"You can call it Newgrass or 'Folk-Rock With Teeth', (the band's description), but the label hardly matters. The Northern Skies takes bluegrass, Americana, and Celtic music and pours it through an indie rock funnel to distill something that sounds like a party out in the back yard. And yes, there is moonshine at that party".
-Revue Magazine Grand Rapids, MI

Awash in Americana instrumentation and modern songwriting, the new disc from GR/Detroit six-piece, recorded by Sweet Japonic’s Roy Wallace, is an up-north front porch masterpiece. The key word is “beautiful” – even during the more serious moments, the vocals and the instruments work together in perfect synchronicity (if not perfect tune), firmly wringing every ounce of rhythm and melody that the song will support. This is a very reverent album – reverent to the power of music, and lyrically nostalgic for the present moment."
— Ryan Cunningham

"It's Engblade's clear, strong vocals give power to his lyrics. His voice ranges from the gentle tones of a balladeer to insistent gutteral growls. ...fused even with the most despairing of lyrics is a dauntless energy."
- Sarah Jensen,

The "Van Called Morrison" gets a real workout when The Northern Skies goes on the road to perform. Not only does the cleverly titled vehicle transport members of the Michigan band and their gear, but it serves as makeshift rehearsal space for the folk-rockers as they work on new material. "We'll sit around and ... we'll try to at least work through the tunes and then try them live," said guitarist and banjo player Eric Engblade of Grand Rapids, the group's principal songwriter. "Since we're gone about every weekend, we just get it (practice time) where we can get it." On-the-road rehearsals make sense because group members are spread across the state: Engblade in Grand Rapids, drummer Paul Wozniak in Lansing, and violinist Emily Carlson and bassist Nicholas Cole-Klaes in metro Detroit.

Despite all the road miles, the eclectic, rootsy band is committed to expanding its fan base regionally and has even booked a May tour on the East Coast, with a new album likely to get released early next year. It even reshuffled its lineup recently to "focus on doing it" full-time, Engblade said. Engblade, a Ludington native who started the band (originally named Drake) about six years ago with Nathan Schleicher when they were camp counselors together, said momentum is building for the group, which meshes newgrass, indie-rock, Celtic music, Americana and folk.

"We're branching out and doing bigger things," said Englade, 28, who also plays occasional solo gigs and dates with Hannah Rose & the Gravestones. "The Northern Skies is our main project."The band performs Saturday night at Holland's CityVu Bistro as part of that city's annual GrooveWalk, with 11 bands playing 11 different downtown venues. In addition to several Michigan groups, this year's event spotlights acts from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, with genres ranging from rock to hip-hop to soul. "There's so much going on, we're excited to be part of it," Engblade said of Holland's GrooveWalk. The Northern Skies' 2009 album earned high praise from regional publications for its bluegrass-hued folk-rock. Engblade said its next CD will reflect music that's "a little bit more developed" in nature. "I think our new record will be a mix of everything we've done the past few years and adding onto that with our collective influences like modern indie-rock and newgrass," he said, noting the band recently released an online single, "The Northern Islander," that will appear on the upcoming album. "We've managed to get different styles together and have them sonically be cohesive."
- John Sinkevics

What's in a brand name? For Northern Skies, it's about honest music that looks inward - without the stereotypes that dog well-worn terms like "folk-rock."
That's why the Detroit- and Grand Rapids-based band likes to brand its music as "folk-rock with teeth," bassist Nic Cole says.
"Our songs are deceptively introspective," he says.
"Eric has this way of writing that reflects, without you knowing it," he says of Eric Engblade, the group's singer and multi-instrumentalist.
"He has this song, 'On Again, Off Again,' that talks about the cycles of life, really, that we see of each other. In that way, it's introspective, but with strong hooks that get you listening."
But the audience will hear enough reference points to figure out what inspires the band when it performs Saturday at The Livery.
"We try to combine our originals with some familiar covers - we take everything in our own way," Cole says. "We do the Talking Heads tune 'Burning Down the House,' we do some Bob Marley, and it all segues into our music."
Further clues can be found in songs like "All Things Change," which is driven by a lively, Americana-, bluegrass- and Celtic-infused sound.
The chorus's theme of being "stuck in the middle of choice and change" is also appropriate for a band that's has had to find a different name and has trimmed from its original five-piece lineup to the current trio of Cole, Engblade and drummer Paul Wozniak.
The biggest changes came last fall, when guitarist Nathan Schleicher left the band he co-founded in 2007 with Engblade. His departure was followed by violinist Emily Carlson, who left last summer to take an internship. (The group is looking for another violinist, Cole says.)
"The trio thing, it's been weird to adapt to," Cole says. "We've all had to intensify our playing, but with time, we've gotten used to it. As a bass player, I get to cover a bunch of guitar lines. The amount of sound you can get from a three-piece, when you've got solid players, is really surprising. Everybody in the band is great at playing melodically."
From Cole's perspective, the new lineup's biggest challenge has been resisting the temptation to fill every space of sonic real estate that happens to be available.
"One thing is, we almost got a little bit too busy (in the old lineup)," he says. "We had two guitars, (and) sometimes mandolin, banjo and violin all going at the same time. It's a lot of information for people to absorb."
Another challenge occurred about two years ago. Originally, the group started as Drake, in honor of British cult singer-songwriter Nick Drake, who died in 1973. However, a Canadian hip-hopper - who also called himself Drake - took exception and forced the name change.
The group responded by taking its new name from "Northern Sky," which appeared on the British-born Drake's 1970 album, "Bryter Later," and has been featured in the romantic comedy soundtracks for "Serendipity" (2000) and "Fever Pitch" (2005).
"We mark that (change) as the beginning of this band," Cole says. "It's not the best (situation), but we're happy with the new name - and this way, Drake the rapper knows that we exist."
Plans call for recording a third album, followed by a tour in May that covers 24 cities in 28 days.
However, that regimen seems more civilized than the schedules that Cole and Engblade had to juggle during their college days in Chicago.
"We were always commuting back and forth to gigs," Cole says. "Man, my teacher was always on me: 'You can't retake that final?' 'Are you kidding me? I have a career!' People would schedule gigs in the middle of the week, so I'd find myself on a late train out and an early train back."
Eventually, the strain got to Cole, who dropped out a year into his music major.
"Eric finished at DePaul (University) as a religious studies major," Cole says. "If you're going to be a performing musician, you have to be so familiar with the business (and) how to play with a group, not be a strong soloist."
Despite the challenges they've faced, Cole considers himself lucky to be doing what he loves best.
Going to a trio "certainly wasn't an ideal situation, or our choice, necessarily," Cole says. "But overall, it's been an OK shift. That seems to be the biggest thing - if you keep going, and going, and going, eventually, you'll be where you want."


-Raplh Heibutzki
Benton Harbor, MI