recorders, pianos, harmonicas, tambourines, accordians, street music, drum circles, shakers, guitars of all shapes and sizes, voices and hearts and silence and beats and clapping hands.
Sounds Like
"Ayla and Davyd Nereo straddle Americana and indie, practicing contemporary "outsider" folk at its best: modest, smart, and enduringly satisfying."
"The music that they make together - is much like that icy stream flowing down from spots on a mountain that people don't get to very often. They plume out of instruments that sound as if they've had countless hands touch them over their many decades - love them and treat them in their own ways, all of them. It can be spooked and startled and yet it's not precious at all, nature talking its own jive."
"One sibling’s voice never leaves the other without harmony for long, and their blend sounds natural enough to be a joint birthright... winding folk and prosodic storytelling."
~ Paste Magazine ("Mismanaged Skies" also featured on the February Paste Sampler)
" Within such a controlled space, the voices of siblings Ayla and Davyd Nereo bounce like those of rare conservatory birds against the walls and through the vacuum tubes. It is sweet folk music."
"Intuitive use of sound and space to craft full, strong melodies... incorporating a variety of pop and rock influences that further set them apart from a more traditional folk setup... a surprisingly unified and consistent sound from a band with two individual songwriters."
"Dreamy, poignant renderings of life's breathless moments... delicate melodies in Nick Drake-like guitar weavings. Fans of Devendra Banhart and Jolie Holland will find this friendly territory, but they'll wish they sounded more like this. If hummingbirds made music, this is what they'd sound like."
~ Richard Rice, San Francisco Free Folk Festival
"Together the brother and sister duo explored different sounds, some similar to the those of Coco Rosie, The Delgados, and others sounding more like Mates of State, minus the drums... Nothing overwhelmed anything, and they were perfectly musically joined, and were such a divine honor to the notion of simplicity. It can be so much more powerful than expected."
Beatbeat Whisper was Episode 99 for The Bay Bridged show, where we played a few songs, including "Swell & Still" and "I Think It Might Rain," and chatted with Christian and Ben
Pacific Noise asked us to come by for a set of songs and interview, and to talk about the Digital Cloud compilation -- you can watch the show here:
"Ayla and Davyd Nereo straddle Americana and indie, practicing contemporary 'outsider' folk at its best: modest, smart, and enduringly satisfying." - East Bay Express
Begun among the oak trees and upright pianos of Sonoma County, Beatbeat Whisper is the project of siblings Davyd and Ayla Nereo, now based in Oakland, California. The two began making music as wee ones; Ayla notated piano chords in her own music language, and Davyd recorded experimental punk-folk into a computer. After schooling at home for many years, they entered high school, learned the system, went to college, learned specialization, and eight years later began to un-school themselves properlay again. By the last year of college Ayla had finished her first album Play Me A Time, and Davyd was working on his second album The Things We Know How To Love. One fateful rainy night they spontaneously co-wrote the song, "Try not to let the rain in your boots, child," which was chosen two months later to be on the compilation Stanford Soundtrack 2006. Ayla and Davyd realized they'd have to make more songs to be able to play a show for the release. So that was the beginning of Beatbeat Whisper.
Since that first show, their songs have been in two films, many more compilations (including the 2007 Stanford Soundtrack), and across the airwaves and Top 10 lists of KUSP, KZSU, KZSC, KDVS "Cool As Folk," , KCSB, KCPR, WUML, WSCA and more. Wonder Continental was included in several "Top 50 albums of 2008" lists, and Beatbeat Whisper has been featured on podcasts and articles from Daytrotter, The Bay Bridged, East Bay Express, Pacific Noise, and among the pages (and February CD sampler) of Paste Magazine. Each an outstanding songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, their voices weave together to create what's been called "dreamy, poignant renderings of life's breathless moments." Listen yourself and see what you feel.
Beatbeat Whisper has released two full-length albums, Beatbeat Whisper (2007) and Wonder Continental (2008). Current projects include two music videos for Wonder Continental, launching the Dapper Bay Bootlegs performance series, and producing a third full-length album.
---> Look for Beatbeat Whisper's feature in the February 2009 issue of Paste magazine, along with their song "Mismanaged Skies" on the sampler.
"Nature talking its own jive." – Daytrotter
"Intuitive use of sound and space to craft full, strong melodies... incorporating a variety of pop and rock influences that further set them apart" – The Bay Bridged
"Their blend sounds natural enough to be a joint birthright... winding folk and prosodic storytelling." – Paste Magazine
Hey, It's Dave Clupper. If I haven't told you thank you for your support yet, thank you! Check out the video below for a live clip shot from Downtown Tulsa with my daughter Ellen. Also, stop by my profile and enjoy a majority of my new record "Letting Go" released earlier this month. If you want to own a copy, look for the Buy Now Button on my profile or to just own a track, visit iTunes by clicking here. Talk soon!
It breaks my heart I missed the Seattle and Oly show...come back soon! I literally looked at the clock at opening time on the day of both shows and my heart broke a little. ;)
After seeing two shows in Oregon, I've finally had a chance to really listen to your latest efforts and I must say that it makes me mind wander through memories of beautiful hikes in all seasons. Like a stream thawing at times, rays beaming down. Beautiful stuff. I've decided to pick up the first album now. That Bloodbank concert has to rank as one of my most memorable in quite some time. Thank you for playing in my neck of the woods. All the best to you!
what a treat to see you play this week! i've had a different song of yours in my head every day this week... hope to see you in the bay area this summer...
Wanna do an afterhours acoustic jam at my place? You are also more than welcome to crash here. I have an extra bed and couches, and plenty of floor space.
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