The Senators were recently listed on Billboard’s Next Big Sound charts.
According to the band’s website, The Senators describe their style of music as “blending sophisticated songcraft with humble pastoral sympathies, featuring poetic lyrics, uplifting harmonies and complex instrumental layers, lending to a more melodic branch of indie rock.”
The group recently recorded their sophomore album in the Catskill Mountains – an upstate New York country that folk legends like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell call home. With musical influences all around, band member Quinn Scully recollects his love of music from his parents.
“My dad ended up running the Orpheum Theatre in Flagstaff,” Scully said. “I grew up going backstage, hanging out and watching a bunch of soundchecks for all these cool bands. And then I started playing music myself when I was about nine and I haven’t stopped since then.”
Lead singer Jesse Teer describes his music venture as a “late transition into songwriting.” He played cello as a kid, only beginning to play folk music and acoustic guitar in college.
Through performances, both artists beam at the band’s ability to come together and influence an audience through music.
“I think the goal of the night is to create this connection and at that moment, everyone is on the same page. I think performing live music is that connection at the end of the day.”
Currently, the band is in the studio self-producing their third album for release next July and plan to hit the road in the U.S. and Europe next year.
Over the course of his twenty-five-year career, Nolan McKelvey has covered nearly every corner of the country and traversed all roads of Americana. From the pavement of alt-country, to the dusty trails of bluegrass, to the gravel roads of classic-country, to the interstate highway of rock-n-roll. Nolan has received critical acclaim along the way from magazines like No Depression, Country Standard Time, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, and Performer Magazine among many others.
Nolan has opened for luminaries of Americana like Greg Brown, Peter Rowan, Odetta, Fred Eaglesmith, Los Lobos, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, and Leon Russell. He has also opened for contemporary artists like Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth, Cowboy Junkies, Gregory Alan Isakov, Jack Johnson, Infamous Stringdusters, Jeffrey Foucault, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Son Volt, Josh Ritter, David Grisman and the list goes on and on…
Nolan performed in several bands in Boston, including The Benders, The Resophonics, with Kris Delmhorst, Ry Cavanaugh, The Vinyl Avenue String Band, Jabe, Bow Thayer, and his own 33. He was dubbed “Central to the (Boston) roots-rock revival” by WBUR radio. His bands won two Boston Music Awards (BMA) and were nominated for BMA’s 7 times in his 5 years in the city. Since returning to Arizona, Nolan was named “Best Musician” by the readers of the Arizona Daily Sun and has been dubbed “One of the best songwriters in the southwest,” and “Flagstaff’s Poet Laureate.” (FlagLive)
Nolan’s studio credits include recording with grammy-winner Levon Helm (The Band), Dana Colley and Billy Conway (Morphine), Paul Q. Koldrie (Pixies, PJ Harvey, Radiohead and more), Jennifer Kimball (The Story, Wayfaring Strangers) among many others. Nolan’s songs have appeared on 21 cds to date, he released five solo albums, five albums with The Benders, six with Muskellunge, four with former band Onus B. Johnson and a duo disc with Dave Desmelik. Nolan’s work as a bass player and harmony singer pushes the release list over 75 recordings.
Nolan has performed at the Newport Folk Festival (RI), Cambridge Folk Festival (MA), Boston Folk Festival (MA), Telluride Bluegrass Festival (CO), Sedona Bluegrass Festival (AZ), Tweed River Music Festival (VT), Roots on the River (VT), Tilted Earth Music Festival (AZ), Musical Instrument Museum Music Festival (AZ) and Pickin’ in the Pines Acoustic Music Festival (AZ) among many more. His music has aired on nationally syndicated radio shows like World Café, Nashville Bluegrass Breakdown, and Car Talk.
Nolan currently performs his own songs solo, with Nolan McKelvey Trio, with Muskellunge, and he is the bass player in Tramps and Thieves. He performs regularly in the Southwest, and occasionally on the east coast.
Save 10% with membership! Members use SN22 as their promo code prefix. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.ccaflagstaff.org/member-discount
