Singer and guitarist Taylor Reed doesn't listen to most of the bands that Cordelane gets compared to. She hasn't even heard them, in fact. So when people say her band is like Coldplay minus the British accents and influences plus a female singer minus that symphonic stuff, it might as well be, well, math. She listens to Broadway show tunes and old jazz records. She studies Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, not Jenny Lewis and Liz Phair.

And that drives Cordelane's music. Her voice is clear, strong and honest, without the snarl so obligatory in modern indie rock. It's reminiscent of pop songs and torch singers, not Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna. And the instrumentation (provided by guitarist Mark Sonnabaum, bassist Andrew Binovi and drummer Jason McMullen) never crowds her voice, letting it and her lyrics guide the songs. This is simple music, but not too simple. Sparse, but not boring. Unadorned, yet complex. It's melodic and slow, with country influences, but doesn't sacrifice rock music's intensity and passionate expressions. But this isn't a female singer/ songwriter and her backup band. Cordelane is a band that just happens to have a female singer/ songwriter.

Reed began recording songs with a computer microphone in her living room in Seattle. A mutual friend gave Sonnabaum a copy of the CD, which contained the song "Skeleton Crew" by his band ENIAC, and he told her if she ever came to Texas, he'd start a band with her. He also gave her CD to Josh Venable, who hosts The Adventure Club, an indie and local music program on KDGE-FM 102.1 "The Edge" in Dallas. By the end of 2002, Reed had moved to Denton and the song "Top Three" had placed 17th on The Adventure Club's yearly countdown. Binovi (formerly of Dallas punk band Lucy Loves Schroeder) joined in Fall 2003 with McMullen (of Denton's Raised by Tigers) following in Fall 2004, giving Reed what she's always wanted: A band that can write songs together, a band that can record and tour, a real band.

Information from the band's site

Musicians

• Taylor Reed: lead vocals, vocals
• Mark Sonnabaum: guitar
• Andrew Binovi: bass
• Jason McMullen: drums

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Annie150, Beth_McCabe, KateAndria, Room203, mikalbeth

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