Astral Blessing

Astral Blessing began life in a basement in Northampton, Massachusetts in 2001. Formed over a shared love of early-American folk music, communal jamming, and the droney bliss of Popol Vuh and Trad, Gras, Och Stenar, Astral Blessing blended folk-rock inflected songs with long, heavy improvised passages, adding a unique voice to the burgeoning western mass psych scene. Created from the merging of two duo projects, Astral Blessing’s sound united LaBrecque’s delay-drenched guitar and Webb’s haunting vocals, with Demaio’s propulsive drumming, and Presnell’s snaky telecaster riffs. While much of the Western Mass scene was exploring communal improvisation, and long-form freak-outs, Astral Blessing sought to channel these energies into loose song forms, half Appalachian, half heavy psych. Their live shows moved between these poles often in the same song. Astral Blessing often shared the stage with kindred valley spirits such as MV & EE, Dred Foole, Sunburned Hand of the Man, as well as touring acts like Mike Watt, Mick Harvey, and Elf Power. The band also performed at the now legendary Brattleboro Free Folk Festival organized by Matt Valentine.