THE DEVOTEES: Further From Home

The Devotees

Further From Home

© 2007 The Devotees (634479670091) (format: CD-R)

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A blend of folk-rock and bluegrass performed through an assortment of instruments including guitar, banjo, violin, accordion, and cello.

notes

It’s an old story—local band finds its niche and gets discovered. We’ve all heard it before, but there’s no denying that it never actually happens. Youngstown isn’t the kind of place you go to get famous. It’s the kind of place you’re just born into—but The Devotees know that. Every member was raised in the Youngstown area—Dave, Jake, Justin, Eric, Jared, and Nathan are all young veterans in the local scene, many of them music majors at Youngstown State University. They come from some remarkably diverse musical backgrounds, with roots in hardcore, punk, improv and classical composition. But what unites such a motley group isn’t a desire to be discovered—it’s a willingness to discover something new in themselves.
Having recently released their debut LP, Further From Home, The Devotees are beginning to make a splash in the area with their unique brand of alternative folk—complete with mandolin, trumpet, violin, banjo, and just about anything else these experienced musicians can get their hands on. Classic arrangements like “Rifle” and “Speak of the Devil” offer the quality composition and lyricism of folk the way it was meant to be played. But as much as the band loves the more vintage tunes, they specialize in adding their own twists to old themes.
“To Flames” hints at the more raucous musical past of some members, while the closing ballad, “Amen,” accounts for just about everything else. It’s a moving, catchy-as-hell conclusion to an equally moving album. You might call The Devotees progressive, but they wouldn’t like the term. By reaching into the past, Dave and company are doing more than just rehashing it.
This is because Further From Home is a concept album the way the concept album was meant to be. The songs tell a story, and a harrowing one at that, but they’re each more than capable of standing on their own. The story goes: a Civil War soldier leaves his love and heads for the battlefield, where he becomes disillusioned with war, country, and religion. It’s a story we’ve all heard before—but never like this. The Biblical themes, emotional valences and attention to detail all prove the band’s pedigree. In this incredibly timely tale, The Devotees are surely commenting on the current state of U.S. politics, but they’re doing much more than that. They’re looking deeper, into social memory—into what we’re capable of knowing and how far we’re capable of carrying our love. It’s a voyage of discovery, and for a place like Youngstown, it’s long overdue.

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  • Further From Home
    author: Jan Raczycki

    It is inevitable that a country mired in an unwinnable and morally dubious war would inspire its artists to reflect upon and respond to the situation and this young band has done so with passion. With thoughtful,intelligent lyrics and inventive instrumentation the Devotees have crafted a timelessly relevant musical meditation on the human cost of war.The cohesiveness of this brilliant concept album becomes increasingly apparent with each successive listening. The message in the music transcends political punditry, ideology and opinion and exposes war as the ugly blight that has infested humanity through generations that it is. But, that's just my interpretation. You owe yourself a listen if not to provoke thought then to simply enjoy some fine, original tunesmithery.(If that's not a word, it should be!)

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