Sing Out! Magazine
Vol. 52 2
Summer 2008

YARN - Yarn (Ardsley Music)

Sometimes you know from the first note you are listening to a winner. Yarn feels that way. These Brooklyn cowboys sound like they really believe in their songs and their picking is assured and bracing, especially Andrew Hendryx on mandolin.

Blake Christiana, the singer and songwriter, is a winning presence. His reading lend real credibility to his songs. I really like "Bad Bad Man," the tale of a man who constantly wrestles with his demons, not so much as to beat them as to keep both him and them in fit shape. He relishes being bad. That one's flip side is "25 Years," a jaunty song about how a mistake in anger with his girl and the guy she was cheating with landed him a quarter century in the stir. Can't recall hearing that dire a situation served up sounded so celebratory. Blake's craft as songmaker shines all the way through.

Yarn sports some really nifty picking. Hendryx on mandolin is superb. Kenji Bunch is terrific on fiddle and viola, but he doesn't seem to be a fully engaged member of the band.

Yarn is a band that makes you feel good listening to them. Playing their album somehow made my worldly cares vanish for the duration as the band's buoyant spirits washed over me.

Yarn is a find. Glad the assignment to cover their album came my way. - MT

Saturday, June 07, 2008
Taproot Radio
Yarn

Yarn's debut self-titled CD as reminds me of the early days of Paul Simon and Gram Parsons. Upbeat, feel good music with lyrics and musicianship that cut to the nub of American music. Fiddles, mandolin, upright bass, and harmnicas add that Americana twang to the guitar and drums to make a great CD of easy going music. Highlights include, "Listen Up Sweetheart," "No Future Together," "The Contender," "Woman On The Interstate," and "Cat And Mouse."
Posted by Calvin Powers

Taproot Radio

Yarn
March 10, 2008

A country-tinged bluegrass/folk album that could easily be in country mainstream. A nice little band that you could easily picture in your local dive bar. Simple guitar and drum, mixed well with instruments that make this classic bluegrass band. Check out tracks 1 "Listen Up Sweeetheart", track 4 "Don't Break My Heart Again", track 6 "The Contender", track 10 "Madeline", and track 14 "Cat & Mouse". – Lane Zoerhof

Portland Herald Press
By AIMSEL L. PONTI
April 17, 2008

When Sara Cox wrote me a few weeks ago to sing the praises of the band Yarn, I had a hunch I would not be disappointed. Heck, she even mailed me a copy of their self-titled CD from last year. Yarn is a terrific roots-rock/alt-country band from Brooklyn, N.Y. Between the comfortable vocals of Blake Christiana and the mandolin from Andrew Hendryx, just about every track on the album shines.

From the zippy little opener, "Listen Up Sweetheart," all the way through the album-ending sleepy love song "I Love the Way," listening to these 15 songs was a sojourn into an intelligent, lyrically rich and musically satiating landscape.

The four primary musicians that are Yarn have only been playing together a short time, which is hard to believe given the caliber of this album. Just wait until you hear "Angel of Woodstock" or "The Contender"; you'll be over the moon like I am over this band.

So even if this show was JUST the band Yarn, you'd be golden....

But oh no, they're the opening act for the Coming Grass, which has resurfaced in the live scene after a three-year absence.

The new formation is Nate Schrock (vocals, guitar,) Steve Jones (vocals, guitar), Eric Glockler on bass (yep, he's the guy from Strangefolk), and snazzy drummer Chicky Stoltz from Dulce de Leche and Munjoy Hill Society's glory days." 

The Coming Grass with Yarn. 9 p.m. Saturday. Empire Dine & Dance, 525 Congress St. Call for cover. 879-8988. 21 and older show.

This Week In Reviews - YARN, SARA COX
The Morning Call - Bethlehem, PA
by Len Righi

When the five musicians of Brooklyn-based Yarn were good last weekend at Godfrey Daniels, they were diverting. But when they were bad, they were better.

For openers at the Bethlehem listening club, the bluegrass-tinted alt-country band chugged along agreeably on ''Can't Slow Down'' and spun tales of woe on ''Tennessee'' and ''Five Guitars.''

But vocalist-guitarists Blake Christiana and Trevor MacArthur, mandolinist Andrew Hendryx, upright bassist Rick Bugel and drummer Jay Frederick achieved critical mass only when they summoned a rockabilly fervor for ''Bad Bad Man,'' a track from their upcoming second CD.

It was the high point of an entertaining if not very remarkable 11-song set, although ''25 Years'' and ''Wishing Well'' also left an impression.<

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Yarn - Yarn
by Jon Gorey | Boston, MA
Dissolver Magazine
Volume 18

After hearing the first song off Yarn — the beeeeaaauuuutiful, mellow, Americana love song "Listen Up Sweetheart" — I was already sold. Blake Christiana and his bandmates didn't have to prove anything else to me. And yet, for fifty-one straight minutes, they did.

Christiana's voice has the rich warmth of Lyle Lovett's, and the band's easy backing is both understated and artful. The combination, added to strong songwriting, makes for some of the best old-time country available.

Complementing the best chorus on the CD — which is saying something, because Christiana has a knack for the chorus — the stripped down drum kit, violin, mandolin, and harmonies of "Don't Break My Heart Again" make me swoon. (In the interest of full disclosure, let it be known that I eat this shit up. I wish my own music sounded like this.) Even songs that fall short of excellence, like "The Contender," are still immensely charming.

I missed Yarn when they came to Boston last fall; that won't happen again. If you're within reach of the blown-up Brooklyn music scene, make sure to catch them live.

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Talkin' New York, Vol. 10 - Yarn
Pop Headwound
January 6th, 2008
by James Burns


Talkin' New York is a semi-regular feature I like to include on Pop Headwound that focuses on the wealth of emerging local talent in the Brooklyn and Manhattan area. Some are touring bands getting buzz, others are folks I saw play at an open-mic who blew me away. All are artists who have struck me as incredibly talented musicians and songwriters who deserve to have their music heard on a wider scale.
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About a year ago Blake Christiana was growing tired of playing folk rock in Blake & The Family Dog and decided his musical career needed rethinking. So, he and bandmate Trevor MacArthur made a change - they started writing acoustic based songs, formed Yarn, and recorded their self-titled debut record. The band has been gaining acclaim in the months since its release. They've been consistently moving their way up the AMA Chart, won the IMA award for best alt. country song of the year ("No Future Together"), and placed in the Freeform American Roots reporters Top 20 albums of the year. Not a bad year for a new band.

Yarn is New York in locale, but their sound and spirit ain't from these parts. Led by the smooth vocals and guitar playing of Christiana, Yarn plays a form of alt. country music that seems born on the outskirts of Nashville, decidedly heavier on the "country" than the "alt". The 15 songs that comprise the record are just pristine. I haven't heard production this crisp on a country record in a long time - it reminds me of what M. Ward has achieved on his last few albums. I'm not comparing the 2 artists stylistically, but the crystal clear production here (warm, spacious, inviting) rivals that of Ward for some of the best I've heard.

The album itself is marked by fine playing and smart songs. The familiar country music themes and images referenced seem more alive than ever, and Christiana's sturdy croon is as real as a warm breeze, as knowing as the weathervane. "No Future Together" is a heartbreaking confession of failure, "Madeline" a dusty ballad that sounds like it's leftover from Stranger's Almanac, and "Cat and Mouse" a shuffling sing-along worthy of a Hank comparison. The songs cuddle together with the others, seemless in their delivery, and by the rustic sway of "I Love The Way" you'll be waiting for the CD to end so you can start it over. This is highly recommended music for fans of real country music with an outsider's edge, and while that's not always my thing, this is too good to ignore.

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