Strange Vine
Fresno, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | SELF
Music
Press
It's not always easy to recognize when a band is on the edge of something great. Sometimes a single hit song is all it takes to catapult a band to fame, taking them from indie to mainstream overnight. Other times, it takes years and years of climbing and pushing forward. The band builds a track record -- a bruised and bloodied trail of determination, a ladder of moments on which each rung represents another step forward -- one that proves they stayed true to their sound and paid tribute to no trend.
In the last year and a half, Strange Vine has embodied that faithful climb. Hailing from Fresno, they've defied geographical limitations and headlined Noise Pop, played at AT&T Park, topped the marquee at Great American Music Hall and driven cross-country to play single shows, all before releasing a full-length album. They fought their way to recognition, earning respect and paving the way to each of their achievements, including their latest: On Sunday, June 21, Strange Vine will play their first show at the legendary Fillmore, along with beloved English guitarist Robin Trower.
Ahead of the momentous gig, I spoke with Strange Vine's Ian Blesse and Toby Cordova about their roots, their home-base in Fresno, and (finally) their upcoming debut album. Get to know these guys before they blow up, and if you're in San Francisco on Sunday night, don't even think of missing their set at the Fillmore.
The Bay Bridged: Strange Vine began as a side project when you guys were playing together in The Corby Yates Band. Was there a distinct moment, maybe a show or a practice, in which you decided to focus your attention on the band full-time?
Strange Vine: We grew up playing with Corby and it felt like a dream come true to become his rhythm section. He needed some time off from live shows so the two of us just kept getting together and practicing. At one point I set up a Fender Rhodes next to the drums and ran it through a bass amp to add some low end to the riffs we had been working on. It seemed to open up a whole new world of possibilities for us and things grew from there.
TBB: Blues-tinged duos are almost always compared to The Black Keys and The White Stripes. Do you mind such comparisons?
SV: Not at all, but I feel like we're probably a lot closer to Harry Dunne & Lloyd Christmas. Especially the scene where they drive all night in the wrong direction.
TBB: You guys have a strong advantage in that you are both true vocalists. Do you each sing the songs you write or do you choose depending on the vibe of the song?
SV: For the most part we write together. One of us will bring in a melody, verse, riff or just a cool tone and we just play around with everything until some sort of structure forms. If someone comes up with a vocal part that we like we just go with it.
TBB: Among the blues rock and roll elements, theres an undeniably earthy feel to your music. Is that your Sierra Nevada roots coming out?
SV: We grew up jamming for hours on end in the Sierra Nevada mountains and playing generator parties in the middle of nowhere. It's a magical, inspiring place and a big part of who we are.
TBB: When people talk about California bands, they tend to zone in on San Francisco and Los Angeles and the difference between the two. But there is so much going on in between. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being in a band from Fresno?
SV: Fresno can be tough for a band. There's no management companies. No Booking Agencies. No publicists or licensing companies. No record labels. Anyone doing that kind of stuff here didn't start as an intern for an established company, they had to work hard to make something from nothing. There's a lot of exciting things happening in Fresno and so many good people. I think touring bands are often surprised by how rad the crowds and shows can be here.
TBB: Many people in San Francisco mistake you for a local band because you play here so often. And even the ones who know you're from Fresno seem to have embraced you as locals. When you guys started off in 2009, did you make an intentional effort to be involved in the Bay Area music community?
SV: San Francisco has such a rich musical history and so many amazing venues. There's something undeniably special about the city and I think we've always been drawn to that. Having the pleasure of playing with tons of great bands and making lots of close friends there, San Francisco feels like a second home.
TBB: From my point of view, Strange Vine has been making a steady rise over the last few years with major cornerstone moments in San Francisco, like headlining Noise Pop, playing at AT&T Park and headlining Great American Music Hall. Now you're about to play the most iconic venue in the city, The Fillmore, opening for Robin Trower. How did this come about?
SV: We've been working really hard for a long time and tend to chase every opportunity we can. Multiple times we've driven to Austin or even the East Coast for one show in the hopes that it would turn into something more. Things have been slowly but steadily building and I feel like some of the work we put in is starting to pay off. So many people have helped us along the way and it really means the world to us.
TBB: You only have one record out, a 7-song EP that's nearly five years old. Do you have plans to record or release music anytime soon?
SV: Yes! We're very close to finishing our first full-length album. We've been recording to a 1 inch 8 track tape machine in the East Bay with Nino Moschella. There's a deep musical connection that happens when you record live to tape and we can't wait to share what we've been working on! - The Bay Bridged
For year two of Visalia’s Tastemakers Festival, organizers loaded the bill with local heavy hitters. Of the seven acts performing only one (headliners Wand) is touring. The rest are working bands from the area (Fresno and Visalia, roughly).
At the top of that list is the ever popular blues-rock duo Strange Vine.
“They are one of the hardest working bands in the Central Valley,” says Aaron Gomes, who serves as a sort of talent scout for the festival.
That hustle has earned Strange Vine stage-time with acts like Cage The Elephant, Band Of Skulls, The Growlers, Lord Huron, B.B. King, Kurt Vile and Robin Trower (with whom the duo recently had a series of recent opening gigs).
While the duo (drummer Ian Blesse and guitarist Toby Cordova) has been absent from the local clubs for awhile, they’ve kept busy. I emailed Blesse in advance of the festival to get an update.
We haven’t heard much from Strange Vine lately. What have you been up to?
We’re trying to focus most of our energy on finishing our first full-length record. So we’ve slowed down on live shows as of late. We’ll be gearing up for a lot of stuff when the album is done.
On that point (and because people want to know) when can we expect the album?
That’s a good question. We’re not willing to cut any corners and we’ve been so busy with playing shows that it’s taking what seems like forever to get the record done. We’re so close at this point, though.
You guys have had some really cool gigs (multiple shows with Robin Trower, a headlining spot at American Music Hall, a second gig at AT&T Park). Are you guys loving life right now or what?
I feel like we’re always working toward the next show/event/recording session. Sometimes we forget to slow down and enjoy what’s going on. There have been a few times though, like being on stage at The Fillmore, where we looked at each other like “We’re playing The Fillmore!!”
You guys seem to have blown up in the San Francisco.
The Bay Area has been really good to us. We’ve made a ton of friends, met amazing bands and had some of our most memorable shows there. It’s an incredible city.
OK, what can people expect from Strange Vine at the Tastemakers festival?
It’ll be our first show in Central California in a while and its with some of our favorite local bands. It should be a fun one. - FRESNOBEEHIVE
Descending from the Sierra Nevada mountains and now repping Fresno hard as granite, the blistering blues duo Strange Vine aren’t just lighting the central valley up with their stomping sound, the band is exploding right now after a national tour that has brought them widespread attention. Think the Black Keys if they were willing to get a little mud on their boot, or Jack White under a heavy flannel and barking at the moon. Strange Vine is the combination of Ian Blesse on drums and Rhodes piano, and guitarist Toby Cordova, armed with finger slides and cigar box six strings. Individually, each would be a powerhouse unto himself, but together, Strange Vine is an all out rollicking, crowd-pleasing force of nature.
Originally bonding over an obsession about obscure blues music, the two spared no time in building up an impressive array of heavy and swampy arrangements that harken back to simpler times, while gathering some trippy psychedelic elements into their largely organic Americana rock and Delta approved blues. This combination of inspired ingredients transforms Strange Vine’s analogue sound into something fresh and vibrant in its electric fury.
Even so, with all of this racous music there’s still the fact that you’ve got to get people to hear it. Not a problem for Strange Vine, who have spent the better part of the past two years on the road, gear packed tight in a single car, and traversing up and down the west coast, over the plains, to Nashville and beyond. Sharing the stage with legends like BB King and contemporaries like Kurt Vile, Strange Vine are only adding to their unstoppable momentum and leaving in their wake an equally obsessed fan base. While the we wait for an official release from Strange Vine, they make their Noise Pop headlining debut and return to the Bottom of the Hill for a truly massive night. ~ CHARLES SWANSON (Noise Pop) - Charles Swanson (Noise Pop)
There was a moment at the recent Rock at the Top battle of the bands -- an unprecedented $15,000 band battle at Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino -- where the guy running the sound turned to the judges table and said, "Why don't these guys have a recording contract?"
He was talking about Strange Vine, a local rock duo who were crowned the winners 15 minutes later.
That victory and that mind-blown reaction were both a testament to what anybody who follows the music scene in town closely already knows: Strange Vine is one of -- if not the -- best band in Fresno right now. And that's why this next statement is also true: Strange Vine should open for The Black Keys at Save Mart Center on Oct. 1.
Stylistically, Strange Vine falls right in line with The Black Keys -- two guys with a classic rock-sounding, blues-informed rock sound steeped in Led Zeppelin lore. It's the kind of music a 25-year-old kid can listen to right alongside a 55-year-old.
Ian Blesse plays drums, organ and guitar and sings in the band. Singer/guitarist Toby Cordova has a great voice and a slew of guitars. It's enough for Strange Vine to land opening gigs for Band of Skulls in Bakersfield next week and B.B. King in Visalia in November.
But when someone asks me about Strange Vine, my standard answer isn't B.B. King. It's this: "Do you like The Black Keys? If so, you'll like Strange Vine."
Of course, me thinking that Strange Vine should open for The Black Keys and it actually coming true are two very different things. But instead of just wishing it, one fan did something about it.
Nick Chandler created the Facebook page, "Petition for Strange Vine to Open for The Black Keys." It's gotten 180 "likes" in about a week, but needs 100 times that to capture attention.
On the page, it says, 'Please 'LIKE' this page and let's help our favorite local band share a stage with one of their greatest musical influences ... The Black Keys."
So that's one way to help. Another would be to share your interest with the show's promoter, Another Planet Entertainment. Go to their website or Facebook page and tell them that you'd buy a ticket if Strange Vine got to open for The Black Keys. Maybe the almighty dollar will have power, you know.
If this doesn't work? At least you helped promote a local band that deserves every ounce of love it can get from its often stingy hometown.
If you've reached this point in the column and want to see what the Strange Vine hype is all about, go see the band Saturday night at Audie's Olympic, 1426 N. Van Ness Ave. It's a tour kick-off show before the band heads to Arizona, Texas, Nashville and New York. Tickets cost $6, and it starts at 8:30 p.m.
Chances are you'll leave a Strange Vine believer.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/13/2991074/strange-vine-would-be-perfect.html#storylink=cpy - Mike Oz
Strange Vine is the trifecta for promoters or talent buyers.
First, the Fresno rock duo puts on one heck of an engaging live show. As a two-piece band, guitarist Toby Cordova and drummer/organist Ian Blesse put out sounds that would make three and four-piece bands jealous.
Second, they work hard and are professionals in all aspects of the business — like making sure people actually show up to watch them play.
"Plus, they're the nicest dudes," says Aaron Gomes, the promoter behind Visalia's Sound N Vision Foundation. Gomes booked the band to headline a show 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Cellar Door.
That combination is getting Strange Vine noticed in spots outside the Central Valley, too.
That includes San Francisco, where the band will headline a venue at this year's Noise Pop Festival, which runs Tuesday to March 2 in 22 spots throughout the city. The band plays Wednesday at the Bottom of the Hill with French Cassettes, Dante Elephante and Irontom.
David Rodrick is a talent buyer with the festival and has seen Strange Vine's popularity grow within San Francisco's music scene over the past couple of years.
"I started noticing that the San Francisco crowds were equally loving these guys as much as the local bands," Rodrick says.
That, coupled with their work ethic and personalities, gave him trust in Strange Vine's ability to headline a slot at this year's festival. He trusts them so much he's trying to rally a few record label types to the show and hopes to have Noise Pop's organizers there. The same group books talent for Treasure Island and other big festivals in the city.
Rodrick thinks Strange Vine could make an impression that will open doors.
While the extra attention is a net positive for the band, it's a bit of a double-edged sword, Blesse says. Especially since it's just the two of them doing all the work.
Blesse is the band's booking agent. The pair haul their own gear on and off stage and trade off selling merchandise at the shows, unless they're playing, and then it goes unsold.
They'd love to take another person out on the road, but they have as much gear as a three-piece band and there just isn't any space in the car, Blesse says. It's a small car.
"There's not a seat open."
That's the kind of economy (and schedule) the band works under. It's not for lack of trying that Strange Vine hasn't released any new music since its debut EP "Ghosts" came out in 2010.
"We've just always stayed busy," Blesse says. "We'll play and try to get enough money, so we can get back in the studio," he says.
They've been working with Nino Moschello at Bird and Egg Studios in Richmond for close to a year. They have 11 tracks recorded and are looking to finish up in the next few months. A proper album should be out by summer, Blesse says.
But the duo is mindful about putting the songs together, making sure the end result is worth the wait. - JOSHUA TEHEE
There was a moment at the recent Rock at the Top battle of the bands -- an unprecedented $15,000 band battle at Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino -- where the guy running the sound turned to the judges table and said, "Why don't these guys have a recording contract?"
He was talking about Strange Vine, a local rock duo who were crowned the winners 15 minutes later.
That victory and that mind-blown reaction were both a testament to what anybody who follows the music scene in town closely already knows: Strange Vine is one of -- if not the -- best band in Fresno right now. And that's why this next statement is also true: Strange Vine should open for The Black Keys at Save Mart Center on Oct. 1.
Stylistically, Strange Vine falls right in line with The Black Keys -- two guys with a classic rock-sounding, blues-informed rock sound steeped in Led Zeppelin lore. It's the kind of music a 25-year-old kid can listen to right alongside a 55-year-old.
Ian Blesse plays drums, organ and guitar and sings in the band. Singer/guitarist Toby Cordova has a great voice and a slew of guitars. It's enough for Strange Vine to land opening gigs for Band of Skulls in Bakersfield next week and B.B. King in Visalia in November.
But when someone asks me about Strange Vine, my standard answer isn't B.B. King. It's this: "Do you like The Black Keys? If so, you'll like Strange Vine."
Of course, me thinking that Strange Vine should open for The Black Keys and it actually coming true are two very different things. But instead of just wishing it, one fan did something about it.
Nick Chandler created the Facebook page, "Petition for Strange Vine to Open for The Black Keys." It's gotten 180 "likes" in about a week, but needs 100 times that to capture attention.
On the page, it says, 'Please 'LIKE' this page and let's help our favorite local band share a stage with one of their greatest musical influences ... The Black Keys."
So that's one way to help. Another would be to share your interest with the show's promoter, Another Planet Entertainment. Go to their website or Facebook page and tell them that you'd buy a ticket if Strange Vine got to open for The Black Keys. Maybe the almighty dollar will have power, you know.
If this doesn't work? At least you helped promote a local band that deserves every ounce of love it can get from its often stingy hometown.
If you've reached this point in the column and want to see what the Strange Vine hype is all about, go see the band Saturday night at Audie's Olympic, 1426 N. Van Ness Ave. It's a tour kick-off show before the band heads to Arizona, Texas, Nashville and New York. Tickets cost $6, and it starts at 8:30 p.m.
Chances are you'll leave a Strange Vine believer.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/13/2991074/strange-vine-would-be-perfect.html#storylink=cpy - Mike Osegueda
The boys of Strange Vine -- one of my favorite local bands, for sure -- are headlining Fulton 55 tonight for some post-ArtHop tunes. Adding to the cool factor, as if Strange Vine wasn't enough, is Long Beach band The Fling, which is another on-the-rise band that Strange Vine has buddied up with and brought to town.
Tonight is the second date of a West Coast tour that Strange Vine is pretty excited about (they played with The Fling in Santa Cruz last night as well). They're playing this weekend at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with Dredg, and have dates after that scheduled in Seattle, Portland, etc.
If you're unfamiliar with Strange Vine, I'll just boil it down to this: If you like bands such as The Black Keys, you'll dig Strange Vine. If that's you, go check 'em out. They're really good. If that's not enough for ya, here's a sample in video form, thanks to Dead in 60 Years. - Mike Oz
If I was lightly armed and on the run from the law in a dusty Cadillac El Dorado driving down a dark highway through a Southwestern landscape with only one choice of music to have stuck in the tape deck, I would choose the eerie, heart-thumping tunes of Strange Vine. Members Ian Blesse (drums, Rhodes piano, vocals) and Toby Cordova (guitars, vocals), still chugging along in an epic year of touring (which included the SXSW festival in Austin), aren’t just the best band to come out of Fresno, Calif.; they are contenders for underground cult status. Strange Vine has mastered an oddly menacing mix of abstract rock with blues undertones, and listeners could lose themselves in the band’s combined vocal talent.
A young, gutsy duo of road warriors, Strange Vine is capable of painting moods in your mind. They are the coagulation of Led Zeppelin and The Melvins — think The Black Keys mixed with an almost (at times) Cobain-ish vocal tone. Or Love and a .45 meets Deliverance (in a good way), but you’d have to watch both these movies in sepia in a poorly lit room, with whiskey and burnt popcorn; that’s the flavor Strange Vine puts out.
These guys have songs that belong adrift behind the cellar door of your skull, and they are tearing through the West Coast with shows in San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and, soon, Cottage Grove. Strange Vine is perfect for an Axe & Fiddle crowd. They will be completely in their element, and frankly Sam Bond’s should book them — they’d be an excellent match for that venue as well.
Show-goers who hit up the Strange Vine performance will be treated to opening act accompaniment by Eugene rock/jam powerhouse Strum Theory. This may be the best gig in town all weekend.
Strange Vine plays with Strum Theory 8:30 pm, Friday, Aug. 19 at The Axe & Fiddle; $5. — Dante Zuñiga-West
- Dante Zuñiga-West
While I was down in Austin earlier this year for SXSW, one of the struggles of the festival was knowing where to go, who to see and when. Often, the best moments and discoveries came from blind luck - simply being in the right place at the right time.
One day, I happened to find myself in the parking lot of a blue theater, away from the downtown strip constantly choked with music and people. There, I saw a band called Strange Vine.
At first glance, Strange Vine is a typical rock 'n' roll two-piece. Consisting of Ian Blesse on drums and Toby Cordova on guitar, the really intriguing aspect of the band comes when Blesse - while still manning the percussion with his right hand - begins playing organ with his left hand. It's a really neat trick that ends up resembling something like a tightrope act. That Blesse is able to create strong and inventive beats with his right hand while providing mostly rumbling bass notes with his left on the Rhodes is both impressive and, ultimately, beneficial to the sound of the band.
Even without this gimmick, though, Strange Vine thrives on sinewy songwriting and classic guitar riffs.
"[Cordova and I] were playing in a different band together for a while, and then that fell through," says Blesse. "So, we just decided to start a two-piece ... I lived with a guy who had a Hammond B3 organ. I would be alone in this house and would set up my drum kit next to it and just hold chords with my left hand while I played drums. I thought about looping parts for a while, but just the idea of having something else onstage I'd have to worry about, like making a loop that wasn't the right time or the loop pedal not working, or anything like that ... I just like the idea of doing it live. Something about that speaks to me more as a musician. But it's been a really tricky learning process."
As I've said, the trick of playing organ and drums at the same time is a neat one. But it'd get old quick if the music didn't match up to the gimmick, which Strange Vine does well. The band's song, "Ghosts," manages to convey all of the styles at which Strange Vine excels in one juicy, six-minute slice - moving from bluesy riffs, sudden tempo shifts, White Stripes-esque guitar stabs and runs, on through lurching classic rock headbanging material and even stopping for a waltzing piano solo. It‘s compelling stuff, delivered at the sure hands of very talented musicians. Live, the peaks and valleys of "Ghosts" really do heighten and dramatize the dynamic of the two-man rock band, and its capacity to move in electric unison.
Later at SXSW, I saw Strange Vine perform at midnight on the roof of a bar before the Nightgowns took the stage. Looking out over the Austin skyline as they blazed through one tune after another, I reflected on how I had found them twice in this strange city. I'll find them again on Thursday.
Strange Vine
with System and Station
Thursday, Aug. 25, 9 p.m., cover TBA
The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma
253.572.4020 - Rev. Adam McKinney
Another good discovery was Strange Vine, a two-piece blues-rock group. Beyond having solid, dancy music, what separates Strange Vine from the rabble is the drummer: he drums with one hand, and with the other he plays keyboard. It's crazy impressive, and he makes it sound so good you forget the kind of inherent gimmicky aspect of it. - Adam Mckinney
Crunchy, catchy hooks a la White Stripes with the sweetest of vocal harmonies. This is a band to watch grow, friends. - Nicole Giordano
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Strange Vine's earthy, energetic music is a fusion of blues, psychedelic, and traditional American rock. It's a sound born of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, from two men who were raised there. Ian Blesse plays drums and Rhodes piano (simultaneously), while Toby Cordova fleshes out the songs with a rotating arsenal of guitars (including one made from a cigar box). Both contribute vocals toward a rich, layered sound that's greater than the sum of its parts. In just a year's time, Strange Vine has already shared the stage with acts like Cage The Elephant, Band Of Skulls, B.B. King, The Growlers, White Denim, Robin Trower, Lord Huron, Pokey LaFarge, Reignwolf and JEFF The Brotherhood.
-Conlan Spangler
"Moving from bluesy riffs, sudden tempo shifts, White Stripes-esque guitar stabs and runs, on through lurching classic rock headbanging material and even stopping for a waltzing piano solo. Its compelling stuff, delivered at the sure hands of very talented musicians." ~Weekly Volcano
"They arent just the best band to come out of Fresno, Calif.; they are contenders for underground cult status. Strange Vine has mastered an oddly menacing mix of abstract rock with blues undertones, and listeners could lose themselves in the bands combined vocal talent." ~Eugene Weekly
"Descending from the Sierra Nevada mountains and now repping Fresno hard as granite, the blistering blues duo Strange Vine arent just lighting the central valley up with their stomping sound, the band is exploding right now after a national tour that has brought them widespread attention. Think the Black Keys if they were willing to get a little mud on their boot, or Jack White under a heavy flannel and barking at the moon. Strange Vine is the combination of Ian Blesse on drums and Rhodes piano, and guitarist Toby Cordova, armed with finger slides and cigar box six strings. Individually, each would be a powerhouse unto himself, but together, Strange Vine is an all out rollicking, crowd-pleasing force of nature.Originally bonding over an obsession about obscure blues music, the two spared no time in building up an impressive array of heavy and swampy arrangements that harken back to simpler times, while gathering some trippy psychedelic elements into their largely organic Americana rock and Delta approved blues. This combination of inspired ingredients transforms Strange Vines analogue sound into something fresh and vibrant in its electric fury.
Even so, with all of this racous music theres still the fact that youve got to get people to hear it. Not a problem for Strange Vine, who have spent the better part of the past two years on the road, gear packed tight in a single car, and traversing up and down the west coast, over the plains, to Nashville and beyond. Sharing the stage with legends like BB King and contemporaries like Kurt Vile, Strange Vine are only adding to their unstoppable momentum and leaving in their wake an equally obsessed fan base. While the we wait for an official release from Strange Vine, they make their Noise Pop headlining debut and return to the Bottom of the Hill for a truly massive night."
~CHARLES SWANSON (Noise Pop)
Band Members
Links