I was on the phone last week with my good friend from Florida; usually when I see him call I know it is going to consume about 2 hours of my time since we cover a lot of shit that's been going on in our lives (friends since seventh grade) so I tread carefully... anyway. So we get to chatting about indie music and all the misinterpreted music on the radio, etc. He brings up a band I haven't heard of. He says "hey man give these guys a listen, their an Indie Folk band from Ohio". Being from Ohio and an Indie Music follower I was immediately searching Spotify and hoping to find this group. I was in luck, I shuffled their latest album and became spontaneously hooked. I was introduced to The Speedbumps!

The band consists of 6 members:

Erik Urycki: vocals, guitar, ukulele 

Abby Luri: vocals, guitar, banjo, glockenspiel, keys

Sam Kristoff: cello, mandolin

Kevin Martinez: upright bass

Pat Hawkins: drums/percussion

Danny Jenkins: drums/percussion

The first song I listened to , which is currently at the top of my Indie playlist, was "Old Habits Don't Break Easy". Various reasons conclude my love for this song; not only does the title already spit some truth, but the CELLO riff in this songs background is perfectly placed, the sound is fucking awesome! It keeps my head bopping and hands tapping upon my steering wheel; this song makes me move. Right at the beginning Sam Kristoff breaks out on his beloved instrument with an exciting rhythm that takes a hold of your ears. Now like I stated in one our previous blogs, my favorite part about a good movie is its score; the orchestrated sound that sets up every scene to top off its beauty. The Speedbumps use this similar sort of musical style. This band is...beautiful! I use to play the cello back in middle school, now I'm wishing I would have stuck to it. I love the mix of a little orchestra in the Indie scene. FUN FACT: To add a little more originality to their sound, the band recorded their last album "The Harbors We Seek" in a cabin deep in Pennsylvania forests!

The lyrics in "Old Habits Don't Break Easy" is kind of a shout out to all the people that have shit going on in their lives, and we all have it. Whether its a broken heart, an addiction or even a bad habit that we love to have, denying it or trying to cover it will only worsen your battle. We need to face the problem and give ourselves "pardons", which is essential to fighting through the "hard times". Whether that "pardon" is a friend, a family member, a stranger who knows how you feel, **a song** or even just a small time out.We have to start realizing that we aren't the only ones going through something, and we have to open up to others to "break" whatever those old "habits" might be. I was so jazzed about this song I would play it in my car constantly. Everyone one I showed it too shared the same appreciation for it as I did! I know you will!

I was thinking about this bands name: The Speedbumps, I don't know the real intention behind figuring out the title to this musical group, but to me it actually fits perfectly to what Indie Music should be representing. So I decided to verbalize the action of changing music today; which is to"Speedbump". We need to slow down on what today's music is becoming and share in our music what is relating and truthful instead of merely what just sounds good. We need to dig deep back to the roots and add "Soil to the Seed" of music. "hey, give these guys a listen".

For more exploring >>> http://www.thespeedbumps.com/