User:Ebamal/The Family Crest

The Family Crest is an American orchestral indie rock band based in San Francisco. The band is made up of seven core members and over 250 ‘Extended Family’ members who actively participate in recordings, live performances, and other creative projects.

History
The brainchild of frontman Liam McCormick, The Family Crest began as a recording project in 2008 that aimed to connect a group of people through a common musical undertaking. After completing the majority of recording in the fall of 2009, McCormick and co-founder John Seeterlin elected to continue the project by forming a live band.

After 'Falling off the Wagon' was featured on KFOG’s Local Scene 7 CD in 2010, the band was also featured on Bay Area public radio station KALW-FM, San Francisco's Pirate Cat Radio, KSFS and KVON. In January of 2012, the band was featured playing live performance on Seattle's KEXP.

‘Falling off the Wagon’ was used in both television and radio commercials for the second annual Notes & Words, a concert benefiting Children’s Hospital Oakland founded by best-selling author Kelly Corrigan.

In February 2011, The Family Crest won The Deli SF’s Best of 2010 Fan Poll, and placed third overall on The Deli SF’s Best Emerging Artist of 2010. They were also featured in The Deli's Spring 2011 SXSW print issue. In February 2012, The Family Crest came in second in The Deli SF's Best of 2011 Fan Poll and tied for third overall on The Deli SF’s Best Emerging Artist of 2011.

In January 2012, The Family Crest was selected to be part of the Google Magnified Artists program from Google Music. On February 13, 2012, as part of the program, they performed at the Grammy Awards after party for Red Light Management, an event sponsored by T-Mobile.

Personnel
In addition to Liam McCormick (lead vocals, guitar) and John Seeterlin (bass), the band consists of Charlie Giesige (drums), Laura Bergmann (flute, percussion, vocals), Owen Sutter (violin, percussion), and Lucas Chen (cello, percussion). Laura Bergmann, Owen Sutter, and Lucas Chen are all classically trained (Bergmann, Sutter, and Chen hold degrees in music performance).

Former core band members include Pat Elliott (drums), Nicole Calhoun (cello), Mike Rocha (trumpet), Jacob Steuer (drums), and Sarah Dabby (viola, opera vocals).

Style
Though the band identifies themselves as 'orchestral indie rock' band, their sound is inspired by many genres including jazz, folk, and classical. Kimberly Chun of the San Francisco Chronicle states that "The Family Crest harbors an affection for Burt Bacharach-style swingin' romanticism that is sure to impress lovers of classic pop."

Albums
The band released their debut EP, Songs From the Valley Below, in February of 2010, the same day that they debuted as a live band. On May 19, 2011, they reissued a remixed and remastered version of Songs From the Valley Below.

On January 22, 2011, The Family Crest had a limited local release of their debut LP, The Village at a sold-out show at Café du Nord. The Village was funded in part by a successful Kickstarter campaign, in which the band exceeded their $10,000 goal with the help of over 100 contributors.

Both Songs From the Valley Below (Reissue) and The Village were mixed by Jay Pellicci at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco, and mastered by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Studio in Hollywood.

Discography

 * Songs From the Valley Below (2010)
 * KFOG Local Scene 7 (2010)
 * The Village (2011) (Limited Local Release)
 * Songs From the Valley Below (Reissue) (2011)