Blackbird Raum
Encyclopedia
Blackbird Raum is a band from Santa Cruz, California
, where they have become a prominent part of the downtown street life. They are well known for their influence on Gypsy Punk
but are generally considered to be the founders of a new genre. Blackbird Raum has been on several tours, such as the “burnin’ gasoline while there’s still such a thing,” tour a cross-country tour and a 2010 tour to Alaska. They have appeared both as street performers and on stage at Northwest Folklife, a folk festival based in Seattle, Washington,. Blackbird Raum additionally came to fame when, in the Summer of 2011, the band absconded with over $5,000 raised in Kickstarter funds for their subsequent European Tour, refusing to supply the promised "prizes" associated with a donation.
In response, they have offered up some of their influences and assert that they have created something far more original. Their influences include:
They have been known to cover "Room Without a Window" by Operation Ivy
and "G-Code" by the Geto Boys at live shows.
culture in modern times as well as criticizing the human and environmental destruction caused by the current civilization. The lyrics and song names often contain references to historical events, mythical creatures and cultural icons:
Blackbird Raum makes use of epigraphs from many poets and writers. Among them are William Blake
, George R. Stewart
, Sir Thomas Mallory, and Black Elk
.
Audio/video media
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Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, where they have become a prominent part of the downtown street life. They are well known for their influence on Gypsy Punk
Gypsy punk
Gypsy punk is the term used to describe a hybrid musical genre that crosses traditional Romani music with punk rock. The origin of the term is unknown, but bands playing Gypsy punk have existed at least since the 1990s. One of the first rock groups to incorporate elements of punk and Eastern...
but are generally considered to be the founders of a new genre. Blackbird Raum has been on several tours, such as the “burnin’ gasoline while there’s still such a thing,” tour a cross-country tour and a 2010 tour to Alaska. They have appeared both as street performers and on stage at Northwest Folklife, a folk festival based in Seattle, Washington,. Blackbird Raum additionally came to fame when, in the Summer of 2011, the band absconded with over $5,000 raised in Kickstarter funds for their subsequent European Tour, refusing to supply the promised "prizes" associated with a donation.
Musical Influences
Blackbird Raum has expressed frustration with being associated with genres they do not believe that they can or should represent. They maintain they are not explicitly gypsy, pirate, or old time music. Instead they associate these genres with cultural elements that would not accurately represent the band.In response, they have offered up some of their influences and assert that they have created something far more original. Their influences include:
- His Hero Is GoneHis Hero is GoneHis Hero Is Gone was an influential crust punk and sludge metal band from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 1995 from members of Copout, Man With Gun Lives Here, and FaceDown, they disbanded in 1999, playing their last show in Memphis. They toured the U.S. extensively several times, as well as Europe...
- Silly WizardSilly WizardSilly Wizard was a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students—Gordon Jones and Bob Thomas...
- The Memphis Jug Band
- Leonard CohenLeonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
- DystopiaDystopia (band)Formed in Orange County, California in 1991, Dystopia was a sludge metal band, popular in both the heavy metal and crust punk scenes, due in large part to their bleak, misanthropic imagery...
- The Inkwell Rhythm Makers
- PlanxtyPlanxtyPlanxty is an Irish folk music band formed in the 1970s, consisting initially of Christy Moore , Dónal Lunny , Andy Irvine , and Liam O'Flynn...
- DragonforceDragonForceDragonForce are an English power metal band from London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two...
- Four Hundred YearsFour Hundred Years-History:Four Hundred Years began in Tucson, Arizona, following the break-up of Groundwork, and eventually found a home in Richmond, Virginia. The band's albums capture a frenzy of hardcore intensity, built around simultaneously emotional and political themes...
- Ballast
- CrassCrassCrass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
- DoomDoom (UK band)Doom are an English crust punk band from Birmingham, England, whose first, influential lineup were together from 1987 to 1990. Despite its short existence, the band is considered pivotal in the rise of crust punk, a style within the punk rock subgenre that fuses extreme metal with anarcho-punk...
- VenomVenom (band)Venom are an English heavy metal band that formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Venom's first two albums—Welcome to Hell and Black Metal —are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general...
- ZoundsZoundsZounds are an English anarchist band formed in 1977 from loose jamming sessions around the Reading area. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the F**k Off Records label, and were also involved in the squatting and free festival scene...
They have been known to cover "Room Without a Window" by Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after Tumbler-Snapper and before Upshot-Knothole. Its purpose was to help upgrade the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons in response to the Soviet nuclear weapons program...
and "G-Code" by the Geto Boys at live shows.
Lyrical and Ideological Influences
Their lyrics often reflect the sense of impending collapse of the current civilization that pervades much of green anarchistGreen anarchism
Green anarchism, or ecoanarchism, is a school of thought within anarchism which puts a particular emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence was the thought of the American anarchist Henry David Thoreau and his book Walden...
culture in modern times as well as criticizing the human and environmental destruction caused by the current civilization. The lyrics and song names often contain references to historical events, mythical creatures and cultural icons:
- "Silent Spring," which references the book Silent SpringSilent SpringSilent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement....
by Rachel CarsonRachel CarsonRachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.... - "Lucasville," a song about the riot in the Southern Ohio Correctional FacilitySouthern Ohio Correctional FacilityThe Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in Lucasville, Ohio, United States. The prison was constructed in 1972 and currently contains the death house for Ohio where death row inmates are executed...
- "The Helm of Ned Kelly," talking about the Australian bushrangerBushrangerBushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
Ned KellyNed KellyEdward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish... - "Old One Eye," making reference to OdinOdinOdin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
's sacrifice in Norse MythologyNorse mythologyNorse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
.
Blackbird Raum makes use of epigraphs from many poets and writers. Among them are William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
, George R. Stewart
George R. Stewart
George Rippey Stewart was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley...
, Sir Thomas Mallory, and Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
.
Contemporaries
While the band has succeeded in creating a unique sound, it would be fair to acknowledge contemporaries that share many of the same influences and have similar artistic visions.- Abandon Ship!
- The Curse is Cast!
- Dandelion Junk Queens
- Hail Seizures
- Pale Robin
- Matador
- Fire on Fire
Discography
- "Purse-Seine" - 2007, Quiver Distro
- "Swidden" - 2008, Quiver Distro
- "Under the Starling Host" - 2009, Black Powder Records
External links
Audio/video media
- "Blackbird Raum Silent Spring Santa Cruz", "Courant Times", YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, January 3, 2009.
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