THE BRIDGE
Biography
Baltimore-based grassroots phenoms The Bridge have emerged as one of improvisational rock music’s most buzzed about young bands. It’s been a steady, organic rise, leading to their current status as a prolific national touring act with a devoted fan-base, veteran status on the Summer festival circuit and a record deal with the revered indie label HYENA Records. On The Bridge's self-titled new album, their freewheeling, adventurous and profoundly soulful vision finds them weaving a new thread into the rich tapestry of American rock music. Their songs evoke the spirit of influences like Little Feat, The Grateful Dead and Los Lobos, thus drawing on a broad palette of tried-and-true American roots styles. But they equally honor their own generation by infusing that foundation with beat-boxing, flourishes of modern soul and fervent New Orleans funk.
Forming out of Baltimore, The Bridge's roots date back to 2001 when guitarist, vocalist and principle songwriter Cris Jacobs decided to forego the traditional expectations of his University of Amherst degree and pursue music full time. Upon reuniting with high school friend Kenny Liner (who'd recently returned from a stint living in Hawaii where he learned mandolin), the two found an immediate chemistry playing music together. They would go onto create The Bridge by osmosis, playing countless regional shows, working on each other’s material, experimenting with bands members and ultimately woodshedding their mutually shared inspiration until it locked into focus. Jacobs and Liner solidified the band's core line-up with the addition of saxophonist Patrick Rainey, bassist Dave Markowitz and drummer Mike Gambone.
While it’d be easy for The Bridge to rest on the cred of their live shows, the band’s first nationally distributed studio album stands completely on its own merit. Cris Jacobs stakes his claim as a songwriter undoubtedly in service to the heritage of American roots music. The telepathic interplay of the five piece unit harnesses the depth of the songs, playing them out to often grand and magnificent conclusions. Opening the long-player with the steady-rolling, California-country groove ”Get Back Up," Jacobs and Rainey punctuate the tale of perseverance with crisp, glistening licks, while the band's radiant harmonies add a distinct dimension that proves a vital element throughout the album. The following cut "Angelina" is Dixie soul personified, serving as a firm reminder that Baltimore falls South of the Mason-Dixon line.
Special guests on their new HYENA release include Russell Batiste, Jr. (The Funky Meters), John Ginty (Citizen Cope) and Mookie Siegel among others. As the album unfolds, songs like "14 Days," "Easy Jane" and "Further To Roam" deliver on the glory that rock music once promised in simpler times. The Dobro-laced stand-out "Country Mile" finds Jacobs reveling in enigmatic darkness with lyrics like, "Oh Maddie Lee, oh Maddie Lee, tell me why does our heart bleed so? I would pawn my steel for an answer why your seasons come and go." The song's haunted refrain is the clincher: "Left her on a country mile, sleep lay sleeping girl to rest awhile.".
By the time The Bridge come around to the gorgeous alt-country ballad "Flats Of The Old Avenue," it's clear this is a band that hold the keys necessary to join the esteemed ranks of the artists from whose lineage they emerge.
