About

Biography

The Family Crest is an orchestral indie collective based in San Francisco. Beginning as a collaborative recording project in 2008, the group evolved by 2010 into a six-piece band with over 250 ‘Extended Family Members’ who participate in recordings, live performances, and other media and art projects.

Infusing rock, classical, folk, and jazz styles, Seismic-Sound states, “Their songs can vary quite widely from symphonic, to cabaret, to a flat-out rock and roll ruckus. It is hard to say which place they fall into most often, and given the instrumentation it’s easy to think it might be a little too down tempo, but have no doubt when the last note is played it is clear that above all else they are a rock band at heart.”

The San Francisco Chronicle says, “while vying to collect more musicians onstage than the Decemberists or Arcade Fire, The Family Crest harbors an affection for Burt Bacharach-style swingin’ romanticism that is sure to impress lovers of classical pop.” According to The Bay Bridged, “they take their earnest, anthemic cue from The Arcade Fire, but the presence of so many string and wind instruments and the talents of frontman Liam McCormick put them on a unique frequency.”

In September 2011, the band did a month-long project in which they played live every day (sometimes twice) throughout the entire month. After successfully completing the project, the band decided to bring it to Seattle, WA during January 2012, where they played live everywhere from open mics, to KEXP, to the Seattle Monorail, to the Tractor Tavern.

Immediately after wrapping the Seattle project (which the band plans to bring to New York in May) The Family Crest was added to Google Music’s Magnified Artist Program. As a part of the program, the band traveled to Los Angeles and were featured at Red Light Management’s GRAMMY post-party. In addition to the performance, The Family Crest was also featured on the Google Music homepage as well as the Magnifier Blog.

The Family Crest’s released an EP, Songs from the Valley Below, in 2010, and their debut LP, The Village, is being released at SXSW in March.

We hope you join The Family.

Listen to The Family Crest’s live performance on KEXP.

For a more in-depth perspective on the band, the music, and how it all began, check out this feature on The Family Crest.