us bluegrass tunes, though. The more bluegrass we learned, the more we liked it.Cummings defines bluegrass as simplicity overlaid with complexity. Often played with only three chords, the basic foundation serves to support complex instrumental or vocal solos.As we've gotten to know each others' voices, the vocals have gotten stronger, Cummings said. The Recliners prove the point, intersecting the driving rhythm of Somebody Robbed the Glendale Train with seamlessly blended, four-part harmony. Six feet pound out the rhythm, shaking the office floor so that Cummings' neat stacks of files clear the desk with each stomp, and the cluster of propped-up photographs jump in unison, as if the framed children were keeping time, too.The sound would more than fill the small office without amplification, but there are ten mikes for the six musicians.Band members must duck and weave through the thicket of mikes to move from one side of the room to the other.There are few breaks in the rehearsal, which moves along at the same compelling rhythm as the music. No single performer seems to be the driving force, however. They are equally direct about such pertinent matters as being in tune and in time. Cummings claims that the group is egalitarian, noting that four of them share the lead vocals, and compose music. The Recliners' repertoire includes original compositions as well as old-time fiddle tunes. The dream, if there is a dream, is that we each write a few songs that get recorded, Cummings said. We don't think we're going to Nashville or anything.Except maybe Mike - but he's young.Bluegrass bands the Recliners and Rocking Arrow share the stage for Bainbridge Island Park and Recreation District's First Fridays at Island Center Hall 7:30 p.m. April 6. Information: 842-2306. "

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