Skin & Bones

Today we premiere a new song from California-based duo Skin & Bones. “Wait No More” highlights the spirited interplay of Taylor Borsuk (guitar, vocals, and suitcase drum) and Peter Blackwelder (violin). The pair first met after Blackwelder moved to California from North Carolina and Taylor had returned to the state following three months in Europe. Earlier this year Skin & Bones released an EP, Ghost in This Town, and opened a series of dates for Jackie Greene. In the interim, Borsuk and Blackwelder have continued to build supporters for their contemporary folk music.

Borsuk tells Relix that “Wait No More” is “really a song about the pursuit of freedom. I wasn’t necessarily aware of that when writing it, but it has become very clear to me now. I feel that freedom is a term that means something entirely different to each and every one of us. The thing that remains common is that in those fleeting moments, when you truly feel free, you are absolutely and entirely absorbed in happiness.”

Skin & Bones continue their monthly residency at Santa Barbara’s Seven Bar & Kitchen tonight (and next Monday. November 28) and will appear at Enegren Brewing Company in Moorpark, CA this Wednesday and Sunday (November 23 and 27) - Relix

Artist: Skin & Bones
Hometown: Venice Beach, CA
Song: "Act Tough"
Album: Wait No More EP
Release Date: Early 2017
In Their Words: "'Act Tough' is a testament to the dreamer. In one aspect, it's saying close your eyes, quiet the cynics, and just throw down. The other side highlights the struggle we have within ourselves on the daily to keep on keeping on." -- Taylor Borsuk - The Bluegrass Situation

Apparently, Americana is big in Japan . . . and Spain and Ireland and Germany, judging by the attention Moorpark’s Skin & Bones is getting, anyway. Can NPR be far behind? As the name suggests, austerity is the leitmotif and while the duo —Taylor Borsuk and Peter Blackwelder — look as if they could use a home-cooked meal, their sound is rich in its simplicity. Soulful guitar and fiddle work dance with deep and bluesy vocals adding tasteful nuance to what could, in less able hands, get lost in the growing pile of genericana. With an ambitious performance schedule, two full-length records to its credit — Skin & Bones and Someday Soon — and a new single, “Bad Feeling,” that, had it been released a year ago, we’d no doubt have heard on Sons of Anarchy, things are starting to get heavy for Skin & Bones. - VC Reporter

Skin & Bones are are a folk and blues duo that spent most of their beginnings busking under the sun in Venice Beach.

With a sound that consists of a distorted violin, sometimes played like a lead guitar, deep vocals, bluesy guitar riffs and suitcase drums, we’ve become rather fond of forthcoming single Bad Feeling.

Watch the video for it here and download it below. - Mad Mackerel

You probably wouldn’t expect to hear a mix of country and blues-folk music coming from around the Venice Beach, California area, but then again Peter Buckwelder (violin) and Taylor Borsuk (guitar, suitcase drums) aren’t exactly your typical Californians. As Skin & Bones, they’re creating knee-slapping music that is usually associated with the Deep South, such as on the uptempo but dark “Bad Feeling”. And like a screenplay for a western, the song builds and has a great flurry that you think is the ending. In a true cinematic quality, the song restarts to its glorious finish. Just awesome!

“Bad Feeling” can be downloaded for free by hitting the SoundCloud link. - The Revue

The duo from Venice Beach, Skin & Bones, released their latest single, “Pointing & Laughing,” from their upcoming untitled EP. Taylor Borsuk (guitar, vocals, suitcase drums) and Peter Blackwelder (violin), create folk-blues in Los Angeles with a hint of their soul from Tennessee. Borsuk’s low vocals resonate deep, and carries a personal touch, backed by Blackwelder’s country-home stringwork on violin, creating a blues atmosphere when combined. Skin & Bones offer simplicity with thoughtful placement, and genuine feelings on the track. The song is also a fresh reminder, musically, to take it slow during the busy course of life with the duo’s twang that hits home, acting as another reason to look forward to more new music from these gentlemen, and their folk-esque sound. - Girl Underground Music

Following their debut single Bad Feeling, Skin & Bones are showing further signs of impending stardom in their near future, with their latest track, Pointing & Laughing.On Pointing & Laughing we see a new side to Skin & Bones’ folk-rock stance. Now reflecting a blissful transition from folk-rock to a more crooning, folk stance, Pointing & Laughing mirror’s Alabama Shakes’ classic, Hold On. With an effortlessly perfected organisation of Taylor’s guitar and Peter’s violin, that combine to create a crescendo that rises high enough to remain within Pointing & Laughing’s calmer demeanour, Skin & Bones are showing rather rapidly, how they should immediately be given attention by just about every music outlet out there.

Also, they’re giving the track away for free, so grab it before they get signed and it’s taken down! - Velvet Independent

Acoustic guitar and violin playing together are always a winning combination. Venice Beach, CA. locals Skin & Bones definitely make it worth your time to stop and have a listen. Their new song “Pointing & Laughing” has the perfect balance of chugging instruments and anthemic vocals. The band got their start like most in Venice, playing on the boardwalk and the unique style and pairing with Peter Blackwelder on violin is quickly gaining a favorable reputation. If you want to catch them live, they’ll be touring all throughout Southern California till the end of the year, don’t miss out! - Hits In The Sticks

Uit Los Angeles komt het duo Skin & Bones, bestaande uit Taylor Borsuk (gitaar, zang en “suitcase drums”) en Peter Blackwelder (viool). Een paar dagen geleden stuurden ze ons hun liedje Pointing & Laughing toe. Na een eerste luisterbeurt was het meteen duidelijk dat we ‘m aan jullie moesten laten horen. Zodoende.

Taylor en Peter spelen veel op de straat. Voornamelijk aan de kust van Amerika, maar ook de straten van Duitsland. Zelf zeggen ze dat “their authentic twang bites like a stiff shot of Southern Comfort and is just as intoxicating.” Tja, Wat dat betekent weten wij ook niet zo goed. Maar dat het muzikaal goed zit, weten we wel. Een gitaartje dat niet zou misstaan bij Alabama Shakes en een stem die vast en zeker in de smaak valt bij liefhebbers van George Ezra. Voeg daar een catchy (Lumineers, Edward Sharpe) refreintje aan toe en Pointing & Laughing zou zomaar eens een hit kunnen worden. - Gobsmag

Other than having a predilection towards ampersands Skin & Bones is a bow-and-string-blues duo from the USA.
I must linger longer with Skin & Bones, for now, a track which surfaced on the 3rd – Pointing & Laughing. - Emerging Indie Bands

With roots in Venice Beach, California and soul from Tennessee, LA based bluesy duo Skin & Bones (Taylor Borsuk, Peter Blackwelder) recently dropped the fresh new track “Pointing and Laughing,” check it out below. - Ground Sounds

For fans of: The Lumineers; Edwarde Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros; Mumford & Sons

Putting a good spin on the beige age of acousto-pop and the modern hipster folk revival, Skin & Bones’ latest track ‘Pointing & Laughing’ is a track that manages to impress in spite of these roots.

It’s easy to hate acoustic or folk music now. With the likes of Mumford & Sons making it fashionably cool to simultaneously love and hate the genre, any band emerging with a sound like that now has an additional hurdle to overcome: how do you make it interesting?

For ‘Pointing & Laughing’, that comes from a strong sense of pop-tastic melody and a dominating violin section that blurs the lines between harmony and discordance. It sounds strange, but it’s definitely a selling point in this track. It’s not very often you find a track with something about it that makes you stop and wonder “who is this?“, and it’s even more special to find a track like that within this particular genre.

So with a strong chorus hook that holds hints of The Lumineers, a deeply satisfying vocal line and the attention-gripping violin melody, Skin & Bone have got a winner here. It’s modern folk worth listening to.

‘Pointing & Laughing’ is released on September 3. You can check out the band here. - Fresh Beats

California based duo Skin & Bones have showcased a new song ‘Bad Feeling’.

With a mixture of blues, rock, country and a seriously gorgeous southern sound, we immediately got excited when we heard the track. With melodic vocals that almost groove over the guitars and rhythm, basically it is a song that you need to hear. The band have also released a new video for the track via Youtube, along with the version you can stream via soundcloud below.

Skin & Bones is a folk/blues duo with hints of alt country and bluegrass. This cocktail of genres makes for an explosive live performance. Their sound consists of a distorted violin, sometimes played like a lead guitar, performed by Peter Blackwelder, and deep vocals, bluesy guitar riffs and a suitcase drum by Taylor Borsuk. The band released an album ‘Someday Soon’ in 2013, which is available from their website. - Rock and Roll Creations

Skin & Bones honed their sound busking in Southern California. The core of the group is Taylor Borsuk, who sings and plays guitar, and Peter Blackwelder, who plays the violin both in conventional and less conventional ways. For live shows, they sometimes call upon Amir Oosman (drums) and Bruce Stone (bass) to flesh out the sound. Their sound is bluesy, folky, and lo-fi. A particularly good introduction is the band' new single. Why is it a good introduction? Two reasons: (1) Very good song and very well performed; and (2) Free download. We have the Soundcloud stream with a download button below, as well as a video of Taylor and Peter performing "Bad Feeling" and "Fire". You also can check out their 2013 LP Someday Soon at their website link (the digital download is 'name your price'). Personally, I have a good feeling about this "Bad Feeling". - When You Motor Away...

Sit down, buckle up and brace yourself for this LA duo. Combining blues, folk, country and rock for a sound that’s between a crossover of Editors’ Tom Smith and Frank Turner, Taylor Borsuk and Peter Blackwelder’s Bad Feeling is a true masterpiece.

Instantly with Skin & Bones, the thought of a duo comprised of mainly a guitar and a violin is a strange prospect and doesn’t come across as being as exciting as it should. Bad Feeling is a hybrid of blues-rock and folk, readily loaded with an insanely mesmerising guitar hook that switches between jumping strings for riffs and sliding chords, before Taylor’s warm vocals conjure up an amplified tone similar to George Ezra’s, filled with greater maturity, sounding seasoned and perfected.

Taylor’s guitar playing and vocals are only half the magic on Bad Feeling however (literally). Peter’s violin work is quite simply, beautiful. When pieced together with Taylor’s guitar work, Peter’s violin magically boosts Bad Feeling to a entirely different realm. It’s a truly beautiful piece from this LA duo, yet beautiful sounds unfitting for such a fast paced, body shaking track. Let’s call it beautifully insane.

Bad Feeling is a free download via Skin & Bones soundcloud, while on the youtube link below, you can here a second track from the LA duo, the beautifully pieced together, Fire. - Velvet Independent

“Bad Feeling” is the debut single of Los Angeles folk/blues band Skin & Bones, comprised of Taylor Borsuk and Peter Blackwelder. The song is replete with catchy guitar licks, powerful violin, and a wayward whiskey soaked vocal with lyrics that chronicle themes of isolation, and a burning flame to live freely. The song is an uptempo barn burner that leaves everyone guessing for the next note. “Troubles always chasing / Troubles always dogging my soul / If trouble wants you, troubles gonna find you then wherever you go” sings Borsuk in an honest lived-in vocal. - Audio Cred

We began with a Good Feeling, and in name at least we end with a bad one, namely the new single from L.A. blues buskers Skin & Bones, entitled, well, Bad Feeling. Borne from the duo’s time busking in the burn of the Venice Beach sun, the track strides an attitudinous drive of lurching guitar scuzz, backed by the satisfying march of sparse, pounding drums.

Though it’d be unfair to call the track a reinvention of the genre, the twosome boast a titanic intensity to their staggering swagger, the opaque boom of Taylor Borsuk‘s vocal and Peter Blackwelder‘s mesmeric spins of dusty violin lending the track that extra lash of character to set them apart from the pretenders. - Get Into This

ギター/スーツケースドラムとバイオリンの組み合わせ好きです！

米ムアパーク出身のTaylor BorsukとPeter Blackwelderからなるブルース・フォークデュオ Skin & Bonesが、新曲'Bad Feeling'をフリーダウンロードで公開！

ダウンロードは上記プレーヤーからどうぞ！ - Niche Music

Comprised of Taylor Borsuk (vocals, guitar, drums) and Peter Blackwelder (violin), the Venice Beach, CA-based duo Skin & Bones first gained attention locally as local buskers performing country and blues tunes on Venice Beach’s renowned boardwalk. Their latest single “Bad Feeling” consists of Borsuk’s strummed rhythm guitar, Blackwelder’s violin played through various distortion pedals, much like a lead guitar, persistent yet simple rhythm and Borsch’s soulful croon. And much like the old Mississippi Delta blues songs and the old school country songs, the song thematically speaking, focuses on how unshakable damnation and bad luck that comes up when one recognizes that they live in a cruel and indifference universe — and they do so with an old school, badass swagger. - Joy Of Violent Movement

Tivemos o privilégio de escutar este single antes de seu lançamento e hoje temos o prazer de lançá-lo junto com a banda.
Conheçam Skin & Bones, um duo de folk e blues baseado em Los Angeles, Califórnia formado por Taylor Borsuk no vocal, guitarra e bateria e Peter Blackwelder no violino.

Com vocais profundos, a base do som é dada a partir de um belo violino distorcido e riffs de guitarra, e assim, depois de dois anos de trabalho, a dupla lança seu single de estréia Bad Feeling. O dedilhado grave da guitarra na melodia está ótimo! Garanto que os amantes do rock à moda antiga vão gostar ;)

Aproveitem! - Play My Tape

Featuring a distorted violin and bluesy guitar riffs, LA based blues/folk duo Skin & Bones (Taylor Borsuk, Peter Blackwelder) recently dropped the fresh new track “Bad Feeling.” Vocalist Taylor had this to say about the inspiration for the track:

“Three months of living in Germany. A simultaneously amazing and grueling culture shock, and complete isolation. All alongside a growing and loving relationship. As well as leaving everything you know including family and friends , and sort of realizing all the illegal, risky and awful choices and trouble you were getting into. Seeing your life from a new perspective”
Stream “Bad Feeling” below and look for more from the artist soon. - Ground Sounds

Skin & Bones es un dúo procedente de Moorpark (California) que factura una excelente mezcla de folk / blues con pinceladas de country alternativo y bluegrass. Formados en 2013 y con dos trabajos a sus espaldas, Skin & Bones y Someday soon, los californianos hacen valer uno de sus fuertes en sus actuaciones en directo. Con un nuevo EP bajo el brazo, desde Velvety proponemos la escucha de sus sonidos con raíces lleno de interesantes matices.

Explosivos y dando protagonismo a un violín distorsionado en algunos de sus temas, Skin & Bones lo componen Taylor Borsuk y Peter Blackwelder, aunque en sus directos se acompañan de Amir Oosman a la batería y Bruce Stone tocando el bajo.

Hoy sale a la venta su nueva referencia discográfica en forma de EP cuyo primer single es el bluesero y recomendable tema Bad feeling. Guitarra y violín aunados por una entregada voz y unos afilados riffs que recorren todo el tema. De regalo añadimos su versión en directo aderezada con uno de sus temas anteriores, Fire, una canción más folk que interpretan a continuación del citado single. Para profundizar en su sonido podéis visitar su página web y por supuesto no perderles la pista bajo ningún concepto. - Velvety