"This Richmond band delivers melodic, driving, dramatic rock. Dark, playful and really pretty at the same time, kind of like that girl/guy you have a crush on." -- Star News (Wilmington, NC)
Facing You is Marionette’s (Richmond, Virginia) debut full length and features strong songwriting and unique male/female harmonies set against soundscapes of reedy accordions, grinding feedback guitars, bow scraping upright bass, bells, hubcaps, charmingly half working organs/pianos and drum machines, field recordings, horns, and strings. Also features guest performances by musicians from Richmond, VA’s vibrant music scene.
Kevin Cornell, Marshall O’Leary and Adam Rose had been playing together in various projects on and off since 2005. Before Marionette, Marshall (who plays piano in the band), was primarily a jazz tenor player. Kevin was a jazz drummer who had a love for the Beach Boys and 60’s British psychedelia and happened to also sing and play every instrument known to man! Adam (guitar) came from NYC where great songwriters and avant garde noise and jazz regularly mixed. Kerri Helsley came into the band in 2007 and her voice and creativity were a breath of fresh air. For “Facing You” bassist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Brickman brought a looseness and aesthetic that helped create lots of space and organic textures.
Marionette rocks — drawing on a lot of the off-shoots of the rock and roll movement – with equal admiration for the great songwriters and the more abstract, noise acts that span across rock, psych, jazz, folk, alt-country, shoegaze, punk, whatever.
Other kind comments from the press:
“With ‘Facing You’, Marionette renews its emphasis on songwriting, finding its own voice within the history of rock music.” – Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)
“At first, their sweet indie-pop seems dark and contemplative, but, as their moniker suggests, Marionette will also help lift you up with their warm, sunny melodies and offer some brutally honest advice on how to find your way." – RVA Magazine (Richmond, VA)
“It took only one listen to be sucked in by their layers of sound… Marionette is the kind of band you know will be discovered by a larger audience, so get out and see them now.” – Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA)
