Local rockers Rayburn Brothers are all about brotherly love and harmony, but the whole thing actually started out as a Craig Rayburn solo project.
Craig has played music his whole life, but hadn’t until recently attempted a professionally recorded solo album—and it came out great, a nice blend of Americana, rock, and that ’70s California sound (Eagles, Jackson Browne). It even got the attention of KPIG.
“Three songs got on their playlist. They’re still playing them today, six or seven years later,” Craig says.
The only problem was that Craig didn’t have a live band, so he enlisted several musician friends, including his brother Keith, who’d recently moved back to the area. But Keith was not just another player, he was a competent singer-songwriter in his own right. In no time, the Craig Rayburn Band became the Rayburn Brothers Band—and the sound broadened to include elements of Latin and World Beat while still maintaining the essence of their acoustic-electric ’70s mellow, rootsy rock sound.
This isn’t the first time the Rayburns have played together. The two musicians actually learned how to write music with one another. They used to sing, write and harmonize together all the time back in high school, before Keith went on to be a doctor, and Craig a teacher.
“We love harmonies. I feel like two people singing together makes it great, like one and one is three. There’s something magical about harmonies. My brother and I sing together pretty good.”
By the time a new album of material was ready, it was released as the Rayburn Brothers, and the duo, along with their full band (seven members in total) are gigging regularly.
“We started together but then we were apart for a while and came back together for this,” Craig says.
INFO: 8 p.m. Thursday, March 12. Don Quixote’s, Highway 9, Felton. $10. 603-2294.
