Search - Bleak House :: When ADA Was Singing In the Darkroom

Bred from musical loins of brilliance and wit as diverse as the Kingston Trio and The Smiths, the cataclysmic implosion of bleakhouse occurred when college students from Louisiana, California, Ohio, and Washington merged. The birth of an acoustic pop quartet was no mistake and was a calculated move. The mind behind the machine had just finished dusting off the remains of an eight-piece ensemble. The shear size and insurmountable gear and sound specifics that group required were mind numbing. The name of the game with bleakhouse was simplicity. It just made sense to meld the acoustic guitar jangle of the sixties Newport folk fad of the member s collective childhoods with the jangle pop of the nineties 120 Minutes world. Somewhere between the two bleakhouse was born, and the wonderful opportunity to show up at a gig and be able to enter the venue with just an instrument in its case was refreshing. bleakhouse is an ensemble that embraces the acoustic sounds of the cello, guitar, congas, and voices to create its intimate sound. The songs are steeped in post-modern Romanticism: love, lovers, love lost and gained, a kiss, and what is love in folk music without a smattering of politics? bleakhouse finds itself steeped in both the camps of folk music as well as that of pop music, and feels it belongs to both. Although multiple members of the group have technical bragging rights with the music degrees to support the prowess, the group s emphasis is on the song and not the technique. The four members bring their individuality to the group. Darrell created the group, writes the songs, and plays the guitar. Darrell knew Jared from performing Latin jazz in Idaho with him and asked him to play the congas. Darrell heard Anna singing hymns and needed her pipes. Through a mutual friend Robyn was recruited from the local orchestra to play the cello. It also helps that Darrell and Robyn are now married. The band borrowed its name from the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. The album title can also be found therein. When Ada Was Singing In The Darkroom is an eleven-song experience that embraces the shear elegance of simplicity. Cello, acoustic guitar, congas, and voices that s all. That is bleakhouse.