How And Lightning: Press

So, there's this band called HOW AND LIGHTNING out of Seattle, and it plays killer psychedelic music that sounds like the bastard child of dark and primal Pink Floyd and an even more over-the-top Freddie Mercury (oh, and also about two acts of Madame Butterfly – that's right, it sounds like damn opera), and it could fill up an entire concert hall with its sound, which is just all sorts of bombastic and grandiose and, hell, epic, and it's playing Brooklyn Nights, which is, like, one of the most intimate venues in Spokane. Basically, stand near the door in case the place collapses.

Seattle band brings psychedelic grooves to Elkton
By Rebecca Sewald

It started as a musical movement on the West Coast. Now thundering across the United States on their first nationwide tour, Seattle-based rock band How and Lightning are bringing their sound to Cecil County.

Made up of 25-year-old Cecil County natives Rick Lucabaugh, on lead guitar and Ezra Kille on bass guitar; and 25-year-old Seattle residents Paul Steiner on rhythm guitar, and Aaron Cook on drums, the band offers an eclectic sound they describe as psychedelic progressive rock.

"We've been trying to fine-tune our description. What we've settled on is psychedelic rock with progressive-rock elements. There's a lot of influence from classic artists, but there's a contemporary sound to our music, as well," Cook said.
The band attributes their unique sound to a merging of East Coast and West Coast music styles. When How and Lightning formed in 2005, the musicians soon discovered that a diverse sound was emerging from their distinctively different musical backgrounds - Lucabaugh, of Rising Sun, and Kille, of Fair Hill, bring the loose, rootsy style of the East and Steiner and Cook offer a more structured rock sound of the West.

"It's a wide sound - a lot of panning from left to right. There are more intricate rips, you would say, and deeper rhythms," Kille explained. "It's more mind-expanding music than just the three-cord thing. It seems like when people listen to our stuff, they're actually thinking about the music."

In an effort to document their original work and make it available to their ever-growing fan base, the band entered the recording studio early this year. Their debut CD, "Numinous," was professionally recorded at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle and released March 1.
One of the oldest recording studios in the Northwest, the studio has been responsible for a variety of gold, platinum and Grammy award-winning records. Past clients have included legendary names such as Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Liz Phair and countless others.

"The recording process was amazing," Cook said. "... It was a pretty major life goal for every single one of us to record and produce our own original music."

"It was very intense," Steiner said of the recording process. "...you could call it a dream come true."
"Numinous" features 11 original tracks, including tunes like "Falling Ashes," "Make it Simple" and "Sand City." The album can be found in Seattle-based music stores on iTunes and at www.cdbaby.com.

Steiner, the primary songwriter for the band, attributes much of his inspiration to travel, art, emotion and general life experience.

"I offer the premise for the lyrics or melody, but we still arrange songs together. They throw it through a loop, and we collaborate on it," he said. "We have a very good open communication about what we think our sound should be. It just kind of happens."

Currently touring the country to promote their new CD, the band said they're continuing to gain valuable inspiration for their next recording project, yet to be scheduled. The musicians set out on the Numinous '08 tour early this month, stopping for gigs throughout the West and Mid-West, even venturing through parts of flood-devastated Iowa.

The band is scheduled to kick off an extended stay in Cecil County this Friday with a performance at Wesley's in Fair Hill at 8 p.m. The ensemble will be performing a mix of original tunes and crowd favorites.

The gig is a homecoming for Lucabaugh and Kille, who had established a small musical following in the area before moving to Seattle in 2003. At the age of 16, the duo joined the seven-piece jam band Maple Grove, performing a blend of blues, jazz and reggae at venues throughout the tri-state area. They later formed a contemporary bluegrass band, Big Elk Barons, before heading west to join up with Steiner and Cook.
"It feels great to be coming back. We've been away for awhile, so to come back with a professional album on tour is amazing," Lucabaugh said. "We definitely have a fan base there. It's going to be a treat for both of us - the fans and the band."

While in the area, the band will perform at venues such as Wesley's in Fair Hill and O'Kelly's in Elkton, as well as other locations in Pennsylvania, Virginia and parts of New England.

"I'd like to keep touring as far as we can. Maybe get to Europe eventually and play the Germany scene, which I here is very big. We just want to tour around and see the world and bring people good tunes," Kille said.
"If we continue with what we're doing, I think we'll succeed," Steiner said. "... We decided to do this as passionately and professionally as possible, but only time will tell. As far as success goes, success is relative. In my mind we've already succeeded."

CATCH THEM LIVE:

Friday, June 27 at Wesley's, 8 p.m.
Thursday, July 10 at O'Kelly's, 8 p.m.

Saturday, July 26 at Wesley's, 8 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 22 at O'Kelly's, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 30 at Wesley's, 8 p.m.

(E-mail Rebecca Sewald at rsewald@cecilwhig.com.)

Watching How and Lightning play at the Queen Anne Silver Platters was like watching an intense P.T. session with a hard-ass drill instructor-only each band member is their own sergeant, urging themselves on to incredible and complicated heights, combining those individual internal drives into one culminating artistry. Like the strings on the guitars they played, muscles thrummed and beat with the force of music. There wasn't an unpleasant note, there wasn't a hesitation or misstep or mistake-just pure, unadulterated sound.