Kerosene Kites - Float Away (2017)

When two of Madison, Wisconsin's most prolific and driven songwriters combine forces, anything can happen.

Beth Kille (of The Beth Kille Band and Gin, Chocolate & Bottle Rockets) and Erik Kjelland (of The Mascot Theory) met at a songwriting workshop in 2011 and started writing together in 2013 after reconnecting at one of Erik's shows. In 2014 they founded the first annual Flannel Fest, an Americana music celebration raising money for the Keep Wisconsin Warm fund, and later that year they released their first collaborative album entitled Northstar. This collection of original holiday-themed songs earned them the 2015 Madison Area Music Association (MAMA) Award for Unique Album of the Year and Unique Song of the Year.

Spurred on by their success, they decided to name their little side project Kerosene Kites and they launched their second record, Under Cover Holiday in 2016, which was an album of re-imagined Christmas cover tunes. After finally running out of holiday spirit, they decided to release an album of their NON-holiday songs in 2017 entitled Float Away. Enlisting the help of their talented musician friends, the 11 songs on this record were recorded over the course of 10 months in 5 different studios, all the way from South Central Wisconsin down to Nashville, TN. Float Away features Art Ranney on bass and Jim Smith on drums, along with guest appearances by Shawndell Marks (keys), Gabe Burdulis (guitar) and Kenny Leiser (of Wheelhouse, on violin/fiddle).

Sonically, this album is their most ambitious effort to date and explores the whole gamut of their life experiences; everything from relationship successes and failures, to the challenge of balancing life as a passionate musician with the deep love of their partners and families. Their diversity as songwriters is not only showcased by the array of topics, but also by the range of musical approaches.

Kille and Kjelland kick off the album with “Ascend,” an Americana-rock guitar-driven duet about the human fascination with reaching for the sky (both literally and figuratively) which was inspired by Kjelland's study of Charles Dellschau, an American folk artist who made detailed drawings of flying machines in the late 1800s. “Hey Stranger,” a lighthearted fiddle/mandolin tune featuring Kille on lead vocal, is a tender love song about standing by your partner through all of life's trials. Kjelland's impassioned voice takes center stage on “House of Cards” and “I Am the Wrecking Ball,” which are both straight-up rock songs about different imploding relationships, featuring Burdulis's signature electric guitar. Taking care not to give in to the urge to harmonize on every line of every song, they trade lead vocals on the verses of “Save This Town,” a folk-Americana duet imploring a larger audience to embrace hope, despite “bitter ghosts still drifting through the streets.” They delve into an almost cosmic-feel in “Stars” (a shuffling tune with computer generated instrumentals), tear it up on “Outrun the Train” (a bristling fiddle song about a daredevil who dies in a fiery car-train collision), and end on a completely whimsical note with “Memory Waiting to Be Made.”

Fans of male-female duet acts such as Lady Antebellum, The Civil Wars and Sugarland will appreciate the blending of diverse voices coupled with strong composition and story-telling. Visit kersosenekites.com for more information on tour dates and new songs.