Dots Not Feathers
St. Louis, Missouri, United States | SELF
Music
Press
Review of our show at the Firebird with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Elsinore - KDHX
Article about DNF after winning Best New Artist in the 2011 Riverfront Times Music Awards - Riverfront Times
Only four installments in, Jarred Gastreich's Show Me Shows video series is quickly becoming a must-see for St. Louis music fans. You can check KDHX for archives that include live performances from Ian Fisher, Denver's Fiction is Fun and Phantom Limb. And we are happy today to point you in the direction of number four: Dots Not Feathers, the five-piece folk band coming into its own in a big way. Recipients of the Best New Band award in this year's RFT Music Awards, DNF just finished recording a new EP called Mountain. Below, watch the Show Me Show performance of the title track, shot in the band's house in the Hill neighborhood. Gastreich is the videographer and R&R Music Labs handles sound. Your next chance to catch Dots Not Feathers live is at the Halo Bar on November 16th. - Riverfront Times
Stephen Baier, Katy Durrwachter, Ryan Myers, Ravi Raghuram, Jonathan Goldstein
Having followed this band since its creation, we can say with confidence that Dots Not Feathers have grown into their sound. The five-piece band layers harmonies on top of it all, placing a heavy emphasis on jazz progressions with a more folk melody. The intimate lyrics of “Come Back to Bed” and “Washington” show the maturity in Stephen Baier’s songwriting and an understanding of how lyrics affect tone. - Paste Magazine
Dots Not Feathers possesses as strong a four-part harmony as any band in St. Louis -- better than most anywhere, really. And there's more: Plenty of chops, a wide-ranging influence from gospel to the litany of brainy folkies out there to jazz. You can even hear some of its members old guitar-rock instincts coming through. Last year's Come Back To Bed is charming and revealed a nimble band with some promise. The early returns on the new stuff -- the two track Mountain EP thus far -- are a different matter entirely: The ensemble can now make sudden and dynamic turns, its players are as assured as professionals and its lyrics precise and evocative.
--Kiernan Maletsky - Riverfront Times
A writeup about the titular track of our last EP "Come Back to Bed" (2011) - Speakers in Code
Article after our nomination for Best New Artist in the 2011 Riverfront Times Music Awards - Riverfront Times
Highlights of the 2011 Riverfront Times Showcase in which DNF was chosen as one of the highlights of the night - Riverfront Times
A playlist chosen by DNF - Speakers in Code
Review of our 2011 EP "Come Back to Bed" - Music of the Hour
I Went To A Show previews the Dots Not Feathers/Company of Thieves show. - I Went To A Show
Speakers in Code writeup of Dots Not Feathers - Speakers in Code
Discography
A Thousand Novels (November 2010)
Come Back to Bed (June 2011)
The Mountain EP (January 2012)
The Readiness Is All (May 2013)
Photos
Bio
What the critics are saying:
"Having followed this band since its creation, we can say with confidence that Dots Not Feathers have grown into their sound. The five-piece band layers harmonies on top of it all, placing a heavy emphasis on jazz progressions with a more folk melody. The intimate lyrics of “Come Back to Bed” and “Washington” show the maturity in Stephen Baier’s songwriting and an understanding of how lyrics affect tone."-Clint Alwahab (Paste Magazine) "10 Missouri Bands You Should Listen to Now"
"Dots Not Feathers takes the bookish side of indie-folk collectivism seriously but not severely. At times the four singers harmonize as if the lights have dimmed on a high school theater and the climax to the musical has arrived. Those harmonies can soar and dip sweetly, even as the heavy fuzz and bonk of a synth suggest it has spent as much time on vintage video games as reading up on its Emily Dickinson. Even playing a post-twilight set on a patio, the sound was always sunny and daydreamy, with nonchalant melodies and rhythms as gentle as an afternoon stroll through Tower Grove Park. What distinguishes Dots Not Feathers is the strength of the group's individual voices. Stephen Baier, Katy Durrwachter, Ryan Myers and Ravi Raghuram all sing quite distinctly and yet harmonize like the close friends they've become."-Roy Kasten, Riverfront Times & KDHX
"...Dots Not Feathers' proclivity and absolute giftedness for lavish and expansive harmonies is what sets this group apart. Stephen Baier's lead vocals are reminiscent of an early Ben Folds, and Katy Durrwachter, the lone female of the group, shines. Her voice rises above her male counterparts' like steam from a simmering pot. The four members of the band collectively play an insane assortment of instruments: guitar, bass, vox, piano, ukelele, bells, tambourine, banjo, synth... But, in my humble opinion, the melding of voices take their self-dubbed indie-folk sound to new heights, more specifically, straight to the choir loft in any given cathedral. Those harmonies are almost like a religious experience. Yeah, I said it."
-Katie Guymon, Speakers in Code
"Whether in an intimate coffee house in St. Charles, where everyone is attentive and enjoying themselves, versus the rock venues of 2 or 300 plus in our fair city, Dots Not Feathers always stands out."-Tawaine Noah (Union Tree Review), writing for KDHX
"In the shambolic forest of beards and flannel that pervades non-traditional folk music, DNF is the young suitor who comes to the Harvest Festival in a dapper tailored suit, shorn locks, and straight-razored with a carnation pinned to its lapel. This is handsome music, and they’re not afraid to show it. I tend to gravitate toward bands who drench their Americana in a dense wash of sadness, alcohol, and experimentation. There are no punk roots betraying the dye here- this is hair of a different color. A meticulous sense of craft illuminates the EP which brings to mind, of all bands, Sugar-era Aloha. They also share the aforementioned band’s love for jazz and unorthodox instrumentation, utilizing a synthesizer for the low-end when most bands of this certain milieu would’ve gone for an upright bass."-Justin Price, Music of the Hour
Winner of the 2011 Riverfront Times Music Award for Best New Artist/Band
Dots Not Feathers has shared the stage with S. Carey, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea, Cotton Jones, Elsinore, Company of Thieves and will soon a part of Middle of the Map Fest in Kansas City alongside Grizzly Bear, The Joy Formidable, Deerhoof, Tennis, and Jeff the Brotherhood.
Links
