Kelseyville >> Folk rock group Levity are about two things: harmony and instrumentation. And with seven band members, five of whom sing, they certainly have both in spades.
There’s Bill Bordisso, a retired teacher who sings and plays the accordion, saxophone, banjo, dobro and guitar. Henry Bornstein, a retired layer, is on percussion. On the electric bass is Bill MacDougall, former Konocti Unified Superintendent who is now involved in a number of ventures including the Safe House of Lake County. Lead guitarist and singer Tom Nixon is also very active in the community. Janet Barrian on vocals, mandolin and violin, is a retired teacher who does some landscaping for the Tallman Hotel. Woodland Community College instructor Doug Harris sings and plays acoustic guitar and mandola. His wife Sissa Harris, singer and melodica player, also teaches at the Clearlake college.
With such a large group, they can’t always play together at every performance and rehearsal, though they do try. Sometimes there are only five of them and other times there are as few as three musicians on the stage. “We like it best when all of us are there,” Bordisso said.
Balancing the influences of seven musicians may seen like a difficult undertaking, but the band has good chemistry, and they all lean toward folk rock in their own musical preferences. It isn’t entirely about the folk music though. With a repertoire of about 40 songs, they sometimes deviate from the norm to perform newer material with a pop vibe. Influences include John Prine, Arlo Guthrie, The Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead.
Finding songs to perform is a group effort. If the musicians hear something they believe would be fitting for Levity, they bring it to the group. “If it doesn’t exactly fit the kind of stuff we put out, we make it fit,” said Bordisso. “We have interesting versions of songs that have more harmony than the original. We like to do a lot of harmony, that’s sort of the main idea.”
That doesn’t mean there aren’t leads in Levity’s music. It just means that every song features a harmony. The musicians also like for their sound to align with their name. “We call ourselves Levity because we like to think of ourselves as light and happy and that’s the kind of music that we like to do,” Bordisso explained.
Levity came together three years ago, when Bordisso and Doug Harris were looking to play acoustic music with some new people. Although Bordisso was already involved in folk band InVoice — a group he still performs with regularly — he wanted a little change of pace. And with a number of acoustic musicians in Lake County, he and Harris had no trouble forming a new group.
Even with the different groups, Bordisso’s preference is apparent — he has a serious penchant for acoustic and folk music. Having grown up in San Francisco in the 1970s, he was surrounded by premier folk clubs like the Drinking Gourd and the Great American Music Hall. Their prominence in the city clearly rubbed off on Bordisso. In high school he joined up with a folk band as their banjo player.
In the years since, his love for the music has never waned. “I’ve been doing music since I was a kid and I don’t know what I would do without it. “It’s my greatest joy in life,” he said. “Every day I wake up being grateful that I have the opportunity to do music and play music with people. It’s something that’s real special. I’m a lucky guy.”
Levity will be performing at the Kelseyville Pear Festival this Saturday. From 2-4 p.m. they’ll be stationed at the Oak Tree Stage next to the Saw Shop Restaurant. The Pear Festival takes place on Main Street from 7 a.m. -5 p.m.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
