A New Musical
"Horizon"
Blue Horizon to release new album at the Kendall
Café
By Jennifer Lawinski
Correspondent
The first thing you notice about the members of Blue Horizon is their
hair.
They have lots of it.
Elizabeth Stephen's is long and blonde, reaching midway down her back.
Jason Imbesi's is also long, but brown and curly, pulled into a ponytail
as they sit at the 1369 Coffeehouse in Cambridge. The next thing you
notice, aside from Elizabeth's striking eyes, is their ability to finish
one another's sentences.
Perhaps that's why they can write an album's worth of songs together in
four months.
The duo is preparing to release their second album this Friday at the
Kendall Café. Eight months in the making, Locust Years is an
eclectic combination of folk, country and rock music ripe with melodic
refrains and catchy lyrics.
According to Stephen, the more outspoken of the two, the album is about
transcendence. "It's about, for me, being limited and taking that
limitation and going beyond it," she said.
Hailing from Syracuse, NY, the duo moved to Cambridge to pursue music
careers four years ago after finishing degrees at SUNY Oswego. Even though
they grew up in the same town, they didn't become friends and
collaborators until college. Now, with one album under their belt, they
are forging forth to find their sound.
Evident on Locust Years is the influence of various genres and
artists, as well as a conflicting desire to create both acoustic music and
songs with a harder rock sound. "The format we play in is really in
the middle of a lot of things," said Imbesi. He feels the group is
caught between the rock band and the singer-songwriter. "It's hard to
find a niche," he said. "Do we want to do something that's
totally acoustic, or do we want to fully develop the songs?"
On the album Locust Years, the duo is accompanied by a full band.
However, two acoustic bonus tracks of "Cocoon" and
"Grace" were added for fans of the softer sound.
Stephen sees the album as a marked improvement on their debut. "I
think it's better songwriting. I think lyrically it's stronger. I think
it's more produced in a style that suits us. I think in the first one that
it kind of worked against us. The instrumentation we chose in the first
one I don't think complimented our sound as well. And we knew more about
the process. It was easier because we'd already been there," she
said.
As the lyricist for the duo, she feels the song "Cocoon" is her
strongest work. "I feel like in that song I got to a point in honesty
in my writing that I hadn't gotten to before. I was expressing in an
entire song exactly how I felt, and I don't know if I felt like I achieved
that before this album."
Of course, Stephen and Imbesi dream about the day they can quit their
part-time day jobs and live off of their music. "I want to be
touring. I don't want to have to work a day job," said Stephen.
"Obviously there are always the big dreams about fame and fortune.
What I would like is to reach people. I'd like people to hear it and
identify with it. Maybe it would inspire somebody. That would be
cool."
They are hopeful for the future, and are hoping to reach an ever-expanding
fan base by playing venues like the Kendall Café and busking in Harvard
Square. Imbesi would like "to have as many people hear it as
possible, whether it's through radio, or playing, or through various Web
sites."
Stephen, while hoping for success, is more spiritual in her approach.
"I'd just like to have somebody be inspired by it," she said.
"To have somebody be really connected to it."
Blue Horizon will play at the Kendall Café at
233 Cardinal Medeiros Way on Friday at 9 PM. Tickets are $7 and special
guest performers will include Winterboy and LP.
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