The music of Red Orange Morning is intense, beautiful, heart-breaking, sad, fun, angry, joyous, and infectious. It is everything all at once. One boy. One girl. A solid backing cast. Poignant lyrics wrapped in pretty melodies and unpredictable harmonies. Soulful, dirty rhythms bring them home.
Red Orange Morning is a melodic, pop/rock band with male and female vocalists that harmonize and share lead accompanied by guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums. The smooth, unpredictable harmonies of Ryan Hampton and Cyndi Ramirez often shadow each other, their voices becoming as distinctively pretty and imperfect together as they are standing alone. Overall, the music is moody, sad, angry, passionate, and intense, and the end result is a rhythmic and melodic collage that blurs the line of what usually separates the singer-songwriter from the full band aesthetic. In this way, they manage to fuse their vocal and instrumental counterparts, along with their unique songwriting abilities, to create a beautiful, bittersweet balance that highlights an electric vitality rarely seen in today's music industry.
Based in Brooklyn, Red Orange Morning has played many NYC venues since its inception in late 2005, such as Pianos, Rockwood Music Hall, The Annex, CBGB's Gallery, Arlene's Grocery, The Lion's Den, Fat Baby, Pete's Candy Store, Ace of Clubs, and Sin-e. The band participates regularly in "Local Correspondents," a Brooklyn music showcase series for indie bands & songwriters, and are currently looking forward to their upcoming residency at Bar 4 in Brooklyn. They also have a strong presence in the Philadelphia music scene, having performed to sold-out crowds at World Café Live, The Khyber, Grape Street Pub, North Star Bar, and The Fire, to name a few. Compared to bands like the Pixies, Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, the Beach Boys, and Low, among others, the ROM's song "The Woman Lies," has been a part of Philadelphia WXPN's rotation. The band was also selected as one of ten songwriters to participate in The ASCAP Foundation Extended Songwriters Workshop, which "focuses on the discovery, development and education of a select, advanced group of songwriters." In late 2006, this unsigned duo decided to experiment with recording and producing a more musically expansive record with the help of drummers Don Ocava & Mark Hampton and bassist Charles McFadden. The four new songs (recorded at Atlantic Sound Studios with engineer Diko Shoturma) bring a dimension and depth that has only been hinted at in Ramirez and Hampton's earlier duo work. The passion, intensity, and beauty are still there, but the songs are given new colors and textures for the band to explore.
Red Orange Morning's present and future plans are to get their music into as many hands as possible through their continuing East Coast live shows, their online presence, and past recorded work. As of January 2008, the full band consists of Hampton and Ramirez along with Charles Book on drums and Gavin Kovite on bass guitar and backing vocals. They are currently compiling songs both old and new for their future live shows and are looking forward to documenting the songs on a full-length record later in 2008.
It was so good to see you the other night. I wish I could come Wednesday but I am going to be out of town until Thursday evening. I will definitely see you at the LC Fest thought!
So Good to hear from you!! I've been stuck in the land of wires and programs whilst recording a new record on a new system. It's been slowgoing but I think I've finally found the right new approach. I'll be in touch soon!
