June 5, 2008

Interview by Scott Preston

Angel Band makes big noise. Loud noise. Boisterous, sad, sweet, goofy, glorious and angelic. Any which way you look at it this stuff gets your attention. Whether it’s the crazy tight three part harmony, the killer backup playing, the stories, the passion or the compassion, it gets your attention. The songs on this album are mostly self-penned, weaving vivid images, powerful lyrics, musical integrity and “chops” to write home about. The core of the band is held by the three singers: Nancy Josephson, Jen Schonwald and Kathleen Weber. All are experienced on lead and backup vocals. The love of the sound that three female voices make together is at the center of this group. The chord rules the day. Both mystical and elemental when the three hit “it” the hair on the back of your neck’s gonna stand up. (from angelband.net)

Cincy Groove: How did the three of you end up getting together?

Nancy Josephson: This particular lineup has been together for about a year and a half. Angel Band started about 3 years ago. As things shifted in the lineup, the group got stronger and stronger until finally we have this group. I found Jen through a friend of ours Gene Shay, who is a local folk radio icon who has a show on Folk Alley and has been in Philadelphia for forever. He suggested Jen and she came on board 2 1/2 years ago. Kathleen joined up about 1 1/2 years ago. Kathleen came to our attention when Jen was doing a studio session somewhere and the engineer suggested her. We were auditioning a ton of people and we were feeling really bad. It was almost like Spinal Tap, where the drummer kept exploding, that kind of happened with us trying to find that 3rd singer. Kathleen was the last singer we auditioned.

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