By Cornelius A. Fortune
Fallsway Down
8 p.m. Oct. 20
Student Center, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti
Fallsway Downs describes their music as "yummy goodness fo' the soul." Ask them a second time and they might call themselves an "acoustic rock band."
Not only do they have the same first name (Jess Klein and Jess DiDonato) and both live in Ypsilanti, but they share a musical bond that has spanned almost 10 years. Truth is, they want to transcend LGBT labels, and their new CD "Songs You Like and Sometimes Listen To" might just do the trick.
Klein, 22, vocals/guitar, and DiDonato, 23, drums, will unveil 12 new tracks during a release party at 8 p.m. Oct. 20 at the EMU Student Center on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti.
"We put ourselves out there every time we sing a song and start to write," says Klein. "We're putting a little bit of ourselves out there to be exposed and we hope it'll be well-received. And it's free."
"We definitely dissect whatever we write," DiDonato adds. "In every song we have a story to tell; we don't have a system, it's all very raw."
The duo's influences range from '70s rock to Dashboard Confessional, and classical. Even the name "Fallsway Downs" was pulled from the back of a Fallsway truck they saw on the road (they added the "Downs").
"We feel like even in the LGBT community there are too many labels that get bounced around. You're a person first," DiDonato says. "We've been promoting the heck out of (the CD) for the last month and a half. We both have full time jobs. We do our best."
Some of their music has an LGBT slant, but not all of it. They're a musical group that happens to just be lesbian."We just want people to listen and to like it. Don't get me wrong, most of the songs are about women and past relationships," Klein adds. "We have a couple of songs about finding your strength to go on, and it's just whatever inspires, whatever fills us deeply. We kind of go with what we feel."
They've lured a solid following on EMU's campus, and have played at Motor City Pride and for a transgender benefit. The message is always the same for them: get people to hear the music.
A song they're really proud of on the album is "Charades," an 11-minute epic rock tune. "We definitely like to try new things. You don't hear a lot about local indie bands with 11-minute songs. We're really proud of that," says Klein. "That format was perfect to tell that story."
The release party will be the first time they'll hear the tracks in their final incarnation. "We're kind of in the same boat as the fans, everybody wants to hear it, and so do we," says Klein.
"The CD release party is something that neither of us has ever done on this grand a scale. We're really excited," DiDonato adds. "People should just come out and take a listen."
