Girlyman

Harmonies - if you had to describe the music of Girlyman in one word, this would be it. The story doesn't end there, of course: the band blends modern acoustic, americana, and folk-rock into a musical recipe The Village Voice has called "really good, really unexpected, and really different." The wide range of instruments - acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, djembe, electric baritone guitar - reflects an eclectic sound, and the band members switch off lead vocals and songwriting duties. But it is the stunning three-part vocal blend that creates the Girlyman magic.

Girlyman (Nate Borofsky, Doris Muramatsu, and Ty Greenstein) hails from Atlanta, GA, though they formed the band while sharing an apartment in Brooklyn, NY. In 2004, Amy Ray signed Girlyman to her indie label, Daemon Records, and the following years brought long opening runs with Dar Williams and the Indigo Girls. The band now has a strong national following of its own, and spends a lot of time criss-crossing the country, playing to intensely loyal "girlyfans" who often travel hundreds of miles to see shows. In the past year, as headliners, Girlyman has sold out renowned venues such as The Barns at Wolftrap, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, and The Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, CA. The coming year will bring a trip to Mexico, as well as their first tour in the United Kingdom.

And the name? "It's great for us, provocative and playful," says Muramatsu. "It makes people laugh. But it also hints at how we've never quite fit in. Nate wears make-up onstage, I'm a Japanese-American playing to mostly white audiences. Ty is a grown-up tomboy. The name Girlyman lets us acknowledge that we're out of the mainstream, but without taking ourselves too seriously."

Girlyman has sold tens of thousands of copies of its three studio albums, and in 2008 the band released a fourth CD, Somewhere Different Now (live). Packed with 29 tracks, the latest album has it all: new, unrecorded songs, covers, hilarious banter, and improvised ditties. Somewhere Different Now is 76 minutes of pure, unleashed Girlyman, with all their intensity, levity, and harmony.