Kelly Blanchard: Vocals, Guitar
Matteus Vaga: Cello, Vocals
Andrew Linnemann: Drums
Stacey Lester: Bass, Vocals
Jeffrey McCormack: Drums
Past Members and Contributors:
Chandra Cogburn: Electric and Upright Bass, Vocals
Peter Goddeyne: Cello
Peter Igel: Drums
Scott Gallagher: Drums
Stephen Palmer: Bass
Ed "Potatoes" O'Brien: Bass
Warren Taylor: Bass
Jeff Baars: Drums
Sally Rose: Vocals
Influences
Local music, The Who, U2, The Doors, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Built to Spill, Patti Smith, P.J. Harvey, Arcade Fire, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, R.E.M., Mark Lanegan, Jeff Buckley, Guided By Voices, The Microphones / Mt. Eerie, Morphine, Leonard Cohen, Dharma Bums, Young Fresh Fellows, Swell, Juno, The Sonics, Dead Moon, 54-40, Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, Jack Kerouac, Edward Abbey, Gary Snyder, Hermann Hesse, David James Duncan, T.K.V. Desikachar, J. Krishnamurti, Dr. Rammurti S. Mishra, Marie Svoboda, Joseph Campbell, family, friends, weather.
Sounds Like
What people have said: Radiohead, Modest Mouse, The Shins, Tim/Jeff Buckley, The Decemberists, U2, The Cure, Morphine, Galaxie 500, Luna, Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Doors, The Moody Blues, The Smiths. "Chamber Pop," "Symphonic Rock."
"Blue Star Creeper has a lot of promise; they're trying to find their own voice in this great sea of mediocrity." — Joe Ehrbar, Backfire Magazine
Blue Star Creeper is a band from Seattle, Washington formed in 2001. We blend elements of rock music with strings and a strong vocal presence. The sound is formed around lyrically focused original songs, played and sung from the heart where a folk ballad can explode into epic rock. We are on MySpace to meet all aspect of musically minded people, and to share our creative endeavors with a large community.
The band has played recent shows at The Triple Door MQ Lounge, The Tonic Lounge (Portland), The Comet, The Skylark Club and The Mars Bar. We've also played Chop Suey, The High Dive, The Crocodile Cafe (R.I.P.), Nectar Lounge and many others in the past. Our 4 song CD "Demos from Day at the Beach" landed at 8 on the local music charts at the University of Washington's Rainy Dawg Radio among the likes of the Shins, Neko Case and Menomena. Blue Star Creeper is in the process of recording it's next album and is working on setting up more regional shows in the Northwest and beyond.
We are in the process of recording our new 11 song concept album, a format that owes some inspiration to classics like Quadrophenia and The Wall, at Infinite Instant Studios with Steve Coy. The theme is centered around a personal mythology about a journey to a place of epic natural beauty. It's about relationships and interrelationship of all kinds: physical, chemical, spiritual, personal, environmental, and societal. Ultimately the journey leads inward toward yourself. The finished process will inculde accompanying projected visuals also in the works.
Seattle musician Kelly Blanchard sings and plays guitar in Blue Star Creeper. Kelly has been performing and recording in the Northwest since 1990, playing in previous projects such as The Somethings, Way Beyond, Yab Yum, The Meltdowns and Coriander (now Key Note Speaker). He has also operated Cleopatra Park Audio Recording since 1995 and holds a certificate in sound engineering from The University of Washington. As audio engineer for the cable access TV show "29 Live" and "the Small Stage" between '95 and 2001, he worked with hundreds of local musicians and was also a frequent performer.
Drummer Andrew Linnemann, a New Jesey native via the University of Vermont, was also in Yab Yum with Kelly between 1994 and 1996. Around that time he drummed in Bone Cellar and Happy Stars with Dave Nothing and members of The Delusions, recording three full length albums. Andrew joined Blue Star Creeper in 2001 upon relocating back to Seattle.
Cellist Matteus Vaga has a music degree from West Chester University, Pennsylvania and while trained classically and in jazz, he has a passion for rock music. He has played locally in bands Samurai Bow, The Flames of Hell and Dermis. He also plays Finnish folk music, conducts a choir, and does gigs as a karaoke host in local bars. Matteus is available for session work if your projects needs cello parts.
Holding down the low end on bass guitar is Seattle native Stacey Lester, most recently from the band Fey Ray, and before that The Visitors, and Fierce Logic. Our relationship with Stacey dates back to the early '90's when Kelly's band Way Beyond and Stacey's band Colorblind shared a rehearsal space in downtown Seattle, as well as crossing paths playing bills together in previous bands Yab Yum and the Visitors.
Blue Star Creeper have released a 9 song self produced CD entitled "Years Go By" on their own label Hammer & Anvil Records. It is available at shows or exclusively from whalebonepro.com. Our debut 5 song EP "Laurentia Fluviatilis" is also available at whalebonepro.com.
Believe it or not, it's going quite well - I'm still very much "learning as I go" - but all signs point to "yes". I'm doin' it and it sounds good. Warning, "horn-tooting" to follow: if everybody and their gawddamn brother already didn't have a studio in this town - I would consider making this my life's work *sigh*. Lastly, heading down to Pacific Pro to pick up some bits -n pieces tomorrow (like a rack so my shit doesn't hit the floor when people trip over cords - duh). Just because I'm learning, doesn't mean that I no longer consider myself a complete IDIOT!
Kelly it was an absolute honor to play with you guys. Sorry for the delayed comment. We had a blast and you guys were tight and flawless....wish I could say the same for us. False starts on 7 out of 8 songs anyone?!? We must do it again!
