Seattle\'s Starlings spread wings for trip East

Tag : Trekking Boot


Mills didnt have any regrets about winging it for the summer andfall during a recent telephone interview. It felt really good todo that, she said.

The Starlings are not a throw-back replica group. Their music isfresh and original (and mostly written by Mills and Parker), butwhether playing ballads or barnburners, there is a welcoming,familiar and friendly front porch dynamic to the sound as well.

So it almost seems appropriate that the current itinerary of TheStarlings is small-town roots in character and destination. LastFriday they were in Biddeford, Maine, for a show at HogfarmStudios. Yesterday saw them at the Hanover Street Fest, Hanover,N.H., in the afternoon and then last night at The Weathervane MusicHall, Brattleboro, Vt. Later on theyll be at such events andlocations as the Yankee Homecoming Festival in Newburyport;Montague Book Mill, Montague; and then south to The Boot, Norfolk,Va.; The Cave, Chapel Hill, N.C.; and the Town Pump Tavern, BlackMountain, N.C. For some of their time while touring theyll bestaying with friends in Gloucester. Gloucester is also apropos the Polis Is This of Worcester-born poet Charles Olson.

There are a lot of reasons I enjoy towns, Mills said. Makingmusic in them is number one, she noted. There are so manycharacters. It gets fulfilling in a holistic way.

Mills, 32, is originally from the hinterlands of Iowa, and saidthat she was inspired early on by a lot of femalesinger-songwriters. She moved to Seattle in 1999 and got involvedin its music scene and met Parker. I met Tom and there was anatural evolution for us to sing together, she said.

Parker, 37, is a native of the Pacific Northwest and has been multiinvolved in various Seattle scenes  folk, classical, jazz, grunge.

The Starlings started out as a duo but soon added other musicians,including drummer Aimee Zoe Tubbs and banjo and electric slideguitar player Jack Quick. That really buoyed us up, Mills said ofthe extra layers of people and sound.

But now Mills and Parker are on tour as a duo, and she likes whatshe hears here, as well. Were revisiting some things. Its almostlike the first time again. I really like the sound of the strippeddown sound.

The Starlings first album, Songbook, came out in 2006, andMarveling the While was released in March. Reviews have beenpositive.

 Marveling the While is a catchy record; producer Chad Hinmanhas left almost no room for improvement on the compellingarrangements and crystal-clear production, wrote Performemag.com.

CDBaby observed that  Marveling the While picks up whereSongbook left off  bringing us further down an aural path oflush production, soulful and sparkly vocals (including guestplayers along with Tubbs and Quick).

The reception indicates an ongoing up and coming flight pattern forThe Starlings. We definitely wanted it to feel like an evolutionfrom the first one, Mills said.

The word has been soaring beyond the Northwest. Asked if Seattle issupportive of the type of music The Starlings play, Mills said, Itis and it isnt. I guess it depends on seeking it out. There seemsto be more indie rock and hip-hop. But we have our own communitygoing and certain writers and DJs that like what we do.

Meanwhile, theyve found out that a lot of listeners in GreatBritain like what they do, too. Weve had really good connectionswith a couple of outlets. Theres a solid scene over there. Weremaking plans to go next year (for the first time). Weve got a fewacquaintances over there touring with some success.

Mills and Parker are already thinking about their third album,which, reflecting their current tour, will be more on the duo side,Mills said. They are also planning to return East next year as wellas fly over to Europe.

I hope we can keep going, Mills said.

One thing that would help immensely in that regard would be a goodold-fashioned commercial hit. Mills acknowledged she might have hada standoffish attitude to such a prospect in the past, not wantinganything to compromise the groups artistic integrity.

But as weve gotten better theres a little less stubbornness toget into a bigger pull of the tide. Its like anything else in life its whether you can make a living, Mills said. Definitely ahit is the best thing that can happen, but you cant really predictwhat will unfold if you do have one.

What will unfold over the next two or three months is that theconverted school bus will be trekking back West by October, andthere will be a return concert back in Seattle Oct. 31.

Well be staying with a couple of friends and set up a sublet, andstart planning for album number 3, and start planning for 2009,Mills said.