Nice To Meet You: Frontier Ruckus
Frontier Ruckus bring down-home folk from way over in Orion Town.
With music telling of forgotten towns, churning rivers, and the relics of simpler days, Frontier Ruckus might lead you to believe they’d come from just about anywhere but Metro Detroit. Decades and miles from their roots, vocalist/guitarist Matthew Milia’s artfully interwoven lyrics tell stories that will put you in another time and place altogether.
Formed while still in high school by Milia and banjo player David Winston Jones, the duo began piecing together bits of bluegrass and folk songs that they had previously written independently. It wasn’t long before the now college-bound Milia recruited several new members from the Lansing area, where the band is now based. In 2007, the band’s first recording, I Am The Water You Are Pumping EP, was released and earned Frontier Ruckus some serious street cred and uplifting reviews from local critics. However, it wasn’t until the group’s mythological first LP, The Orion Songbook, in 2008, that the band started to get some real attention. Not long after the album’s release, Frontier Ruckus announced that they would be joining North Carolina-based label, Ramseur Records; home to many other great indie folk acts, such as: The Avett Brothers, Langhorne Slim and Bombadil.
The Orion Songbook follows the tales of the mythical Orion Town, a blurred reality of dusty memories, vintage photographs, unforgettable tragedy, and loves lost. Eerily reminiscent of groups like The Snake, The Cross, The Crown, Frontier Ruckus doesn’t merely create songs, they create stories as real as you or I.
Check out a few of Frontier Ruckus’ songs below and make sure to check out their website where you can download dozens of free demos. You can also pick up a few FREE unreleased tracks at Daytrotter where the band recently recorded.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Mar 08, 2010 @ 9:00 am