User:Celestial Nomad/The Minstrels

The Minstrels are an American acoustic-folk/jazz-pop band hailing from Lynchburg, Virginia. The current lineup consists of Jesse "Satyr" Wood (mandolin, violin, guitar), Cameron Roberts (saxophone, trumpet, guitar, vocals), and Tyler Coleman III (drums, assorted percussion). In an interview, Roberts talks about the diverse influences of the band, such as Metric, Sondre Lerche, Lost in the Trees, Toh Kay, and Dirt Poor Robins.

The Formation
The band started in 2013 as a collaboration between Wood and Roberts. The duo performed under the name "Puzzles". They found minor success in the area, but were mostly forced to perform at bars and parties. After several months, Coleman was brought in, and the band reformed as "The Minstrels". Briefly Matty Farle was also a part of the group; he recorded just two songs with the group, and after leaving the group because of "creative differences", these songs were discarded.

The current members were all friends in high school and were all part of the same high school band program.

Cycles (2014)
The band wrote and recorded their debut album, dubbed Cylcles, in early 2014. It consisted of mostly folk interpretations of pop songs, including Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding, and related artists. While sales were initially poor, the album did boost the amount of performances booked considerably. The band was able to perform at larger and larger venues, in cities such as Roanoke, Chancellorsville, and Richmond. But the band was still limited to just the state of Virginia.

The album was nominated for three regional awards and won two of them, both through radio stations.

Bleeding (2015)
On January 4, 2015, the band digitally released Bleeding, their second recorded album. It deals primarily with lose and love. It consists of eleven original songs.

Discography

 * Cycles, EP 2014
 * Bleeding, 2015
 * Ambien (single), 2015