Aurora

Aurora is a Progressive Rock band located in the Mid-Hudson Valley, around Red Hook, NY. We're three musicians who have been around for nearly a year and specialize in writing our own music but occasionally play a variety of Rush songs as well.

It was a dark and stormy night, and the horizon looked bleak for young Brian and Shannon, for not even Shannon's extraordinary ghost attraction powers could arouse a potential wilderness guardian. Stranded for days, miles from the bustling metropolis of Inuvik, NWT, Brian wished he had never believed Shannon's assertion that folk of Canadian Eskimo descent boasted the best in so-called "Fender-bender" guitar picks. One more bite of raw ruffed grouse, even without genuine Alaskan oil dressing, would be almost too much to endure.

Eventually the wandering wannabe musicians collapsed in a heap of snowy defeat, battered ruthlessly by the raging howling winds of despair that permeate, well, most everything north of Lake Erie. They were nearly desperate enough to touch each other's fingertips for warmth. Muttering the lyrics to "Working Man," which weren't much comfort at this point (what did he have to bitch about?), they gazed skyward, through breaks in the clouds, to find a brilliant emerald display of the northern lights. At first Shannon thought there was just a really cool garbage dump nearby, like in "The Mask," but then a mysterious sound emerged from the heavens.

And so the great god Moose appeared.

The gargantuan outline, fearsome and droop-nosed and described by so many Highway 60 motorists in their last words, was unmistakable. But this Moose smoked no cigars, hung out with no obnoxious squirrels, and was not interested in self-urination for mating purposes, nor leaving Tim Hortons timbits on the forest floor. Bold and sweeping, he grunted upon the fallen travelers and engaged them in a torrent of dreamfasting the likes of which had not been seen since Jen and Kira's in "The Dark Crystal." For his part, the great god Moose demonstrated that all moose were impoverished for lack of quality music in the world, ever since the birth of Britney Spears, and it was driving them to slam headfirst into passing SUVs. Brian and Shannon were captivated, especially Shannon, for the bass voice of the great diety seemed to hypnotize: "Now, you will play the instrument of my voice ... you will speak ... and you will be saved." To Brian he intoned, "You do whatever the hell you want, effects boy."

Per Stephen Hawking, a moose-pitched instrument materialized from nothing in Shannon's frostbitten hands, which were like, real cold without gloves, and the irresistable lure of large strings beneath her fingers brought them to life. Never again would she waste time on that lame six-string instrument, unless, of course, it was John Myung's. Brian was only too happy to continue in the vain vein of lead guitar. Bursting forth and instantly devising the intro lick to "Sir Jams a Lot," Shannon (or maybe the Moose god thing) seemed to electrify the mountainous landscape with blinding streaks of St. Elmo's Fire. The great god Moose bowed in gratitude and vanished, spontaneously teleporting the musical duo to a far warmer venue: the southern tip of Hudson's Bay. "Now go forth," echoed his solemn charge, "and find the damn drummer."

Oddly enough, a little town known as Moose Factory, Ontario lay nearby. It turned out a smart-assed neo-Objectivist named Rick had been abandoned at birth there, raised by moose rejects off the assembly line (those meese whose antlers came up a bit Regal Tip-shaped), so despite his self-demonizing interest in Ayn Rand, he adapted rather easily to the eccentricities of Brian and Shannon's newfound mysticism. Growing up beating on logs with shed antlers, drums and moose had congealed as one in his subconscious. He could occasionally be heard remarking, "The moose should be in 3/4, not 15/22," and "If I see one more drum head stuck on some idiot's living room wall, I'm gonna go so nuts, I'll get a job at IBM Poughkeepsie." His snowmobile, of course, sports a bumper sticker reading "Brake for MIDI convertors."

And so Aurora was born.

Whenever we get the chance we play live. Anytime, anywhere, you name the location and there's a good chance we'll play it!

Rush, Rush, Rush and, oh yeah... RUSH! We're also influenced by other Progressive Rock-like bands such as Dream Theater, Styx, Yes and Genesis.

Drums, Guitars and Bass. Oooh, how exciting! Specifically, Gibson Les Paul, Crate, Fender, Tama, Zildjian, others.

Well, I suppose I should warn everyone that the songs uploaded here are off our first "album" ... which is really more of a demo than an actual album. The quality's lacking a bit and, like most bands, this being our first album, it only shows our potential but is far from showing our true ability. Come see us live for the best possible Aurora experience.