Soon after running an elaborate ad in Washington City Paper, 'seeking prodigies or pros', virtuoso cellist, Fred Lieder phoned for an audition. Fred soon recruited percussionist, Norm Thorne. The five gathered, with the addition of 6-string bass player Edwin Cleverdon and clarinetist - flutist, Robert Fogleman to form what became the 7-piece mini-orchestra, Xyra & Verborgen.
Xyra & Verborgen seemed to accentuate, and yet illuminate what is perceived as deep and dark. Conversely creating passageways of light with their notes, they appear to lead the wanton spirits up and out of the abyss, to be transformed and finally liberated. Xyra envisaged breeze ways and flowing streams of sorts, connecting her lyrics to the music, conveying an almost audio-kaleidoscopic effect.
Almost immediately after forming the full ensemble, Xyra & Verborgen returned to Omega Studios to record a 3-song demo of the lusher sound. The effort was engineered by Adam Hummer, with Chiacchierini and Dave Durr at the helm. About this time, Xyra received confirmation that the Verborgen Trio had been one of the 300 artists, out of 10,000 applicants, chosen to play the Philadelphia Music Conference (PMC).
A month later, the original trio showed up at the PMC, as a 7-piece, toting the new demo. Subsequently, Xyra received phone calls from Artista and Epic reps who attended the gig. They liked the sound, but were "looking for a hit". On their return from the conference, Xyra & Verborgen began their second group-recordings at NPR Studios. The session was engineered Terry Knight, under the baton of former Warner artist and Urban Verbs' guitarist, Robert Goldstein. The three tracks recorded that day wound up on Xyra & Verborgen's first CD, 'Where Glass Birds Fly'.
Before the CD was completed, Cleverdon left for family reasons and was replaced by Larry Lawrence on fretless bass. Foggleman joined a Christian band and was replaced by multi-windist, Don Stapleson who added saxophone to the mix.
On Lieder and Thorne's recommendation, the band mixed the NPR tracks and completed recording seven remaining songs at Recording Arts Studio, owned by engineer/producer, Marco Delmar. Goldstein shared production with Delmar, a Capitol artist and former guitarist for The Elektrics. In 1999, Delmar went on to produce future Xyra recordings, while Goldstein focused on a film score career. Before the 14 tracks for their second CD, Frightening Beauty were complete, Chillura left to form his own band. He was replaced by master guitarist, Eric Ulreich, who finished the 14 tracks. This marked the final lineup of Xyra & Verborgen.
Within two years, Xyra & Verborgen had released three CD albums on their self-label, Riding the Dragonfly, to include a 6-song EP called 'Shadows of Light. All three CDs, plus their earlier demos, garnered international airplay, and favorable reviews, worldwide - the last two receiving a Grammy nomination vote. As word got out, via various media, Xyra and company collected fans all over the globe. They even landed No.1 hits in Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, finding concert venues for a non-dance, non-party band was like booking a neo-Nico in long black robes.
Listen...
Selling its unique sound in a mostly Pop market seemed an insurmountable challenge. (The emerging Goth scene may have embraced them, but nobody thought of that, at the time.) Thus, Xyra’s restless muse called for yet another approach...
Sadly, the Verborgen member bios were lost during a server crash. You may still be able to find them on Angelfire.com, under Xyra and Verborgen.
