Skeletons in the Piano

Artist Information

Biography

Skeletons in the Piano was created by Elijah Hargrave on guitar and vocals, and Eric Donovan on the drums in 2007. In 2008, after many different musicians came and left, Jeff Ayers on electric violin and keyboards and Dustin Alexander on bass and vocals joined the band permanently. In June of 2011, Brad Thibodeau became the second guitarist, handling the lead work with expert skill. Influenced by old world music, blues, and rock and roll, their sound is dirty, haunted rock. Their fans are growing and are highly devoted, starting to incorporate their own creativity, with live art created and raffled off at shows, grainy silent movies being played and belly dancers joining the band onstage. Skeletons has filled The Putnam Den to over 400 capacity multiple times in their hometown of Saratoga Springs, but have also traveled up and down the east coast. They have played places like the Big Easy in Maine, to The Knitting Factory in NYC, to Cafe Da Vinci Bar in Florida opening up for national acts such as Phantogram, Dax Riggs, The Sword, Fishbone, The Black Angels, Paleface, Black Taxi, Primer 55, The Wombats, and Paranoid Social Club. Skeletons in the Piano is a force that has been playing skillfully and delivering their sound flawlessly for years. The fans are rabid, and their shows are naturally captivating as Skeletons in the Piano have created a movement that will continuously haunt you. In August of 2012, Skeletons in the Piano has signed a two record deal with Magnetic Eye Records. Stranger on a Damned Staircase was recorded and released in 2010 with the help of legendary hardcore and punk producer Don Fury. In 2011, for the release of the new EP, "Long Pig", Skeletons in the Piano held a charity event with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting The St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Skeletons in the Piano was named the Best Rock Band in the Capital Region by the Metroland Magazine Reader's Poll, and picked by the editors as the Best Alt-Rock Band in the Capital Region. “The whole band toes this line of blues/rock and terrifying madness - to create a musical experience you never had before.” Rock and Roll isn't dead, it's just been waiting for us.

Instrumentation

Eli Hargrave - Electric Guitar & Vocals
Eric Donovan - Drums
Dustin Alexander - Bass guitar and backing vocals
Jeff Ayers - Electric Violin and Keyboards
Brad Thibideau - Banjo, Electric Guitar
Katara Peterson - Cosmic Dancer/Percusion

Discography

Certain Slow Murder - LP 2007
Keys - EP 2008
Stranger on a Damned Staircase - LP 2010
Long Pig - EP 2011

Official Website

http://www.skeletonsinthepiano.com

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• MySpace
• youtube
• reverbnation
• Bone Blog

Audio

• 1. THE PRICE PUT ON YOU
  Listen  
• 2. MEMORY LANE NEEDS A GARBAGE MAN
  Listen  
• 3. DISPOSABLE TELEVISIONS, DISPOSABLE GUNS
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• 4. DIGGING UNDERNEATH THE HOUSE
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• 5. LONG PIG
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• 6. THE BLOOD BEYOND
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• 7. LOOSE KITES IN HARBOR
  Listen  
• 8. OH, ROSE
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• Spookshow
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• Victorian Dead
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Lyrics

• The Price Put on You
• Memory Lane Needs a Garbage Man
• Disposable Televisions, Disposable Guns
• Digging Underneath the House
• Long Pig
• The Blood Beyond
• Loose Kites in Harbor
• Oh, Rose
• Spookshow
• Victorian Dead

Video

Loose Kites in Harbor Official Video.mov

Photo Gallery

Press

• Album Review: Please Don't Die [+ Show ]
  

  Perhaps the most apt description I can give Please Don’t Die is it’s a modern distillation of compos...Perhaps the most apt description I can give Please Don’t Die is it’s a modern distillation of composer Richard Wagner’s self-termed “music dramas.” Fusing musical, poetic and dramatic elements into a sound both original and classical in nature, Skeletons in the Piano may belong to a genre all their own. Please Don’t Die certainly lends itself to the theater of the mind. Like Wagner’s operas, Please Don’t Die should be staged as well as heard.
  

• Please Don't Die Album Review [+ Show ]
  

  [With their new albumPlease Don’t Die] they have shredded all the rule books of what Rock and Roll i...[With their new albumPlease Don’t Die] they have shredded all the rule books of what Rock and Roll is supposed to be. Like mad scientists they have gathered parts from many genres and created a colossal monster of a sound unlike anything you’ve heard before that will cast its spell on you.

• Such a Warm Welcome Back to Skeletons in the Piano [+ Show ]
  

  Skeletons sounds like Lyle Lovett thrown down an abandoned well. It’s like Nick Cave if you lured h...Skeletons sounds like Lyle Lovett thrown down an abandoned well. It’s like Nick Cave if you lured him into the sunshine. It’s a little bit Jeff Buckley, and I’d never say that lightly. Elijah Hargrave’s vocal delivery and acute, keening, totally controlled waver toward the ends of his phrases calls the legend to mind, and so does the the guitars’ presentation. It’s a little bit The Killers. Ok, maybe imagine Jeff’s there, wailing on voice and guitar, in an almost rag-time acid jazz saloon band with half The Killers and some of The Violent Femmes after they sat around listening to Orgy for a couple of days. I’m still not doing this justice. Press play on this band immediately and please share the joy with your friends!

• 2011 Readers Poll
  

  #1 Best Local Capital Region Rock Band Metroland Reader's Poll 2011

• Editor's Best of the Capital Region 2011 [+ Show ]
  

  Best Alt-Rock Band Every performance by Saratoga’s Skeletons in the Piano—who’ve gigged steadily ...Best Alt-Rock Band
  
  Every performance by Saratoga’s Skeletons in the Piano—who’ve gigged steadily around the region the past year—is more of a happening than just a show, livened up by shimmering onstage belly dancers, grainy silent movie projections and artwork being created in real time. That spirit of vibrant creativity, penchant for ’90s alt, and a swirling blend of dark hippie-hardcore rock, is what sets the Skeletons apart from the rest of the brooding-indie-rock pack.
  

• Review of Stranger on a Damned Staircase by Skeletons in the Piano [+ Show ]
  

  Vocally, Elijah Hargrave was everything I expected. His voice was amazing. He captured the deep thro...Vocally, Elijah Hargrave was everything I expected. His voice was amazing. He captured the deep throaty sound of the late Jim Morrison along with the incredible range and style of Ian Gillian.

• Skeletons in the Piano Album Release [+ Show ]
  

  “Stranger on a Damned Staircase” by Skeletons in the Piano There’s the old “thinking man’s metal” c...“Stranger on a Damned Staircase” by Skeletons in the Piano There’s the old “thinking man’s metal” cliche, and then there’s this Saratoga Springs four-piece’s twisted vision of a second album. The songs go from fist-pumping hard rock one minute, spaced-out keyboard, violin and guitar soundscapes the next, all framed by frontman Elijah Hargrave’s massive vocal presence.

• Editors Best Of Capital Region 2010 [+ Show ]
  

  Best Throwback to 1992-Skeletons in the Piano For a few years in the early-’90s, as Nevermind was b...Best Throwback to 1992-Skeletons in the Piano
  For a few years in the early-’90s, as Nevermind was breaking grunge to mainstream audiences, it seemed like every type of music that had been popular up until that point crashed into each other. Bands like Alice in Chains and Faith No More brought ’70s doom and ’80s thrash together with pop and psychedelic sensibilities to help birth the term “alternative rock.” Saratoga’s Skeletons in the Piano sound like a product of that time, recalling those bands but also the Melvins and the Doors. Heavy, weird, and way cool.

Setlist

Originals:
The Waste
Memory Lane Needs a Grabage Man
Disposable Televisions, Disposable Guns
Victorian Dead
Scaracat
The Price Put on You
The Old Hound Dog
Lap of Light
We Are Even
Aiding the Cyclops
Spookshow
Celestrial Wax
Sarcoughogus
I’m Sleeping Still
Old Soapbox
Leave it Bleeding
Broken Ankles
Road Sign Song
Long Pig
Loose Kites in Harbor
Digging Underneath the House
The Blood Beyond
Oh, Rose
There's a Catcher's Mitt where your Head should Be

Covers:
Eleanor Rigby – The Beatles
You Got It – Roy Orbison

Basic Requirements

Calendar