LOS ANGELES (Top 40 Charts/ Saddle Creek) - Top Indie Rockers Bright Eyes' hit album "
Cassadaga" was born of a new perspective gained by front man
Conor Oberst after a life-changing visit to the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp.
Fronted by brooding and introspective Conor Oberst, Indie band Bright Eyes has been bathing an avid fan base in waves of melodic, thought -provoking angst and exasperation since 1988. The Bright Eyes aesthetic on past albums seemed to trace along the lines of midnight ramblings and the debris left behind by too many disappointments. Oberst's visit to Cassadaga and the insights he gained from messages he received from "the other side" seem to have changed all that.
Touring the continent seems to have broadened the Nebraska-based bands perceptions. The album is named after a small town in Florida - a long way from Omaha in terms of both miles and mentality. Oberst and his buds were advised to go to Cassadaga to experience the energy vortexes found there and wash away the limitations of the past and they have let us all in on the conversation as the track "Clairaudients" opens.
Located in the misty woods between Daytona Beach and Orlando, the tiny town of Cassadaga is a community of Spiritualist Mediums whose stock in trade is communication with the dead, as Oberst tells us in the lyrics of "Four Winds." It seems Oberst had a life changing experience in Cassadaga which influenced his website (https://www.thisisbrighteyes.com) as well as the lyrics and instrumentation on this album. "Interwoven physical, emotional, musical, political and spiritual journeys define (Oberst's) 27-year-old life," according to popular British paper The Sun.
Oberst and his band mates Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott have ventured away from the desolate mindscapes of the past with the Saddle Creek Records release "Cassadaga." Fans are enthusiastic about the newfound glimmer of hope underscored by female harmonies and inspired guitar work that mark a new level of sophistication, depth of field and breadth of emotion for Bright Eyes. The help and hope only hinted at in past offerings arrive fully formed in the tracks of "Cassadaga." "Weaving from romantic sagas to doomsday prophecies, Oberst delivers his most mature and connected work to date." - USA Today
Cassadaga is known the world over as a Mecca of sorts for Spiritualists, psychic mediums and healers. Founded in 1894 by George Colby as a winter retreat where Spiritualists, whose religion is based upon communication with those in the afterlife, could live and work together in a warm environment of peace and beauty, present day Cassadaga offers all that and more. Certified Mediums available for readings are listed daily in the Camp Welcome Center and Bookstore in the Andrew Jackson Davis Building. Information on seminars and workshops covering various topics of interest, Medium's Nights, walking tours of the Camp including night tours, Message Services and more is available at https://www.cassadaga.org.
