The Speedbumps’ ascent in the northeast Ohio scene has resembled their music: leisurely, unassuming, subtle, but finally asserting its presence in a very distinct and forceful way.
The band, with roots in the Akron/Kent area, has actually been kicking around for a while and has a fair amount of history.
But it’s just in the last couple of years that we’ve been seeing and hearing a lot from them on high-profile shows like their collaboration with the Canton Symphony Orchestra and festivals like Cincinnati’s Midpoint Music Festival and Wade Oval Wednesdays in University Circle.
Their profile should increase even more with the release of their third album, The Harbors We Seek, which they’re marking with a concert at the Kent Stage. Western Pennsylvania’s J.D. Eicher & the Goodnights open. Tickets are $10.
The group’s pensive acoustic-driven music doesn’t overwhelm you at first either, but it’s the sort of music that fans build a meaningful long-term relationship with.
Most bands wouldn’t start an album with a song as introspective as “Back to the Start,” before launching into the spirited country-fried folk of “Breakdown.”
Band founder/singer Eric Urycki’s acoustic guitar, Kevin Martinez’s upright bass, and Patrick Hawkins’ light-handed percussion are enhanced by Sam Kristoff’s mood-setting cellos. Many of the songs —“Opposites in Love,” “Montreal,” “the Heart of It All,” —are so intimate they almost feel like singer-songwriter recordings, with the words and quietly emotive vocals in the foreground. But the other members add musical flourishes that give the songs depth.
And Urycki is quick to point out that the entire band contributes to the music, even though he writes the lyrics.
Their sound expands on tunes like the gracefully melancholy “Spirit Waltz,” perfectly suited for the mournful sound of the cello, and the bubbly “High Thread Count Suits,” another tune with country/folk roots.
The band grew out of Urycki’s mid-college crisis. Uncertain of his educational direction, he dropped out of Kent State and drove around the east coast busking with a friend who played upright bass. It occupied the middle of his Volkswagon from front window to back. Unable to even see each other, the two listened to a lot of music.
“We had a great summer,” he recalls. “When we got back to Ohio, we were like, ‘We want to be a band.’ We were listening to a lot of artists who had string arrangements so we started out looking for musicians who played the instruments we were hearing. That’s how we found Sam.”
The band’s song-focused approach likely comes from some of the artists Uyrcki was listening to that summer: Damien Rice, Sondre Lerche, Nick Drake, fellow Akronite Joseph Arthur, Wilco, the Frames.
“We appreciated those bands, appreciated the emotional connection they had with their songs,” he says.
The Speedbumps came together in 2007 and released their first album in 2008, a record they wrote in a garage in a wooded area outside Kent. At that time, they weren’t focused on building a career; they just wanted to travel and an album gave them an excuse to hit the road.
“We weren’t even sending out emails and selling CDs,” recalls Urycki. “We were just going to towns and meeting new people. We went to New England a lot. We went as far west as San Francisco, as far south as Florida. We even went to Australia. We didn’t promote. We had the honor of doing these things, but no one knew about it. The thought of business side of things was off our radar.”
Almost imperceptibly, they got serious when as they realized more and more that their music was speaking to people — and they could make a living doing it. They’ve been particularly successful performing at colleges.
“What started happening was people started listening to us and buying the record and we were getting better guarantees,” says Urycki. “It got to the point where I said, if I can do this full time, I can make money doing this and this can be my job.”
The band’s taking its career a lot more seriously these days. It’s working with Cleveland artist/businesswoman Susie Frazier, who runs the label they’ve started to distribute Speedbumps music.
The group recorded The Harbors We Seek this past spring with Columbus-based producer Jay Alton at a cabin outside Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest. Whether that impacted the vibe of the music or whether the music found perfect confluence with the environment is hard to tell. They even pay tribute to the creative process that produced the album on its final cut “Cabin Song,” which showcases the synergy of the band members better than any other song on the record.
“We went out there and shut off our lives,” says Urycki. “What we lost in technicality, we gained back in the emotion and the warmth of the environment. I think that’s why people are going to like this record. They may not be able to put their finger on it, but I think the authenticity of the record comes across.”