Star Tribune - Ashtray Hearts wait for 'Perfect'
by Chris Riemenschneider

Friday, May 6, 2005

Too many bands nowadays are in too big a hurry. They're rushing to land a record deal, or they're overeager to put out a CD.

With this week's release of "Perfect Halves," the Ashtray Hearts make a strong case for taking it slow 'n' easy. The elegant, wintery sophomore album comes a long three years after the brooding Americana/alt-country band released its debut, "Old Numbers." Even when it got around to making the new CD, the sextet took a six-month hiatus between studio sessions. The guys didn't even play a gig in that time, last summer to fall.

"It was good to step back from the songs for a while," frontman Dan Richmond explained earlier this week.

Talking in the coffeeshop downstairs from KFAI -- he's program director at the nonprofit community radio station -- Richmond said that day jobs are one reason the Ashtray Hearts don't move faster. Another is their personal lives: Last year saw Richmond getting married and bassist Ryan Schiefe and his wife having a baby.

Star Tribune - Ashtray Hearts
by Marlin Levison

"We do things in this band at a pace where it doesn't conflict with everything else," Richmond said. "Keeping it uncomplicated is what keeps it fun."

But accordion/keyboard player Brad Augustine said there are artistic reasons for their slowness too.

"We all get our chance to have a little input into the songs," Augustine said. "That tends to take some time."

The Ashtray Hearts formed as the members were finishing college in 2001. Richmond had returned from a long stay in England and Ireland, where he did a lot of writing and a little soul-searching. Many of the songs on "Old Numbers" came from that experience, as did one tune on the new album, "English," in which he sings about "taking a year to turn it around."

The rest of "Perfect Halves," though, was written over the past three years. Said Richmond, "It's much more of a band record."

But don't go thinking that there are a lot of bells and whistles on the recording. What's remarkable about the Ashtray Hearts is that, even with six members, their sound remains restrained and even raw at times. Just as they don't rush their songs, they don't cram them full of any extracurricular flourishes.

Most of "Perfect Halves" was recorded during the winter at Sacred Heart in Duluth, the historic church converted into a recording studio. Like another church-made album, the Cowboy Junkies' "Trinity Sessions," this one has moments of barrenness and loneliness that can chill you to the bone, but then some of the fuller arrangements offer a warming effect. The CD-closing "Flowers," for instance, coasts into a long, noodling guitar outro that's remarkable for how basic but beautiful it sounds.

Richmond's lyrics help evoke these conflicting moods without saying anything too specific. He likened his songs to "conversations you eavesdrop on, and you're lacking the context of them." That description especially fits the opening cut, "Rules," featuring a scant 55 words that set the tone for the album's uncertain, crisscrossing lyricism.

Guitarist Steve Yernberg said, "Our music is pretty sad-sounding, but I don't really think they're sad songs. There are even a few that seem like love songs."

And even if they sound depressed, the Ashtray Hearts come across as one of the happiest bands in town. They're friends first, a point obvious during their six-month break, when they still played softball together and hung out regularly.

The band members will do what touring they can this summer, but they're happy enough getting support at home. They're performing on-air today at around 2 p.m. on the Current (89.3 FM), the new competitor to Richmond's beloved KFAI. ("There's no conflict," he claimed.) Also, look for the Ashtray Hearts to book more gigs soon after Saturday's release party at the Turf Club.

But don't expect them to move too quickly.