Wielding an eclectic collection of instruments between them, members of A Story Told shared their ambient folk rock sound Saturday night downstairs at Horizon Books.
The most recent band in a ten-year run of live music every weekend evening in the Shine Café, A Story Told performed at the venue for the third time since the duo formed in 2005. Swapping the djembe drum and acoustic guitar, Steven Leaf also played the banjo and electric guitar while Chris Dorman played the hammer dulcimer. Weaving their voices together in harmony or diverging to counterpoint, they also passed lead and back-up vocal duties between them.
"We just use the instruments that aim for the sound we want to make as a whole,” said Leaf, a senior at Michigan State University. "I'm around these instruments every week but then we play with people who are, 'What's that?' It's a hammer dulcimer.”
The Lansing-based pair writes all their own songs and released their first CD last summer, with plans for more releases later this year. A Story Told's repertoire delves into Dorman's and Leaf's personal experiences and interests, with Dorman heavy on emotions and Leaf leaning more toward history and current events.
"A lot of my songs are about the emotional process, the universal trait to want to express yourself,” said Dorman, who has been performing solo for six years. "Each song is built in its own way and often one of us will bring an idea to the table and from there we sort of rearrange, build and spice it up.”
A Story Told toured extensively around Michigan, Chicago, Madison, Wisc., and Toledo last year after the CD release, building a loyal following while connecting with people and overall relishing their life.
"In Madison our gig got cancelled so we ended up playing on this pedestrian mall on State Street,” recalled Dorman. "Not only did we make enough money to get home, we made friends. And Toledo has become like a second home to us.”
"That's the best part about traveling with music: making friends,” he added.
The duo linked up at a songwriter's collective organized by Dorman; only Leaf and former bandmember Chris Linsell showed up for the event but A Story Told grew out of it. Linsell has since moved on but Dorman and Leaf continue performing, writing and recording together.
Rooted in traditional music, the band strives to be original, to try new things.
"When we hear a person at a show say, 'Wow, I've never heard something quite like that,' it means a lot to us, it's a high compliment,” noted Dorman.
In its fifth decade, Horizon Books moved to its current location in Traverse City in 1993 and opened the lower level to music ten years ago. Ever since, the store has offered live music every Friday and Saturday nights in a no smoking, no alcohol, family-friendly atmosphere. An anchor of the venue has been Songwriters in the Round, who signed on right away and for ten years members have performed together monthly in small groups.
"It's really a community service in our mind, we do pay the performers although not a lot so we're in cahoots together to make sure we have an audience,” said Amy Reynolds, sales manager of Horizon Books.
The Shine Café space has built up a reputation over the years and now out-of-area bands contact Horizon Books to solicit bookings. Local bands on the schedule range from junior high school ensembles making their debut to Baby Boomers revisiting classic licks.
"Gosh, we've have had so much go on in that lower level: music, plays, fashion shows, dance recitals … just this past Sunday we had a baby shower, junior chess and Scrabble at the same time,” added Reynolds. "We designed this lower level to be flexible and to be an answer to what the community needs.”
For more information on A Story Told, see their Web site at www.myspace.com/astorytold2u. For more information on upcoming events at the Horizon Books Shine Café, see their Web site at www.horizonbooks.com.