At its heart, a rock beat

Via craigslist, pianist pulls together a motley group that mixes rock instruments with ones associated with classical

By Peter Mongillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, September 21, 2009

In early 2007, a series of vague online ads appeared under the "musicians" section on Craigslist. One requested a rhythm section. Another, horns. None of the people who responded to the ads — a diverse group of musicians, each with different levels of experience — knew much more about the project. Cellist Jim Korioth had recently picked up his instrument for the first time in 18 years after successful surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. Trombone player Donald McDaniel had played around town a bit, but the bulk of his experience came from directing a middle-school band in the Dallas area years earlier.

The ads were posted by Seth Osborn, the most typical Austin musician of the bunch, if such a thing exists. Osborn, 29, was living in New Jersey in 2004. He had been playing industrial music and wanted to change course. Influenced by his love for classical music, he began with an idea of a large band with an unconventional instrumentation. "I don't have a problem with lots of effect and sequencers in general, but I really wanted it to be musicians playing all the music," he says. "If I could bring a real piano on stage I would."

After an unsuccessful attempt to form that band in New Jersey, Osborn moved to Austin in November 2004. A few musicians came and went, and Osborn finally settled on a lineup of eight, drawn mostly from Craigslist, that would become the Tiny Tin Hearts, including Korioth and McDaniel as well as bassist Melanie Martinez, French horn player Jenni Wieland, guitarist Sean Ziegler, violinist Daniel Eversole and drummer Jessie Poole. Osborn plays banjo and keys.

Not everyone involved was convinced the mix would work. "At the point I got there," Martinez says, "it was banjo, piano, French horn, trombone and cello, and I had never been in a band with any of those instruments, so I was a little dubious."

It did work, and they began playing around town, often cramming themselves onto small stages in coffee shops and bars. Audiences grew, and t they were ranked one of the top five best new bands at the Austin Music Awards in March. Their first release, "Last Flight of the Martyr Aviator," is available this week, and they'll celebrate with a show Friday at the Parish.

The band's sound, which on a superficial level can be categorized as a marriage of classical and rock, is hard to pin down. Part of the music's appeal is rooted in the band's method of composing from the bottom up, instead of adding strings and horns after the fact, an arrangement that might inspire the indie kid who can't bear to part with his viola. "It's rare to find somebody that really wants to have a French horn as part of the band all the time," Wieland says, "Seth was outside the box."

The integration of instruments is obvious on "Last Flight of the Martyr Aviator," which plays like a sort of suite, with Osborn's more conventional pop songs punctuated by two "gnossiennes" — instrumental, Slavic-style waltzes developed for the piano by 19th-century French composer Erik Satie. "Whenever I throw on a Satie album, I have to get up and start songwriting," Osborn says. "It's so immensely inspiring."

That is not to say that the band is defined by its classical roots. A proggy sensibility informs the music as well, especially on "The Aviator," which begins with a quiet piano and an atonal cello that give way to horns and guitar as the listener is ushered through to the climactic conclusion.

Lyrically, Osborn's songs are sprawling, existential affairs that manage to avoid cliche. "Luke," another of the album's highlights, tells the story of two friends trying to relate to one another, spiritually and otherwise. On one level, Osborn says, the song represents his struggle between impractical, artistic tendencies and a more pragmatic desire to be part of everyday life.

The pragmatic side seems to have held its own so far; Osborn has a strong handle on the band's direction. The group continues to build a fan base and has played well-attended gigs outside Austin. "So far we've done a really nice job of setting up a business and running it," he says.