Sometimes things happen serendipitously that we simply would not have imagined. Thus is the case with the new CD, Divers, from the Alex Krug Combo.
Back in June 2012 the Combo was playing downtown at Lexington Avenue Brewery. It was a letterpress release party for Heroes & Criminals Press, where a letterpress poster of the Alex Krug Combo debuted, among other things. “Rob Gardner was the engineer that night,” says Alex Krug. “We really liked working with Rob, and LAB has a good P.A. The room sounded good. We ended up playing an awesome show.”
Joined by Patrick Armitage on drums, Kevin Lampson on bass, and Lyndsay Pruett on violin, Alex says the show was really fun and she kept thinking about it afterward. Knowing that Rob had recorded the show, Alex texted him months later asking to hear it. She loved what she heard and then took it to Michael Hynes, known locally as the sound engineer who worked with the Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. “I can work with this,” Michael said.
“The whole thing just came together,” Alex says. “It was just like letting life unfold.” She’s thrilled that “just another show” has turned into her second CD. Her first came on the heels of winning a songwriting contest at MoDaddy’s, which gave her studio time as the prize. The result was a six-song self-titled EP that was mastered in Boston by Will Holland. Now, the live Divers CD is being released to the world.
Alex says she’s looking forward to its public debut March 15 at Highland Brewing in a show from 6 – 8 p.m. She says that one reason for her excitement about the CD release party being at Highland is due to its partnership with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC), which is an organization created to conserve the plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, and scenic beauty of the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Since 1974, the group has protected some 60,000 acres.
“We’re happy to have this CD release party at Highland,” Alex says. “For one, we just think their business model is bigger; it’s more holistic and sustainable. They treat musicians fairly. It’s a free show. Who doesn’t like free? And we love their partnership with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. SAHC is a great organization, and we’re so stoked to play a show somewhere that is so involved in the community.”
As for the music of the Alex Krug Combo, it’s a bit tough to label but it falls somewhere in the area of folk-jazz. Alex is the songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist. The group first began as the Alex Krug Trio when Kevin Lampson joined Alex and violinist Ashley Cofield to play a few songs. Because the lineup changed regularly, the trio evolved into a combo, which could feature any of the aforementioned musicians plus Stu Benjamin on guitar and who knows who else on any given night.
The Combo will be playing songs from its new CD plus a number of additional tunes in its show on March 15. The Divers CD will then be released digitally. After a few more area shows in the spring, Alex will be heading out west this summer with stops in Colorado and Montana. After that? “I don’t know,” she says. “We’ll just see what happens.” Perhaps some other serendipitous event will lead her to the next musical milestone.
To find out more about Alex Krug, the new CD, and her music, visit alexkrugmusic.com.