Yarn Feature-Virginian Pilot

When Blake Christiana was first approached with the idea of raising funds online to help finance his band's latest album, he wasn't sure it was such a good idea.

"We didn't want to be just another bunch of musicians begging for money," said the singer and acoustic guitarist for the roots-rock band Yarn.

That changed when halfway through recording "Almost Home," the Brooklyn-based sextet ran out of cash.

Rather then leave the studio and sit on an incomplete record, the band called in the "Yarmy," its group of diehard fans. The Yarmy answered the call for aid by contributing more than $5,000 through the web-funding platform Kickstarter - surpassing the band's financial goal.

"They really came through and helped us put the record out there," Christiana said. "It's an honor to know that we have fans that are willing to go to such an extreme." "You know," he said, "watching the news, you wouldn't imagine that there are generous, kind souls on the planet, but this proved otherwise."

Since forming in 2007, Yarn, which plays the Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach on Sunday, has built its fan base through constant touring and significant fan interaction.

"It's the only way to survive right now as a developing grass-roots band," Christiana said. "Our fans are really involved, and I think they feel like they have a stake in the band's success.

"Just a couple of weeks ago we were in North Carolina having dinner before a show and some fans came by and brought us a box of T-shirts that they had made up with our logo on the front and some of my lyrics on the back. They said they just want to give something back and thought we could make some money by selling them at our shows."

Yarn's genre-mixing blend of rock, knitted together with country and a bit of bluegrass ramble, has also caught the attention of prominent music industry insiders. After Grammy-winning producer Bil VornDick caught a Yarn performance in Nashville, he let the band know that he'd like to work with it. A couple of months later the native Virginian, whose credits include projects with Bob Dylan and bluegrass great Alison Krauss, was in the studio with Yarn producing "Almost Home." The disc, released last March, was recently named one of the Top 100 Americana albums of 2012 by the Americana Music Association.

Another admirer is John Oates, of Hall and Oates fame.

"We just wrote a couple of songs together," Christiana said. "He's the most humble dude in the world. One day we were in the recording studio listening to a playback, and he said, 'Hey, man, I think you should recut your vocal.' He called me back later that night and said, 'Hey, I hope I didn't offend you.' I had to laugh. I want that kind of insight, especially coming from a guy like him."

The newly penned tunes, slated for an upcoming Yarn release, could raise the band's profile even higher. But for now, Christiana seems satisfied in his role as leader of the Yarmy.

"Ultimately, we just want to play," said the 36-year-old musician. "What we get to do for a living is pretty darn special. I feel like we are building a kind of community. That is the best part of all of this for me. We have these little pockets of family all over the country. That's about as good as it gets."

 

Mindy Smith-VirginianPilot

Not quite a country singer, and with a sound that's sexier than folk music, Mindy Smith isn't easy to label, and that's just the way she likes it.
"I don't much care to be put in a box or be in any specific genre," said the Nashville-based musician.

Even so, by creating music that favors substance over style, Smith has found an audience with fans of intimate songcraft.

"That's the reason I write songs; to deal with difficult things," said the musician, who plays the Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach on Sunday. "I think that's what draws people to my music. They can hear that it's real."

Whether she's calling out a thoughtless lover or expressing grief, Smith strikes a chord and offers catharsis.

"There's a certain element of exposure emotionally within myself that I allow people to get in touch with," she said. "But at the same time I think they can reflect on situations in their own lives."
The 40-year-old native New Yorker moved to Nashville in 1998 and, like many young hopefuls, started out by playing open-mic nights. It wasn't long before her sweet soprano voice began eliciting comparisons to country-folk artists like Alison Krauss and Shawn Colvin.

As the daughter of a pastor, she draws on spiritual themes.

From "Come to Jesus" off her 2004 debut, "One Moment More," to "Closer" on her new self-titled record, Smith isn't shy about expressing her faith.

"I'm proud of being a pastor's kid," she said. "I think it's actually pretty cool."

But that spiritual journey hasn't always been an easy one.

"It's been a challenge sometimes, I'll be honest with you," said Smith, who purposely took a three- year hiatus between albums. "I spent the last several years trying to get my bearings and investing in myself. We all have to do that at times. I call it weeding the garden."

The time off re-energized the singer-songwriter and allowed her to dig deep into her emotional life, one that will forever be influenced by the passing of her mother when she was still a teenager.
"The songs that I write are very much coping mechanisms for traumatic experiences," she said.
One other method of attempting to deal with difficult feelings has held her back, but it's something Smith says she's come to terms with.

"There are elements in my journey that have inhibited me, and one of them is having obsessive compulsive disorder," she said.

"When I do a show I have to explain to the stage manager that these are my issues and this is how things need to be because a lot of people are coming to my show and I want to be able to give them the best one possible."

Smith used to find these types of exchanges embarrassing.

"Now I'm like, whatever," she said. "There are a lot of people struggling with the same thing, and maybe, by me being open about it, it will help them in their own struggle to be OK with themselves."
Above all else, Smith seems to have found some peace of her own, and it's resulted in a newfound confidence.

"I really feel like this is my moment," she said of her career. "And there a lot of people pulling for me."