Nessie & Her Beard are an avant-pop band from Santa Cruz, California. The band revolves around Nessie, who sings and whistles and plays keyboards, ukulele, harmonica, and percussions. Her Beard's identities are generally withheld, but they play instruments like glockenspiel, boobams, and live electronics. Nessie & Her Beard have resided and recorded in Santa Cruz since 2006, but only began performing here in 2010 after making friends with Harlequin Baby. They've previously had shows in San Jose, Santa Clara, and San Francisco.
Herstory[]
The earliest known reference to Nessie & Her Beard comes from Orchestral Colour Records, who released N&HB's first album BOLD/HARD in September 2007. Nessie & Her Beard's first public appearance accompanied the release of the album with a show at OCR headquarters in San Jose. BOLD/HARD features Nessie's distinct singing backed by concrete and abstract electro-acoustic sounds, which are often both ambient and noisy. N&HB's live shows have demonstrated an enthusiasm for 20th century pop music, ranging from Tin Pan Alley to the New Wave. Subsequent single and album releases have reflected this influence without shying away from the bold experimentalism of their earlier work. Nessie & Her Beard's recorded output has slowed down since Nessie joined Gay Genius, but a new album of exotica standards is in the works. Nessie is best known in Santa Cruz for busking on Pacific Avenue with her Casiotone.
Discography[]
BOLD/HARD (LP), 2007, Orchestral Colour Records
Semi-Sweet-Popsicle (Single), 2008, Orchestral Colour Records
Santa's Fantastic Factory (Single), 2008, Orchestral Colour Records
Antigua y Barbuda (EP), 2009, Orchestral Colour Records
Bocarriba (Single), 2010, Orchestral Colour Records
External Links[]
Official site: Orchestral Colour Records
Fansite: Nessie Sightings
Nessie's Youtube channel: Nessie Sanzerbeard
Facebook: Nessie & Her Beard