This is like a nature documentary: you’re hearing the first sounds of our newborn band Bipolar Bear, just as we emerge from the den. For the last few months we’ve been writing, tracking and sequencing…. and all the while, we’ve been trying to figure out what our bipolarity really means: we’re a folk band and a dance band, we’re electro and acousto, we are fierce and yet sensitive creatures.
The project took shape as a collaboration between Peter Frey, the guitarist/composer for the jam-rock trio Kazyak, and Brian Laidlaw, the songwriter/frontman for the Americana bands Alpenglow and The Family Trade. Singer and ukulele-ist Ashley Hanson, of the bluegrass group Dusty Porch Sisters, joined the fray in the late summer… and like any newborn, our size is certain to grow in the coming months.
Moreover, the music-makers themselves are only part of the Bipolar Bear picture. We’re collaborating with GroundUp Productions and the Minneapolis art cohort the Yes!Lets Collective to fold other art forms into the BPB live show. Visual art, spoken word, juggling, storytelling: they’re all invited to the party.
We’ll be posting demo tracks from our EP-in-progress in the coming months, as well as playing live shows in the Twin Cities and beyond. We hope you’ll follow us on the journey – thanks for listening.
