Birds of Avalon

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Birds of Avalon
Origin	Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Genre(s)	Psychedelic rock Progressive rock
Years active	2005–present
Label(s)	Volcom Entertainment
Website	birdsofavalon.com
Members
Cheetie Kumar David Mueller Scott Nurkin Paul Siler Craig Tilley

Birds of Avalon is a rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina whose sound fuses elements of psychedelic and progressive rock. The band consists of Cheetie Kumar (guitar), David Mueller (bass), Scott Nurkin (drums), Paul Siler (guitar), and Craig Tilley (vocals, keyboards).

After a 7-year stint in The Cherry Valence, guitarists Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler felt a growing desire to move on. In a final whirlwind year that saw The Cherry Valence touring Europe multiple times, the couple, Kumar and Siler, got married and left the group. They began playing with Craig Tilley (The Weather), where they laid the foundation for what was to become the first batch of Birds Of Avalon songs. They added drummer Scott Nurkin (Dynamite Brothers) and soon added David Mueller on bass.

Birds Of Avalon has been praised in media outlets; according to CityBeat, they “can tear it up in a three-minute barn-burner or lure you into an extended psychedelic journey, wandering schizophrenically like a Brian May guitar solo."^[1]

Since their inception in 2005, Birds Of Avalon have toured extensively, sharing the stage with bands such as The Flaming Lips, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Fucking Champs, Big Business, Oneida, Mudhoney, Valient Thorr, Destroyer, Federation X, and Drunk Horse.

Birds Of Avalon's debut full length album, Bazaar Bazaar, was released by Volcom Entertainment on May 22, 2007.^[2] The album was produced by the band and recorded with Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Let’s Active, Wilco), Greg Elkins, and Brian Quast.

In addition to handling guitar duties for Birds of Avalon, Siler is one of the co-owners of the downtown Raleigh nightclub Kings. The club, which opened in July 1999, quickly became one of Raleigh's major concert venues, hosting a wide variety of local and national touring acts. Kings has served as a headquarters of sorts for the local underground rock scene, and to some extent, Birds of Avalon owes its existence to the club (in addition to co-owner Siler, Kumar, Mueller, and Tilley have all worked at Kings).^[3] The club recently closed after the property which housed it was sold to the City of Raleigh to facilitate the construction of a nine-story parking garage.^[4] Kings' owners are currently considering alternative locations in downtown Raleigh, which has gentrified rapidly since the opening of the McDowell Street location in 1999.^[5]