The Kin in Sydney Morning Herald Click here to read the article online. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Newtown, that is. After all, it seems brothers Thorry and Isaac Koren already have the New York thing wrapped up. Six years of working to build a substantial audience base in the Big Apple is paying dividends for the good-looking duo who play their epic folk-rock tunes as the Kin. They regularly pack the Bowery Ballroom and other big venues in Manhattan and have just completed a national tour to promote their exuberantly reviewed CD, Rise and Fall. Their songs are being used in four TV soundtracks. But instead of acting on some of their burgeoning options in the US, the Adelaide-born musicians will play the Vanguard after they make their Australian debut together at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland over the New Year. "We're excited at the opportunity, we've thought about this a lot," says 26-year-old Thorry over a flat white in an Australian-run cafe in Manhattan. His 28-year-old brother explains their US management understandably doesn't see the attraction of heading to Australia for just a few gigs when the Kin seems poised to break through in America but "it's exciting to be going home", Isaac says. Coogee was home for the brothers in their teenage years. Thorry attended Newtown's School of the Performing Arts while Isaac completed high school at Sydney Boys'. As kids, first in suburban Adelaide then Sydney, they were surrounded by music. Their mother, Madeleine McRae, was in the Australian touring cast of the original production of Hair and their father Mils Koren's family was musical through the generations, but there was never a grand plan for the talented brothers to ship off to New York to make their mark. "It's all accidental," Isaac says. Their mother's relocation to New York to pursue an acting career led to Thorry's move - he finished high school at the so-called "Fame" school for the arts in Manhattan - while Isaac linked up with his sibling around 2001 after completing university studies he had started in Australia at an American university. "We hadn't played together at all," Thorry says. But they were "forced" to collaborate on a song put together as "a wedding present" for their father. It was immediately obvious they had a special quality as a duo. After recording the atmospheric Rise and Fall last year in a 250-year-old Pennsylvanian farmhouse, they secured a distribution deal and new management and have found themselves charging headlong towards mainstream success. The brothers' towering voices and carefully crafted songs make them standouts in the best company. Recently they've been regularly playing with a drummer but plan to blossom into a four-piece band for the Vanguard show. Despite launching their career in New York, the brothers feel wistfully Australian, having benefitted from the support of the small but growing "Australian mafia" running bars and restaurants in downtown Manhattan and getting regular updates from home.
"Our grandmother sends us press clippings about successful Australian bands. She knows more about Wolfmother than anybody," Isaac says. CHICAGO, IL- CW9 Performance October 4th, 2007 Lunchbreak Performance NEW YORK, NY- CW11 Appearance August 27th, 2007 Spotlight on The Kin PHILADELPHIA, PA- ABC 6 August 18th, 2007 Tuned In to The Kin
The Kin are a pair of brothers from Australia who have been blazing up local venues in the pursuit to make their sound known here in the States.
Click HERE to watch The Kin's performance on ABC 6 Billboard Magazine July 21st, 2007 Producers: Nic Hard, The Kin THE KIN Producer(s): Writers: I. Koren, T. Koren Publisher: Alethia Genre: NEW & NOTEWORTHY Label: Aletheia Entertainment
From second album "Rise and Fall," Aussie duo's launch single exemplifies the partnership between brothers, as haunting reverberated harmonies flow through the ultimate irony: rich minimalism. Pulsating guitars and gliding strings tie together the simple, serene words of "blue on Blue," leaving an elegant melodic tap dance in the brain. A refreshing sound, the song hints at nostalgic folk, while bearing an overall alternative bent. Wholly promising. Source: Billboard.com THE KIN See (3:47) Soulful is the word critics keep repeating to praise the talents of Isaac and Thorry Koren, who front rock/pop act The Kin. The Australian siblings have a radiant gift for songwriting and performing that infuses their live shows and is winning believers in clubs across the United States, including their recent gig at Billboard Underground at New York's Core Club. Spirited guitars and softly humming Wurlitzer animate midtempo track "See" and buffer its dreamy, free-falling melody. The Koren brothers' trump cards are their vocals and dual harmonies - unaffected and quietly passionate. Hearing their partnership is a humbling experience. -CLT Show UR Love - Interview: Brenda with The Kin Causing a Scene - The Kin's Word-of-Mouth Revolution The Kin makes music meant for cross-country road-trips. Their albums are full of big, flowing, occasionally tortured but ultimately feel-good songs with inspirational titles like “Arise,” “See,” and “Go.” |
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