La Overtoner started as a solo acoustic sidearm of Johnny Kilgore, guitar/keyboardist of Berks County's Frog Holler. 2008's solo released EP was mostly an acoustic affair with some bass and percussion and two outstanding tracks featuring string arrangements. Eventually La O' morphed into an alternative folk pop band adding Dave Harborfield on hollowbody electric guitar, Billy Whalen on drums, and Ben Longenecker (EP's engineer) on bass with occasional guest appearances from Marie Chelius on violin.

The sound is creamy... in the best of ways. Driving rhythms, unpredictable chord changes, and evocative lyrical imagery marry the complex guitar melodies of Kilgore and Harborfield. But there is a darkness... underlying a lot of the lyrics and musical themes in the songs they write. The nature of time, wistfullness, and melancholy have their root among more prevalent ones like heartbreak and despair. In a parallel universe, they would be known as Big Star Kil Moon-Drake, as the guitar sounds and vocals attest to the dreamy and distorted.

 

myspace.com/laovertoner

laovertoner.com