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Azure Ray has returned to the road.
Fans have been delighted to see the band back together, said Orenda Fink, one-half of the indie folk-pop duo. The group went on hiatus in 2004, but Fink and Maria Taylor both kept very busy.
Each worked on solo records. Each worked with Now It’s Overhead. Taylor contributed to Bright Eyes releases and tours, and Fink helped form Art in Manila. Fink also released an album in March with Cedric Lemoyne of Remy Zero under the name O+S.
The reunion occurred, of all things, as a result of Taylor moving to the other side of the country. Taylor had moved to Los Angeles around the same time that Fink was playing with Rilo Kiley. That frequently brought Fink, who lived in Omaha, to L.A. While in California, Fink stayed at Taylor’s home.
“We were having a great time together,” Fink said. “We thought ‘We should be playing music. Let’s do a show.’ ”
They did, performing in Los Angeles in late 2008 — their first date in years. Now Fink and Taylor are looking at getting into the studio in December or January and releasing a new Azure Ray album in 2010.
Fink and Taylor have five or six songs written for the coming album. Two — “On and On” and “Unannounced” — are being included in the band’s live set, though Fink said the songs and their titles are works in progress.
“We’re just doing demos right now,” she said. “Playing a few new songs on the set (helps us) work them out a little bit more. We still have a long way to go.”
Eric Bachmann — whom the band worked with on its last album — is being courted to work with the band again, but one snag has presented itself. Bachmann plans to move to Taiwan soon, so the album might have to be recorded overseas.
Employing a touring lineup of Andy LeMaster of Now It’s Overhead, Nick White of Tilly and the Wall and Tod Wisenbaker of the Whispertown 2000, Fink and Taylor are pumped up to take the stage in front of an Omaha crowd Friday for the first time in years.
“I’m just kind of excited about it. We’re not really nervous or freaked out,” Fink said. “I think it would be a really good time.”
Contact the writer:
444-1557, kevin.coffey@owh.com
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