With two dogs, an eight track recorder and a book of old murder ballads, Rich and Rob Kwait would start their musical journey. Visiting mountain cabins from Vermont to Tennessee and listening to the country blues, the Philadelphia-based twin brothers would soon begin crafting songs of their own and bring them back to Philadelphia to play for friends on the stoop. What started as cosmic country and bluegrass would soon become something more rich and textured and groovy.... The band (including Ira Race on guitar, Stephan DiVincenzo on drums and Jeanine Reed on vocals/percussion) would begin to find their sound ... described by some as Cosmic American Blues.
After the death of the two dogs, Rich and Rob and the band (now known as CABIN DOGS) would again retreat to the mountains -- this time in Upstate New York-- and being writing songs for a new album. Aaron "Professor Louie" Hurwitz, (The Band, Mercury Rev, Graham Parker) would be brought into the fold and a new album (ELECTRIC CABIN) would be recorded, bringing the CABIN DOGS onto the national scene (including two appearances at the Newport Folk Festival).
Critics would compare the album to classic works by the Grateful Dead and The Band (See Reviews page) and describe the music of CABIN DOGS as something like a conduit into a colorful pastoral timeless American story.
With a growing repoirtoire (including songs culled from the Kwait Brothers Band days) and 6 years of steady playing together, the CABIN DOGS have also developed into a forceful and seaonsed live act able to play festivals, bars and singer-songwriter without missing a beat.
The Summer of 2008 stands to be a busy one for the band, with a steady schedule of shows and a new album being recorded - in and around Philadelphia and New York.
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