Trumansburg alumni’s indie band to release new album

Sharing a deep love of music, four Trumansburg alumni and childhood friends formed the indie alt-rock band Cold Springs Rd. two years ago as a tribute to the village they all grew up in together and still happily call home. And now, the band is months away from releasing their second album.

Drummer Ben Jordan, lead vocalist Layla Adwell, guitarist Henry Warner and bassist Aidan Kaplan-Wright all attended Charles O. Dickerson High School together and formed friendships that span into their adult years.

They had a deep love of all things music and are deeply rooted in the Trumansburg community, so it was only natural for them to form a band and name it after the scenic and picturesque road they grew up on that perfectly captures the beauty and natural quaintness of Trumansburg.

Following their self-titled debut album “Cold Springs Rd.,” the band will be releasing its second full album in January 2022 titled “To Live and Die in Upstate New York.” All songs are written collaboratively by all members of the band and are all original pieces.

“We just wanted to have fun and to make music and have a band that has a really grassroots neighborhood house party feel to it,” Adwell said. “There’s just so much love between us — love for music, love for each other and love for animals in the house we practice and play in. Although we love all the music we make, collectively, our favorite songs so far are ‘Wildflower’ and ‘Learner’s Permit’ off of the album ‘Cold Springs Rd.’”

Kaplan-Wright, who attended college at Alfred University and performed jazz with the Alfred Band, said, “This music stuff with this group of pals is fun, fun, fun! We have made Layla’s house a base for the band to be a place to grow and be creative. It’s filled with a lot of love.”

When the band is not collaborating for Cold Springs Rd. together, they’re supporting one another’s independent endeavors. Recently, Jordan and Kaplan-Wright accompanied Adwell to Los Angeles to shoot her video for her song “Soda” for her offshoot project called awfultune. Band members provided musical accompaniment to the vocal stylings of Adwell as well as starring in the video, which can be found on YouTube.

Meanwhile, Kaplan-Wright gets support and musical accompaniment on his independent project work, which is listed simply under his name.

Recently, the band performed at The Dock in downtown Ithaca, which was facilitated through Jeremy Bussmann, Ithaca MC and the band’s music coordinator. The band looks to book more public performances in the future and is eager to share their love of music and their hometown more widely.

“We just really love each other and our hometown and love what we do and want to continue to have fun, make music and create together,” Adwell said. “We want to continue to encourage people to enjoy music, be kind to one another and have fun.”

Cold Spring Rd., awfultune and Aiden Kaplan-Wright can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. All inquiries can be sent to coldspringsrdband@gmail.com.

Trumansburg Connection appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

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Cabin View Alpacas

On Dec. 4, Cabin View Alpacas will feature its 12th annual Alpaca Farm and Gift Shop Open House at 9435 Congress St. Ext. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can sip hot chocolate with the alpacas and shop for fine alpaca products featuring socks, sweaters, yarn, stuffed toys and much more. All products come directly from the farm.