Awry

By Pat Garafalo

The Sussex county-based band Awry began as an online advertisement, when guitarist Seth Fleishman placed a few lines of text on the Internet, trying to find the perfect singer to fit his alt-country sound.

"I put out an ad for a female singer with a country vibe," Fleishman said. "I had ads out there over a span of about a year."

Finally, Fleishman's digital query paid off, and he received a reply from Melissa Murray, who sent him some song clips that she had recorded. The two began rehearsing, just an acoustic guitar and a voice.

"We started messing with some tunes and what not, and it seemed to work, " said Murray.

"Pretty quick we had about 10 of our own songs," added Fleishman.

In the second half of 2006 Fleishman and Murray were joined by bassist Pete Lister and drummer Elliot Rubinich, forming Awry's core. At various times, the band has also shared the stage with Bob Walker on pedal steel guitar, Buck Dilly on steel guitars, and Jeremy Stevens on fiddle.

"We've got the core guys and then whoever else we mish-mosh in there," said Murray.

Awry will be featured at the Evolve festival Sept. 8 and 9. On Sept. 15, the band will release its self-produced, self-titled debut CD, which was recorded at Mixolydian Studioes in Lafayette.

That night, the band will also have a CD release party at the Fountain House in Fredon. The album, produced by Fleishman and Murray, features 13 of the band's original tunes, combining rock and Americana with a definite country edge.

"Everything that I've always liked has a touch of country," said Fleishman. "To me it's a big part of rock and roll. If it's not there, something's missing."

Murray agreed, and added that she had trouble finding musicians in New York that could handle her songs "because they have so much twang to them."

"On my earlier recordings, it was rock guys trying to play country," she said, while imitating someone struggling with a guitar part.

However, Lister noted that there was never any grand decision to integrate a country sound.

"It wasn't really our intention to make it that way," he said. "We write songs, ones that we think people will like."

"We write whatever comes out," Murray said. "It is what it is."

Lyrics and hooks have a way of popping into Murray's head at all hours of the day, and she has taken to recording clips on her phone that she later plays back for Fleishman.

"We got into a pretty good groove, where I can finish what she started," said Fleishman.

"They're always kind of quirky, said Murray, "because I'm a vocalist. Sometimes Seth is like 'what is this?What am I supposed to do with this?'"

And even though its album has not yet been released, Awry has continued to write new songs.

"We've got so much new material, it's overwhelming," said Lister.

"We have two more albums worth of stuff," added Murray. "It was like, do we go back (to the studio)?"

While producing its album, Awry has also been performing across Sussex County, including gigs at the Stanhope House, Krogh's, and the Fountain House. The band also played at the Apple Blossom Music Festival in Warwick, NY. Murray appreciates that the band has found an area where its sound fits in.

"It's not like this in other places in the state," noted Murray. "You can't waltz into bars and have people picking on a banjo."

When they're not on stage, the members of Awry find various ways to pay the bills. Fleishman teaches guitar. Lister works as a banquet waiter.

Murray, meanwhile, is in a union and operates heavy machinery, defying all stereotypes associated with a petite female singer.

"I run heavy equipment. I'm on a dirt roller, doing my thing," she said. "I make dirt flat."

Murray also works as a bartender, and she said that her goal for the next 10 years is to own a bar, a house, and to have her name on a major record contract. Fleishman also noted that he hopes the band gets signed in the near future.

"I would like to find someone to help us," he said. "Hopefully the album is impressive as far as a whole project."

A record contract would help the group stay true to Fleishman's original vision of a band that relies solely on original music.

"I wanted this band to be a show horse, not a mule, gutting out three sets a night," he said. "This band was going to be about playing our own material. We've got song after song that people like. I think that's really what it comes down to. "

"There's so much time and experience that's gone into the music," LIster said. "I've been in a lot of bands, and this band has definitely been the most serious and the most successful. "

"We're ready to roll now," Murray added. "People seem to be digging what we're doing." - New Jersey Herald