Music
Press
"The Believers are brilliant"! - Bob Harris
Cut from the same cloth as icons like Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams and Kasey Chambers, Seattle's The Believers are steered by the duo of Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini. Their sophomore album, Crashyertown is a great mixture of roadside rock & roll and heartland country helped by an array of talents, including pedal steel man Dan Tyack of Asleep At The Wheel fame, producer/organist/drummer Steve Adamek and bassist Garey Shelton, plus Ranch Romance's Nova Devonie on accordion and the infamous Bad Livers frontman Danny Barnes on banjo. Launched by the full-bodied, Americana-laced rocker "Railroad Spikes & Shotgun Shells", the disc holds some of the richest arrangements the Alt-country genre's seen in a dawn's age. Songs like the winning title track -- emotively conveyed by Aspen -- and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" assert that notion, but even when they tone it down a bit -- like with the subdued "That's Alright" -- these tunes never lose hold of their harmony-laden strengths. When Frazzini takes lead, as she does about one-third of the time, it's clear she is well schooled in the classics (think Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and the aforementioned) as evidenced by weepers like "Get Started" and the shimmering, heartwrenching "Long Way To Heaven. Regardless of who's out in front, The Believers rarely falter on these eleven songs. - - D. Luerssen
“Quite simply this is one of the best albums I've heard, certainly this year and probably many others. The natural chemistry between Cynthia Frazzini's crystal clear voice and the rather more grizzled Craig Aspen is the catalyst for an album of magic”.
- Michael Mees
“This is just about as good as it gets in the modern country / Americana domain. The voices of Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini blend perfectly, a match made in heaven, indeed”. - Americana - U.K.
“The Believers new album, Crashyertown, straddles the last two cities in which they've lived. Produced by Steve Adamek in Everett, Wash., and mastered by Ray Kennedy in Nashville, Crashyertown has West Coast swagger without the amateurish arrangements that sometimes hamper alt-country bands, and it has Music City tightness without the lyrical or musical gloss.” - Michael McCall
“Crashyertown is great. Everything about it.” - Buddy Miller
“Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini – the restless spirits behind the Believers – display a sharp eye for life on the other side of the tracks, elevating their music out of the ordinary“. - Michael Berick
“Draw a line from Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris to Whiskeytown's Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary, extrapolate just a tad, and you'll find yerself in the vintage travel trailer of The Believers' Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini. Both singers are distinctive and memorable as they swap lead vocals, and when they harmonize, it's strictly goose-bump city”.
- Jim Musser
**** ( four stars) “A solid sophomore album from the next Americana/Country sensation”.
- Alan Cackett
“Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini have back porch singing down to an art". - Nate Lippens
Discography
"CRASHYERTOWN" 2005 bona fide recordings
"ROW" 2002 baptism-by-fire records
Photos
Bio
THE BELIEVERS Crashyertown was released in April 2005 to critical acclaim and spent
16 straight weeks in the top 20 of the Americana Music Associations radio airplay chart.
With their beloved pug dog Beanie Boy THE BELIEVERS hopped in their vintage Serro Scotty trailer with and began a North American tour that would span almost two years before taking a break. Taking them as far as Canada & Alaska, sharing the stage with artists like Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale.
More acclaim followed overseas when Crashyertown hit #1 on the Euro-Americana chart, getting heavy rotation on many European shows including the legendary Bob Harris Country Programme in the UK. A European tour followed with sold out venues and a British press buzz, making international stars of the relatively unknown duo of Craig Aspen & Cyd Frazzini.
THE BELIEVERS have since performed a much coveted slot on BBC television programme "The Blackstaff Sessions" , and are currently recording a follow up to Crashyertown. Catch them live this summer at the 18th annual Grass Roots Festival in Trumansburg, NY.
Links
