ABOUT
Aerin Tedesco and Andrea Bunch have been called ‘two of the most beautiful noises on the planet.’
Congress of Starlings is a long-time favorite on the Chicago indie music scene. Aerin Tedesco and Andrea Bunch have been called ‘two of the most beautiful noises on the planet.’ The Starlings have brought their music to world famous venues like Milwaukee’s Summerfest, The National Women’s Music Festival, Halsted Market Days, Taste of Chicago, Pride Fest, Hard Rock Café, The House of Blues, and to beloved Chicago venues like The Old Town School of Folk Music, SPACE, Schuba’s and Martyr’s.
Whether as an acoustic duo or a full band, Congress of Starlings joyfully delivers a unique, startling blend of unearthly harmonies, rich melodies, and unusual meters. Lyrically, their concerns reach from the depths of the heart, across the damaged American landscape, and through the mists of other worlds. Their voices are unmatched in their ability to move and enrapture audiences. Their songs are raw and powerful.
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More about the band
Congress of Starlings
Congress of Starlings is a long-time favorite on the Chicago indie music scene. Aerin Tedesco and Andrea Bunch have been called ‘two of the most beautiful noises on the planet.’ The Starlings have brought their music to world famous venues like Milwaukee’s Summerfest, The National Women’s Music Festival, Halsted Market Days, Taste of Chicago, Pride Fest, Hard Rock Café, The House of Blues, and to beloved Chicago venues like The Old Town School of Folk Music, SPACE, Schuba’s and Martyr’s.
Whether as an acoustic duo or a full band, Congress of Starlings joyfully delivers a unique, startling blend of unearthly harmonies, rich melodies, and unusual metres. Lyrically, their concerns reach from the depths of the heart, across the damaged American landscape, and through the mists of other worlds. Their voices are unmatched in their ability to move and enrapture audiences. Their songs are raw and powerful.
The current line up for full band shows features Janet Cramer on drums, (Grupo Paz,
www.cramerdrums.com); Greg Nergaard on bass, (The Right Now, www.therightnow.com, Soulio Jazz, https://souliojazz.com/) and Lindsay Weinberg on vocals (Lindsay and the Lights Go Out, Come Sunday, Conspiracy Theories, lindsayweinbergmusic.com).
Aerin and Andrea have collaborated on 3 albums; Albedo, Faun Songs, and Numinous, which was named best album of 2004 by Indie Music Review. Together, they’ve earned the prestigious Three Arts Excellence grant to attend the Ragdale Artist’s retreat, were named best new artist of 2011 by Bump N Grind indie music publication and runners up for best new queer artist by OutMusic.
The Starlings have also created stellar tributes to Heart, as Little Queens, and to the Indigo Girls with Great Moments in Vinyl.
Andrea Bunch
Andrea studied theater and vocal performance at the internationally acclaimed performing arts high school, Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She continued her studies with Dr. William Trebold at The University of Southern CA and with Dr. Katherine Eberle at The University of Iowa. In 2000, Andrea graduated from Columbia College with a BA and emphasis in music composition. She has composed music for films, including the award winning documentary, Brink of Survival. Andrea has also provided music for hundreds of events; weddings, celebrations, and corporate events.
Andrea is absolutely in love with teaching and building community at The Old Town School of Folk Music, where she teaches in Guitar I-IV, Pop Divas Ensemble, Women’s Acoustic Ensemble, The Decemberists Ensemble, 80’s and 90’s Ensembles, The Here & Now Ensemble and yoga. She also teaches voice, piano, guitar and songwriting, and earned a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Northwestern University. Andrea enjoys running her own business, Vital Body Yoga, in which she uses physical therapy principles and yogic techniques to help people strengthen and heal.
aerin tedesco
The moment she picked up her dad’s vintage tenor guitar, aerin tedesco started writing songs—and she hasn’t stopped since. A singer since she could talk, she took violin lessons starting in 5th grade and voice lessons shortly after.
Born and raised outside Buffalo, NY, aerin attended Bard college. In addition to taking many college music classes, she became the “human karaoke machine,” as her friends begged her to learn pop and alternative songs so they could sing along. She also became quite well-known on campus, playing coffeehouses and shows for throngs of students. She learned to play the 6-string one summer in order to cover Indigo Girls songs.
After college she returned to Buffalo to pursue her solo career. With the help of Ani DiFranco mentor Michael Meldrum, aerin burst onto the Buffalo folk-rock scene, performing with the likes of Alison Pipitone, Kathy Moriarity (Planet 9) and John Lombardo (10,000 Maniacs, John and Mary).
aerin recorded a full-length album in college, plus 2 EPs, followed by 2 more full length albums in Buffalo. (Post Meridiem with Ed Zielinski, and Angels and Allegories with Marc Hunt, known for his engineer work with the Goo Goo Dolls). She also did solo tours of the Northeast at many colleges and clubs, and played at the prestigious North by Northeast festival in 1998 in Toronto.
aerin moved to Chicago in 2000 where she discovered the Old Town School of Folk Music and met Andrea Bunch. The two quickly discovered they had much in common and a musical compatibility that was uncanny. They began supporting each other at live shows, and added substantially to one another’s studio recordings (aerin’s Birthmark and Andrea’s Numinous). aerin and Andrea officially became Congress of Starlings in 2006 when they released the album Albedo (recorded by Joe Cassidy of Butterfly Child, Assassins).
aerin released the solo album Faun Songs in 2012, and many of these songs are standard in the current Congress set list.
In addition to Congress of Starlings, aerin plays with the band Little Queens, a tribute to the ‘70s music of Heart. She plays drums and sings with Dreamtree Shakers, a band that plays adult-friendly music for children. She also often collaborates with the project Great Moments in Vinyl, which brings classic albums to life on stage. Indigo Girls, Sinead O’Connor, R.E.M., Police, U2, Fleetwood Mac and Michael Jackson are some of the artists aerin and Andrea have tackled together. aerin tried her hand at live vocals drag, creating the crooner Dyke Van Dick and performing doo wop and soul songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s.
aerin also has taught classes at the Old Town School, (where she has worked in administration for over 15 years), including Women’s Acoustic Ensemble, Indigo Girls Ensemble, Bangles Ensemble, and Regina Spektor for Guitar, as well as private lessons for baritone ukulele and tenor guitar.
When not playing music, aerin’s main passion is birding—as of 2018 her North American life list is up to 429 species!
Photo gallery... click here!
