Photo: Brenda Wirth
Combining some of the idiosyncrasies of modern Indie
Folk with uplifting Pop melodies, Chamber music arrangements and an
Americana grab-bag of various other influences, the trio Plume Giant
makes a glorious noise that is buoyed by the clever, collaborative
songwriting, as well as the trio’s vocal chops, which add a slanted,
colorful layer to the group’s sound via frequent and flawless harmonies.
The threesome — which formed after meeting each other while attending
Yale — makes this glorious noise with fairly spare acoustic
instrumentation (Oliver Hill plays guitar guitar and viola, Nolan Green
plays guitar and harmonium and Eliza Bagg plays violin, harmonium and
various other instruments).
But the sound of the group’s recent debut
full-length, Callithump, is full-bodied and far from
minimalistic. On the dynamic 2012 release, the trio explores traditional
Appalachian music, swingin’ Jazz, Tin Pan Alley pomp and breezy Folk
Pop, but all of it is filtered through Plume Giant’s distinctive vision,
with hints of the avant-garde beneath the inescapable harmonies and
lovely aura. The now Brooklyn, N.Y.-based trio performs a free show
Thursday, Jan. 17 at MOTR Pub (1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine) with like-minded
Cincinnati-based Chamber Folk ensemble The Happy Maladies. motrpub.com.
