The
Brothers Comatose have a 2012 South By Southwest Festival promotionvideo on their website called “The
Living Room Sessions.” The videofeatures the band sitting on some “slightly” used furniture in a
woodedarea, a beautiful backdrop for a rootsy string band.During the performance a golden retriever pops
in and out and snips thefiddler’s hand before his solo, the banjo picker drops into histrademark
comatose playing style, and aside from the rustic outdoorssetting, you get the sense that this is
probably pretty close to anormal rehearsal for the quintet when they are not on the road.While the video
shoot makes for a nice promotion, in many respects it isalso a representation of the roots of the band’s
approach to eclecticAmerican string band music. For 20-something band founders Alex (banjoand vocals)
and Ben (guitar and vocals) Morrison, living room music isand will always be the foundation of their
American musical experience.Their sound will be showcased at the Black Swamp Arts Festival with a Main
Stage show Saturday Sept. 7 at 1:45 p.m. as well as sets on the Acoustic and Family stages.“My mom was
in a band and they used to practice all of the time at the house,” Ben said in a recent telephone
interview.“They had a lot of musician friends and they would have music parties atour house, usually on
Sundays or on days when they didn’t have gigs.Everyone would just play, and that is what sparked the
fire.”Certainly there are numerous musicians around the world that wereinitially attracted to a
particular instrument, genre, style or soundthrough growing up with the music around them. No different
for theMorrison brothers, who listened closely and eagerly sought toparticipate in the energetic folk
and bluegrass musical environment.“I really distinctly remember people coming over and calling out songs
and then everyone being able to play it,” Ben said.“Everyone just knew what to do and that was just
really inspiring whenyou are a kid and watching and really wanting to be a part of it.”For the Morrison
brothers this early introduction to American folk musichas come full circle through The Brothers
Comatose. Alex, Ben and bandbassist Gio Beneditti, had departures into rock and punk rock, buteventually
gravitated back to acoustic instruments and music.While the instruments and means of amplification
changed, the energy ofexperience the music parties as kids, coupled with their time exploringedgier punk
rock, serves as the foundation for the sound of The BrothersComatose. The addition of fiddler Philip
Brezina and mandolinist RyanAvellone has helped the band bring together string band and rock musicinto a
cohesive and attractive sound that is not traditional bluegrass,but that certainly captures its energy
and essence.“We have all been in rock bands, and we love that sound, but a few yearsback we started
picking up more acoustic instruments,” Ben said. “Mybrother picked up a banjo at one of the music
parties and ever sincethen we have been playing songs that we like to hear on acousticinstruments. It is
definitely not traditional bluegrass, and itdefinitely has rock influences.”As a quintet the Brothers
Comatose continue to expand their footprint inthe Americana and progressive bluegrass music circle, a
music scenethat continues to expand through influential bands like the AvettBrothers, Trampled by
Turtles and the Infamous Stringdusters.“Banjos have kind of become cool over the last year or two, which
isfunny, but is awesome,” Ben said. “It is nice to open the sound the oldtime and folk music to broader
ranges of people.”Featured at string band festivals across the country like HardlyStrictly Bluegrass,
High Sierra and Grand Targhee, the band iscapitalizing on a growing fan base that loves live music,
dancing andhigh-energy acoustic string bands. With a strong emphasis on their liveshow, The Brothers
Comatose bring an infectious sound that is ripe foraudience participation.“We really love to play live
because of the energy people bring to ashow,” Ben said. “I feel like people want to go to a show and
have aparty and have fun.”