Event

Joy Kills Sorrow W/ Off The Vine

JOY KILLS SORROW:
http://www.joykillssorrow.com/

Joy Kills Sorrow has always had a knack for writing and performing intimate songs. Now the Boston-based string band is emphasizing their epic side, too, on Wide Awake, a new EP out June 4 on Signature Sounds. The seven-song collection serves as a milepost in the blossoming career of a group the Los Angeles Daily News praised as "virtuoso art folkies who understand the value of being just folks."

"It's a statement about where the band is now and where we're heading," guitarist Matthew Arcara says. "With this record, we're concentrating on getting a fuller, bigger, more powerful sound from the band. We want the epic sound of an indie-rock band plugged in, but on acoustic instruments."

Wide Awake features six riveting new original songs that showcase singer Emma Beaton's soulful, enveloping voice on lush acoustic arrangements fleshed out by Arcara on guitar, Wes Corbett on banjo, Jacob Jolliff on mandolin and Zoe Guigueno on bass. The EP also includes a cover of the Postal Service's 2003 electro-pop single "Such Great Heights," which Joy Kills Sorrow has been performing in concert for a while after learning the song during a residency at the Lizard Lounge in Boston.