Their style of upbeat music combined with downtrodden lyrics is reminiscent of the mid-90’s Counting Crows or Soul Asylum combined with the modern The Head and The Heart or Silver Sun Pickups. They are an indie rock/alt-country band fronted by the husband and wife duo of Aaron and Rebecca Skiles. With over 20 years of experience as “just the bass player,” Aaron decided to step out on his own.īourbon Therapy is based in Oakland, California. After picking up the bass as a freshman at the United States Military Academy, West Point, Aaron bounced around in various rock bands from Seattle to Baltimore to New York to San Francisco. I look forward to hearing what Bourbon Therapy does moving forward.īourbon Therapy was born out of Aaron Skiles’s realization that the best therapy may just be music…and bourbon doesn’t hurt either. In total, The You & Me Piano is a family affair that delivers an intimate aesthetic that reflects the reality that bands have encountered during the pandemic: without the ability to write and record collectively, you do what you must to keep forging ahead creatively speaking. In The End, completes the EP and sits nicely with the other offerings, and even adds some haunting vocals from the Skiles’ 11-year-old daughter. If I close my eyes I’m standing in the dark. “ When I close my eyes there’s a world that don’t exist here anymore.

There are harmonica flourishes throughout that capitulate the vocal refrains that deal with themes of disagreement, distance, and change. “In The Dark” continues with a soft vocal timbre and the steady piano chord pacing that ties this EP together. I feel like this song and section are the highlights of The You & Me Piano because sometimes there are sentiments that you just can’t convey with verses and choruses, you need a vamp. The song then transitions into a long refrain that features a nice blend of vocals, strings, and grand piano. The You & Me Piano opens with “ In the Light” and moves swiftly through verses that evoke the journey that the band and many of us have been on in recent months: “ We hold the light and shine it on our fears until they die. In the words of Aaron Skiles “We wanted to give it a feel as if we were in our living room, stuck due to quarantine, and just singing these songs in their rawest form.” The duo succeeds at creating and maintaining an emotional space that invites the listener into a collective feel. Where Bourbon Therapy normally performs as a sextet, The You & Me Piano features Aaron and Rebecca Skiles as an intimate two-piece meditating on beginnings and endings with only grand piano, harmonica, and synth accompanying their vocals.

As I have noticed in my own life, this isn’t such a bad thing. San Francisco’s Bourbon Therapy has released a three-song EP that has emerged from the pandemic like many things broken down and simplified from last year.

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