It’s partnership on making music. But like many, before making music they were fans of music.
Both Curtiss O’Rorke Stedman and Jordan Baron had their own individual upbringings loaded with song, Baron originally from Tennessee having solid memories of digging on whatever was coming out of his parents’ car radio, ultimately ending up with a guitar and figuring out chords based on three-part harmonies. Stedman had a similar rearing in Michigan, digging on the radio, rifling through his parents’ record collection, and ultimately eyeballing and listening to a campground jam while at a festival, something he wanted to be a part of.
Those early memories were enough for the two to want to figure out how to make music full time, and that want – or as Baron calls it, a “passionate pursuit” – kicked into overdrive when the two met in Alaska in 2015. With Stedman making music under the name Cousin Curtiss and Baron under the name Harrison B., they started playing together in 2019 and it’s since been a productive and rocking partnership.
If you go
WHAT: Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B, opening is Cody Tinnin and Tashi T.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Feb. 20.
WHERE: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.animascitytheatre.com.
Cousin Curtiss and Harrison B. will perform Feb. 20 at the Animas City Theatre.
They were running in the same musical circles and realized they may as well join forces, which they did.
“We became (part) of each other’s music, started touring some of the same places, sharing venues, that sort of thing. Eventually, we looked around and realized we were the two taking it dead serious,” Harrison B. said. “He was real serious about doing this, about making it his work. I felt the same way, and it became pretty easy to just saddle up together and tackle this thing.”
“It’s been one of those things where not only do we get along musically, but there is so much downtime and I think that can make or break some relationships, especially in bands,” Cousin Curtiss added. “We see eye to eye on a lot of different things, we enjoy a lot of the same hobbies, we work together well and play to each other’s strengths, both on the stage and off the stage, so its been extremely fruitful.”
In a genre-categorized record store, you’d likely find their music under blues, but there’s a boogie vibe to the duo as they dig into sounds that are aggressive and raw, coming off with a punky and do-it-yourself vibe. There’s also a subtle, revival and gospel sound to their music, while the duo also digs into laid back, rootsy Americana. It’s a big and full-band sound coming from only two people, one armed with an acoustic guitar and a kick drum at his feet, the other with an electric guitar.
“We started off with calling it like a blend of blues and bluegrass, and now I think we’re trending toward calling it ‘rocky-grass,’” Cousin Curtiss said. “Some of it is still rooted in the acoustic, but there’s an electric influence, and a bass influence his (Harrison B.) guitar’s able to produce. We’re figuring it out, too.”
Most recent recorded works for the duo include the 2023 EP, as well as the filmed “Seattle Sessions,” the latter being a short concert and interview video that features the duo performing and being interviewed in Harrison’s now home of Seattle. It’s a solid sampling of the duo’s sound, however, the band is eyeballing getting back into the studio if and when they choose to take a break from the road.
“We have some things in the works, and we look forward to being able to represent what people have been experiencing live for a couple of years, which is a really big and full sound,” Harrison B. said. “That’s in the works for moving forward.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
