"Sound of Home" is more than just the title of the second album from Blackwater Railroad Company.
Released last month, the record's name is really more of a collective motto.
With members coming from places including Massachusetts, North Carolina, Arizona and Texas, the group individually migrated to Seward, where they formed and originated their unique blend of folk-rock, country, bluegrass and R&B.
"That's the idea behind the album 'Sound of Home,' " said de facto member JW Frye, who manages the group and also contributed to the songwriting on the most recent release. "We've all lived in these disparate places and have a lot of musical and cultural influences. The neat thing about this is we brought these things and they've matured and became what they are now -- Blackwater in Alaska."
The band formed, in large part, through meetings at open mic night at Seward's Yukon Bar.
Bassist Andy Zamarripa was a regular at the open mic and took notice when singer-guitarist Tyson Davis got onstage to perform a few songs.
"He came in and played a few songs and totally blew me away," Zamarripa said. "I approached him and asked him to start a band. I never saw him again for another year and again I approached him and said, 'We need to start a band.' "
Davis had been playing informally with cellist Katy Larkin, and Zamarripa and fiddle player Noah Hull Diamond had also been jamming together. When the two duos merged, the bulk of the group was formed, but there was still a missing piece.
"There's this guy, Isaac London," Diamond recalled telling his bandmates. "He's the bomb at karaoke. We went to (the karaoke night) concertedly to hunt him down."
With London, the band added a dynamic vocalist and even more musical range.
The band formed officially in the winter of 2012 and began playing and working on songs for what would become their self-titled debut album.
The band was a bit of an audio enigma: part rock band, part folk act with jolts of soul from London's vocals and murmurs of mystery from Larkin's strings.
"Since we all have different backgrounds, musically, some of our songs sound really country or bluegrass," Diamond said. "That might be Andy's bass and my fiddle coming through. Katy's got this insane classical training under her belt. The (songs) that are more melodic, that's coming straight from her cello line. It's not just an eclectic bunching of songs but every song kind of has an eclectic bunching of styles in it."
Vocally, the band's diversity is its greatest strength. Although Davis sings lead on most songs, London and Zamarippa both taking turns at the helm with the two odd men out stacking harmonies on nearly every song.
"We've been playing together long enough, we're falling into a solid place," London said. "It's easier for us to find those awesome little harmonies and just have fun."
Davis handles most of the group's original songwriting, but nearly every band member contributes in workshopping the songs, including Frye, who co-wrote songs with Davis for the new album.
"Andy or JW or I will come up with a kernel, come up with a skeleton of a song and all of a sudden it comes to life," Davis said. "We don't premeditate much at all. We get together and they fall together naturally."
When it comes to songwriting, the band leans heavily on the folk tradition: tales of wanderlust or ballads starring charcoal protagonists.
"It's the result of conversations and storytelling within the group that makes its way to a more finished, collaborative campfire story," Frye said.
For "Sound of Home," the group ventured last winter to the cabin of friend Sunrisa Mack-Hansen to record. To capture a vital sound, the band recorded mostly live without click tracks.
"We charged all of our gear by generator," Larkin said. "It was in the wintertime so it was dark and we were recording by candlelight. We were all together in this small, intimate space. I really feel like recording in that environment really captured the emotion of what we were trying to say and really communicated that authenticity and appreciation and connected with something we thought we'd lost."
To promote the album, Blackwater embarked on a nearly three-week tour of the state, playing on almost a daily basis in over a half-dozen cities.
They've also tried to bring to Alaska some of the musical opportunities they've been afforded in the state. For example, a Seward venue purchased them a PA system, allowing the band to pay it off by playing shows.
"We used the tour as a jump-off point for starting our youth music program around the state," Larkin said. "We started at the Teen Youth Center in Seward, where musicians would spend time with the kids and have resources to support and foster music in the next generation."
Larkin said they've taken the same model, which includes donated instruments, into partnerships in both Fairbanks and Homer.
"The idea is, with the economy as it is right now, the thing that's getting cut first in school is arts education," Frye said, "access to instruments, especially in the villages and (rural places near) Fairbanks. The access to instruments and instruction has dwindled."
The band has gained steam throughout the state as an energetic live act with a catalog of covers, often featuring London's dynamic vocals, that ranges from Lionel Ritchie to Madonna. They've even gained fans from among some of the most discerning musical fans -- Alaskan youths and skeptical bosses.
"We have a friend who lives down by Westchester Lagoon," Diamond said. "He was out on the trail and saw three skateboarders and one of them was rocking a Blackwater T-shirt … I work for the grumpiest old bastard there is and he begrudgingly said, 'My wife and I love your album. We hope everything goes great for you. Take as much time as you need.' "
The group has plans for a tour of the Lower 48 next winter and may gain more notoriety from their contribution to "Sugar Mountain," a film shot in Seward that is nearing release.
"We wrote one song specifically for the film and they used two more songs from the first album," Davis said.
Regardless of Outside opportunities, the band has maintained loyalty to its new home, and the songs it created there.
"Seward has definitely become our home," Davis said. "As long as there's a Blackwater, we'll be operating out of Seward. Everything that's come our way has been because of the community of Seward."
Blackwater Railroad Company
Unfaithful Lovers opening
Where: Tap Root Public House
When: 10 p.m. Friday, June 26
Tickets: $10 available at ak starfish co., taprootalaska.com and at the door