Adrian Fringe

...Adrian Fringe practices what songwriter Paul Hendershott calls "snobby pop." With a fuller sound than 2003's "Twisted Tree," Hendershott and lyricist Kamie Clarke have expanded the band's musical palette, but lost none of its intricacy.
No longer limited by the parameters of classical folk, Adrian Fringe explores shades of blues, bluegrass, pop, folk and a pinch of classical. With a fuller sound, the band also has re-recorded a pair of songs from "Twisted Tree" just for kicks.
That fuller sound is thanks to the addition of Robert Wayne on drums and Tom Schneider on bass guitar. They bring strong musical backgrounds to the band. Wayne has worked with groups and individuals including Three Dog Night, The Dave Mason Band, Dio and The Soul Dogs. Schneider’s musical experience stretches back to the violin in elementary school, some self-taught guitar and a blast of trumpet along the way.
Hendershott developed and performed with other groups, studied music at Pierce College but drifted away from the strings as other interests competed for his attention. Eventually, music called him back, and he began teaching guitar in Grants Pass in 1992. Clarke, who began as a student of Hendershott and now teaches, was convinced to merge her poetry with his music and Adrian Fringe was born in 2001.
"Gregorian Plants" is evidence the partnership is blooming. The growth between CDs shows the fruits of cultivating inventive ideas.
- Grants Pass Daily Courier

Paul Hendershott and Kamie Clarke are climbing through a world of musical branches on "Twisted Tree," their first CD as Adrian Fringe.
Listen closely and you'll hear the Grants Pass duo's musical influences -- Jethro Tull for him, Bob Dylan for her -- guiding them along their explorations. Buy, that's not to say the sound is derivative.
The lush acoustic guitar work of Hendershott and Clarke offers their take on Celtic, Russian, Traditional and coffeehouse folk styles on the 17-song, 58-minute collection of originals.
Hendershott, who has played guitar since he was 10, has taught others to play the instrument for the past 12 years in Grants Pass. That's how he met Clarke. She came to the Hendershott School of Guitar about three years ago with a background in classical piano.
"Twisted Tree" saw its genesis after the duo was invited to perform at a First Friday Art Night venue.
"She mesmerized the audience," Hendershott said. "I told her she needed to write some lyrics, and I would write some music."
Clarke's Lyrics paint dense, intricate word pictures that reveal new layers and meanings with repeated listenings. No June-moon-swoon-croon here.
"When I hear her lyrics, they inspired good music," Hendershott said, "some of the best music I've ever written."
"Actually, some of the music was already written and I wrote the lyrics to go with them," Clarke said.
The two-year project was recorded and mastered at Paul Kruger's Rogue Sound in Grants Pass.
Backing up Clarke and Hendershott are Wayne Switzer on percussion and drums, Cynthia Cournoyer on violin, and Kruger on bass.
After two sometimes-stressful years as the CD evolved, Hendershott and Clarke are looking forward to live performances. There are rumblings about a possible tour to help spread the world about Adrian Fringe.
So, who or what is Adrian Fringe?
"It's a name that I dreamt years and years ago," Hendershott said. "I just thought it was really, really cool."
It adds a bit of mystery to music that offers few easy answers as it delivers its payoffs.
- Grants Pass Daily Courier