One of the regulars at The Extended Play Sessions suggested that the Baltimore-based band ilyAIMY (pronounced ee-lee-amy, it is an acronym for “I love you and I miss you”) would be a good addition to the roster of acts who have played at a Session, and he was right!

ilyAIMY

One of the most unusual acts to grace the stage, they are an enchanting trio (at full-band shows they add two more musicians) who engaged us quickly and easily.

They appeared a bit nervous as they took the stage, and rob started talking even before the cameras started rolling! Both on-camera and off-camera, rob carried on a playful banter about each song’s genesis.

rob Hinkal

ilyAIMY consists of founders rob Hinkal on guitar and vocals and Heather Lloyd on djembe (an African drum), guitar and vocals, as well as Kristen Jones on cello and vocals. Rowan Corbett on bones, djembe, percussion and vocals, and Sharif Kellogg on piano and bass were not in attendance but are the other members of the band.

rob Hinkal

Heather Lloyd

Kristen Jones

They describe their music as acoustic grunge, which is as apt a description as any I could pen. They each came to the band from a different background; rob from metal, Heather from folk, and Kristen from classical and Caribbean steel pan drum (it would have been fun to hear Kristen play the steel pan so I guess I’ll have to see them again).

ilyAIMY

Their most recent release, Another Life, Another Live, was released in 2013, and is an interesting double album. Some of the songs they performed – ‘Oklahoma Revival’ and ‘Crazy as a Good Thing’ – are from that release. The latter is a love song to which I can relate; written from the perspective of a person who is told that the person they love is crazy, the writer thinks that’s okay.

Heather Lloyd and rob Hinkal

There is a strong percussive nature to their music even when all the instruments are stringed. Most heads were bobbing to the beat, and most faces bore smiles.

Heather Lloyd and rob Hinkal

On one song, rob used an eBow which I am not sure I had ever seen. Placed on one string at a time, he was able to make the guitar sound like it was being bowed (as you might imagine from the name). Fascinating! I was not able to get a photograph of it because it fit into rob’s hand so the eBow was not visible.

rob Hinkal

This will be one interesting documentary when it airs on The Extended Play Sessions ROKU channel! The interview portions will elaborate on some of the things I mentioned, and the music will be fun to see and hear. I also recommend seeing them live because I do not think their energy is truly captured on a piece of plastic (but please do buy their CDs).