The Utica Observer-Dispatch
Music Scene
Friday, June 26, 1998
GrooveLily fusion of melodic rock
by
Dan Austin
Melodic, not chaotic. That’s one way of describing the music of GrooveLily, an exciting pop-rock trio from Virginia that is making a rare appearance Friday, June 26 at one of the area’s most intimate venues, the Southside Pub in Herkimer.
“Our music has folk, rock and jazz influences, but we describe it as melodic rock,” explains singer Valerie Vigoda. “We do a fun live show because we’re happy people who are not out there to deliver messages of doom and alternative angst.”
Indeed, critics have heralded this creative combo as “an alternative to alternative” music. Laced with intelligent and positive lyrics, catchy melodies and impressive instrumentation, GrooveLily marks a recent trend in popular music that sees many artists moving away from the melancholic stance of grunge rock toward music with a considerably brighter mood and message.
Centered around the singing and musicianship of Vigoda, whose instrument of choice is the electric violin, GrooveLily also features pianist and vocalist Brendan Milburn and drummer Gene Lewin. It may seem a strange combination by today’s rock standards, but one listen to these accomplished players and it’s clear they easily measure up to any of the current crop of rock bands twice their size.
For starters, Vigoda’s violin is about as far removed from any image you could attach to this already rare instrument in rock music. Forget about Kansas and Charlie Daniels, because even though she’s classically trained, Vigoda doesn’t use a traditional four-string violin. Instead, she opts for a unique six-string electric version of the instrument known as the “Viper.” And the sounds that emanate from it can be a whole lot closer to a chorus of amplified guitars than from any bowed instrument you’ve heard in the past.
Her playing is so unique, in fact, that last summer she was sought out by pop diva Cyndi Lauper to accompany the songstress on her tour with Tina Turner. She then was hand-picked by Joe Jackson to complete the legendary piano man’s unique near-acoustic trio that toured America and Europe last fall. With Jackson, Vigoda was featured on the PBS “Sessions” series.
Milburn is himself an accomplished composer and player. His two-fisted rhythmic piano playing is reminiscent of early Billy Joel or, more recently, Ben Folds. Before joining forces with Vigoda, the NYU musical theater composition graduate played with Ben Harper and Clarence Clemons.
Drummer Lewin, meanwhile, comes from the jazz world. His stickwork has been critically compared to that of Dave Matthews Band drummer Carter Beauford, and is rooted in his own work with Paquito D’Rivera, Clark Terry, and his own jazz quintet side-project Fundementia.
GrooveLily is a college and coffeehouse favorite from the band’s homebase of Charlottesville, Virginia to Bangor, Maine. GrooveLily has three independently produced CDs to its credit.