Biography
The trio Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans, and Gregory Rogove took the name Priestbird after recording and performing earlier as Tarantula A.D. In that prior form the group operated as an instrumental progressive rock outfit and delivered the 2005 album Book of Sand via Kemado Records. Their fanciful press biography recounted a “vicious break-up” that sent one member to Argentina to join a tango band, another to Italy as a semi-professional soccer player, and the last to the Himalayas to seek refuge in Shiva. After spending a year apart, the three reconvened in New York City, moved toward a more straightforward rock style, added vocals, and cut their first album under the Priestbird banner, In Your Time. On that release Bensi supplied cello, violin, piano, guitar, bass, organ, and banjo; Jurriaans handled double-neck guitar, bass, and sarod; and Rogove played drums, percussion, piano, organ, flute, and the forks. Kemado brought out In Your Time on April 17, 2007, after Priestbird had supported the Sword on a spring tour. The band next logged several weeks of shows across Europe before returning for further American dates with Pit Er Pat.
Albums