--Marv Mattis, Former BMI VP and former VP CBS, January 2010
Strange Lights press kit
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Strange Lights official website
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Discography
music archives page 1 * music archive page 2
band pics * Strange Lights links * band members * press articles
reviews *merchandise *event calander
contact *blogs and news
music archives page 1 * music archive page 2
band pics * Strange Lights links * band members * press articles
reviews *merchandise *event calander
contact *blogs and news
"Strange Lights" heads to Battle of the Bands
Strange Lights, Crestone's own Indie Rock band, are making a name for themselves. Selected as finalists in the Global Battle of the Bands, in September, over 3000 downloads of this band's cover of the classic R and B tune, "Just My Imagination", by fans worldwide were tracked, and their original composition, "Carry the Stone", hit number fourteen, of 13,239 tunes listed in the alternative/indie category of the SoundClick website. In October they were invited to participate in the worldwide Emergenza festival competition which selected 96 Southwest bands for their "original sound". The group's core are locals, Debra Irizarry and Lonny Roth, who have worked together musically for five years. Deb said, "It takes time to make that musical connection; after five years I know where that connection is." Strange Lights includes Lonny, Deb and "whoever's along for the ride". Local musician Steve Storm, who has played with the band, gave Strange Lights its name. This band's feeling their creative oats, expanding their creative potential, as Lonny put it, "being drawn into the music". Both musicians come from diverse musical backgrounds. Lonny said, "Our different backgrounds stimulate musical creativity." Lonny got into guitar because, "My first girlfriend said I had the hands of a guitar player." He played with his brother Jopa in a band called Root Soup & the Coffee Jonesers. For five years Lonny performed as a street musician on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Deb was a classically trained flutist, who discovered her calling as a rock musician at age eighteen. She added guitar (she plays bass with Strange Lights) to her musical arsenal and played with an "all girl band, Jolie & The Libertines, who held the stage at the renown Max's Kansas City, in NYC, where Patti Smith, among others, had played." Deb moved to the Southwest in the late 90s and to Crestone in 2000. She shared, "When I started playing with Lonny, I connected spiritually with music." Indie Rock music began as a term explaining that the artist was not signed to a label or committed to a contract, which can stifle creativity and musical innovation. Deb explained it as "a fresh fusion of rock music, where no one's telling you what to do". Emerging digital technology has allowed for music to be created without prescreening for commercial viability. On stage, Deb told me, "We start with a style and transform it during the show. What we are doing musically feels huge to us." Most of Strange Lights' numbers are original compositions. Acknowledgement from out-of-town fans and musicians is an ingredient that keeps this band fueled. Last year gold record guitarist Kevin Trainor, who has played with Blues Traveler and Joan Osborne, took the stage behind them at Denver gigs. The band's played the Silver Crest Palace in Crestone and taken the stage at the Crestone Music Festival. Deb told me, "Rock Clubs are the majority of our gigs." Strange Lights has taken the stage frequently at the Mercury Café and the Larimer Lounge in Denver. They also play clubs in New Mexico. The band's gotten very "serious about learning the art of self promotion and stage presence". Lonny said they are going to musical industry conclaves and using the internet to get their sound out. Check out web master Lonny's site, www.strangelights.net, frequently updated with a variety of music. Always looking for new venues, the band is available through the web site and ready to play your party or establishment. You can download music or streaming video of a live show. Area fans can check out Strange Lights when they play the Silver Crest Palace in Crestone on November 18, starting at 7pm. For a mere $3 cover you can support local musicians and check out Strange Lights' contribution to the evolution of indie rock.Crestone Eagle article November 2005