Losing focus happens after facing complications on tour. Things like schedules, travel time, food, money and occasionally, unexpected injuries can derail bands from touring. But for Buck and Shanti Curran, members of the indie/folk duo Arborea, losing focus isn’t an issue. Arborea has been touring the U.S. since April on their Red Planet Tour. On October 3, the Velour music venue experienced one of many stops for this band hailing from Maine.
“They are great musicians. They play well together and really know their music,” said Mathew Gholdston of The Delphic Quorum who opened at Velour for the couple.
According to Buck and Shanti, the name of their tour is not supposed to be in honor of the planet, but rather in memory of a photograph of a beach.
“That red sunset left me with a feeling of what Earth may look like in 1,000 years,” Buck said. “It was that intense feeling we wanted to recreate for others.”
They began touring in February but had to stop due to illness. After recovering and spending 37 days playing at events in Europe, they began their Red Planet Tour.
“Globally we’re at a point ready to explode-politically, socially, spiritually,” Shanti said. “And this is our way to express how we feel about things.”
Others agree that Arborea has a great thing going on.
“I became an instant fan. Hearing them live is much better than what I heard online,” said Glen Goss of The Delphic Quorum.
According to Buck, the ambient and melodic lyrics are supposed to resonate that same feeling portrayed in the title for the tour.
“The music was eerie,” said Lauren Hoyt, lead singer of Desmond Mar, which also played with them at Velour. “But in a good way.”
One of the few problems that has come up because of traveling was their transportation.
“We started with a van that had no A/C. This was extremely uncomfortable during the summer season,” Shanti said. “ When we got to Ohio, without a second thought, we bought a new one.”
According to the couple, their children have not been difficult to bring along and are very bright.
“We home-school them,” Buck said. “We have even seen their musical ears getting better.”
