Performing in the 2010 Green Show on Thursday, June 3; Tuesday, July 6; and Friday, July 16.
Ashland-based indie folk band.
Website: www.myspace.com/kitescrows
Kites & Crows is an indie folk music troupe based on the songwriting of Ashland, Oregon based artist Mysha Caruso. With the addition of multi-instrumentalist Jesse Baldwin, percussionist Bryan Helfrich (ONE HORSE SHY) and bassist Kabir Stanton, and Cellist Nancy Martin, they offer a lively delivery to the stories that the songs portray with lyrical imagery and emotion. Mysha met Jesse at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he works as a stagehand and Jesse is a lighting technician. The name kites & crows actually is inspired from the production of Coriolanus, where the recently banished battle hero is hiding out "...under the canopy...in the city of kites and crows..." since their conception under a year ago they have toured the North West and continue to offer a wild folk rock display of comfortable poetics and memorable melodies. Mysha and Jesse toured the NW as a duo in 2008 shortly after meeting and forming the duo that is the core of Kites & Crows. Upon their return they were joined by Max Hollenbeck on drums. The trio gained a steady following in the Rogue Valley. When percussionist Hollenbeck moved to Portland they were joined by Bryan Helfrich on drums and Kabir Stanton on Bass. Following summer performances of the 4 piece band, Kites & Crows found the Cellist Nancy Martin and are continuing to evolve their sound for 2010. Jesse and Mysha toured the NW in the fall of 2009, performing every night to enthusiastic audiences.
Kites and Crows on Community: Our community is the world of art, those who create it and those who are open to receive it in any given moment. Our home town is Ashland and it is the people of Ashland that first supported Kites & Crows during its conception. Looking deeper, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is at the heart of Kites & Crows as well, our engagement with the productions and the great diversity of people within it. The support circle broadens from there to the Northwest. While our music represents a culture that emerges from Americana roots and the independent music movement, we strive to connect with diverse communities using the universal language of music and performing arts.