CONTACT/BOOKING:
SKELETONSINTHEPIANO@YAHOO.COM
Phone: (518) 495-1817
Members:
Elijah Hargrave – Vocals and Guitar
Dustin Alexander – Bass and Vocals
Jeff Ayers – Violin and Keys
Eric Donovan – Drums
Brad Thibodeau – Guitar and Banjo
Katarra Peterson – Dance and Percussion
Skeletons are not created in death, merely exposed, revealing life’s foundations. Proponents of the psychedelic grunge movement, Skeletons in the Piano falls somewhere between Black Sabbath and The Doors. They bring howling vocals, blistering riffs, complex rhythms, dance and art to every show, creating a mood and casting a spell. Started in 2007 with Elijah and Eric, the project grew fast releasing their first LP “Certain Slow Murder” in 2008. The EP “Keys” was released and Dustin and Jeff were included over the next year. The band then released their second LP, “Stranger on a Damned Staircase” in 2010, with the help of legendary hardcore and punk producer Don Fury. In 2011, the band released their second EP, “Long Pig”, and added Brad and Katarra to gear up for their next LP, “Please Don’t Die”, to be released in Spring of 2013. The band signed a deal with Magnetic Eye Records in the fall of 2012, and have played up and down the east coast, supporting acts such as Dax Riggs, The Sword, Fishbone, The Black Angels, Paleface, Black Taxi, Primer 55, The Wombats, and Paranoid Social Club. Skeletons in the Piano creates a musical experience you have never had before, proving rock and roll isn’t dead; it has just been waiting for them.
“Perhaps the most apt description I can give “Please Don’t Die” is it’s a modern distillation of composer Richard Wagner’s self-termed “music dramas.” Fusing musical, poetic and dramatic elements into a sound both original and classical in nature, Skeletons in the Piano may belong to a genre all their own. Please Don’t Die certainly lends itself to the theater of the mind. Like Wagner’s operas, Please Don’t Die should be staged as well as heard.”
-BucketFullOfNails Blog
“With ‘Please Don’t Die’ they have shredded all the rule books of what Rock and Roll is supposed to be. Like mad scientists they have gathered parts from many genres and created a colossal monster of a sound unlike anything you’ve heard before that will cast its spell on you.”
-Popatunes Music Blog
“Upon listening to Please Don’t Die, it seems clear that the band set out to make the best album they could, and I think they succeeded.”
-Joe-Wolfe-Mazeres
“Skeletons sounds like Lyle Lovett thrown down an abandoned well. It’s like Nick Cave if you lured him into the sunshine. It’s a little bit Jeff Buckley, and I’d never say that lightly. Elijah Hargrave’s vocal delivery and acute, keening, totally controlled waver toward the ends of his phrases calls the legend to mind, and so does the the guitars’ presentation. It’s a little bit The Killers. Ok, maybe imagine Jeff’s there, wailing on voice and guitar, in an almost rag-time acid jazz saloon band with half The Killers and some of The Violent Femmes after they sat around listening to Orgy for a couple of days. I’m still not doing this justice. Press play on this band immediately and please share the joy with your friends!” -Melissa Walker, Head Publicist and Writer of Utica Music and Arts Fest.
“#1 Best Local Capital Region Rock Band Metroland Reader’s Poll 2011”
-Metroland Magazine
“Best Alt-Rock Band Skeletons in the Piano Every performance by Saratoga’s Skeletons in the Piano—who’ve gigged steadily around the region the past year—is more of a happening than just a show, livened up by shimmering onstage belly dancers, grainy silent movie projections and artwork being created in real time. That spirit of vibrant creativity, penchant for ’90s alt, and a swirling blend of dark hippie-hardcore rock, is what sets the Skeletons apart from the rest of the brooding-indie-rock pack. “
- Editor Pick Best of 2011, Metroland (Jul 14, 2011)
“Vocally, Elijah Hargrave was everything I expected. His voice was amazing. He captured the deep throaty sound of the late Jim Morrison along with the incredible range and style of Ian Gillian.”
-Charlie Harrelson – EVO:R Entertainment Online Magazine
““Stranger on a Damned Staircase” by Skeletons in the Piano There’s the old “thinking man’s metal” cliche, and then there’s this Saratoga Springs four-piece’s twisted vision of a second album. The songs go from fist-pumping hard rock one minute, spaced-out keyboard, violin and guitar soundscapes the next, all framed by front-man Elijah Hargrave’s massive vocal presence.”
Brian McElhiney – The Daily Gazette Albany NY
“This band has broken the cookie cutter machine.”
Ralph Renna – Ralph Renna Enterprises
“In a few short years, the band has achieved enough local success to be considered bona fide Capital Region(NY) celebrities.”
Alyssa Jung – The Saratogian
“(Eli) Hargrave’s voice is a mix of a dirty old blues singer and a tortured captive…..The whole band toes this line of blues/rock and terrifying madness…All these factors create a musical experience you have never had before.”
Alex Selby – The Saratoga Scene
“Rock and Roll Circus- Saratoga Springs band Skeletons in the Piano celebrate a communal creative spirit”
Kirsten Ferguson – Metroland Magazine
“A Lighter Shade of Dark-Saratoga’s Skeletons in the Piano put the fun back in rock noir”
Kirsten Ferguson – Metroland Magazine
“Best Throwback to 1992-Skeletons in the Piano For a few years in the early-’90s, as Nevermind was breaking grunge to mainstream audiences, it seemed like every type of music that had been popular up until that point crashed into each other. Bands like Alice in Chains and Faith No More brought ’70s doom and ’80s thrash together with pop and psychedelic sensibilities to help birth the term “alternative rock.” Saratoga’s Skeletons in the Piano sound like a product of that time, recalling those bands but also the Melvins and the Doors. Heavy, weird, and way cool.”
-Metroland Magazine
