Braille Illustrated
"Braille Illustrated creates a heavy blend of Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead in its mostly original sets." - Chad V
Braille Illustrated is the sound of a demon, a hobo, and a yeti, all living together in glorious cacophony, creating alt-rock with hints of the Smashing Pumpkins and The Doors. They can be seen performing anywhere and anytime they're booked, usually displaying a dry sense of humor and a sharp sense of irony.
Braille Illustrated was formed in 2000 by long-time friends Adam Hurlburt, Blake Connolly, and Devin Kirby-Hansen. For a while they toiled without a drummer, until Al Raymond was given the chance to put down his saxaphone and provide percussive concussions for the group. After that, they only wrote songs that rocked, and never played without him again.
After "totally dominating" their high school variety show, Braille Illustrated set it's keen sights on the teen scene, generating themed steam and creamed jeans in their high-energy, high-electricity-bill shows, performing first at a local dive (which, due to managing conflicts shall not ever be named ever again,) and then at Lumpy's, The Other Side, The Lulac Club, local graduation parties, and even places as far away as Simpson College in Indianolo, Iowa.
Braille Illustrated has shared the bill with numerous local acts, including Lazy Susan, The One Night Standards, and The Metrolites. Early shows were shared with bands like the late Synical and Antipop, both of which are sorely missed.
Band Members
Al Raymond, drums: played in the Sin City Orchestra with his sax teacher Neal Smith, and more than covered bass duties in the bands Synical and Antipop (both are DOA). He's currently attending UNI for a Computer Science degree. In his off time, he enjoys doing whatever we tell him to, and making off-color jokes about his totally fictional character, Lepresaurus, "the only dinosaur to ever get leprosy."
Adam Hurlburt, guitar: has an intense interest in Volkswagon cars and voyeur taxidermy. Adam specializes in harassing the ears of the audience. He is currently attending Kirkwood in Iowa City until the University of Iowa will allow ruffians like him in.
Devin Kirby-Hansen, bass: played in the band Catseye, and currently also plays bass in The Metrolites. Devin's interests include short walks off of long piers and cattle mutilation retaliation ("Damn you alien bastards, damn you!"). He currently attends the University of Iowa, with no major in sight.
Press
"Mr. Kirby-Hansen and drummer Al Raymond moonlight as members of
other bands and share the stage with some pretty impressive company.
The former sits in on bass with the hep cats in The Metrolites,
while the latter is an accomplished sax player and student of Mr.
Smith who previously played with the Sin City Orchestra. 'Braille
Illustrated is our garage outlet,' Mr. Kirby-Hansen said, commenting
that the guys would like to see more bands like them on the scene.'"
- Chad V
http://findusat309.com/articles/2004/Braille_Illustrated.html
Booking
Devin Kirby-Hansen flyingzombi@mchsi.com
2624 Wilkes
Davenport, IA 52804
Devin Kirby-Hansen at the Moline Community Center.