Blue Fringe was an American Jewish rock band from

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. Formed in 2001 by lead singer Dov Rosenblatt, the band's debut album, '' My Awakening'' (2003), sold more than 14,000 copies, an uncommon feat in the limited Jewish market, and became a runaway hit. Since then, the band has released two more albums, '' 70 Faces'' (2005) and '' The Whole World Lit Up'' (2007), and has performed throughout the

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, the

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, and

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. They were credited, along with

Moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

and Soulfarm, with advancing Jewish rock in the early 2000s.

History

Blue Fringe was formed in late 2001, after

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

music and psychology student Dov Rosenblatt, having been invited to perform at a Jewish event at the

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, assembled three of his classmates as a

backup band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such ...

. Subsequently becoming a full-time band, the group spent the following years touring, performing at venues as diverse as

Stern College The Stern College for Women (SCW) is the undergraduate Women's colleges in the United States, women's college of Liberal arts, arts and sciences of Yeshiva University. It is located at the university's Israel Henry Beren Campus in the Murray Hill, ...

, B. B. King's Blues Club in

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, and the Great Synagogue in

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. In June 2003, the band released its debut album '' My Awakening''. The album was commercially successful in the Jewish music market and introduced what would become the band's most famous song, "Flippin' Out". A second album, '' 70 Faces'', was released on June 5, 2005, followed by a third album, '' The Whole World Lit Up'' in February 2007. They performed at Camp Moshava in Indian Orchard, Pennsylvania, an event later recalled by '' The Current'' editor emeritus David Fine. In May 2009, the band gave a concert at Columbus Torah Academy during their

Lag BaOmer Lag BaOmer (, ''LaG Bāʿōmer''), also Lag B'Omer or Lag LaOmer, is a Judaism, Jewish religious holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew calendar, Hebrew month of Iyar. Accordin ...

event as a fundraiser for the 2010

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. The group was largely inactive after 2012, during which time Rosenblatt started the indie folk group Distant Cousins with Duvid Swirsky of

. In June 2022, the group reunited for two reunion shows: one at Sababa Music Festival in Narrowsburg, New York alongside G-Nome Project, and one at the City Winery in New York City.

Musical style

Blue Fringe's music incorporated elements of pop,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

, R&B, and blue-eyed soul. The band's influences included Jewish artists like

Diaspora Yeshiva Band The Diaspora Yeshiva Band () was an American-Israeli Orthodox Jewish rock band founded at the Diaspora Yeshiva on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, by ''baal teshuva'' students from the United States. In existence from 1975 to 1983, the band infused Roc ...

, Moshav Band, Soulfarm, and Reva L'Sheva, as well as secular artists like

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Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

, Counting Crows,

Victor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988 and a member of the band SMV with two other ...

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

, and

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment At the time of ''My Awakening''s release, lead singer Dov Rosenblatt identified Blue Fringe's sound as "

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

with a lot of funk influences". Blue Fringe was initially known for its youth appeal, with ''

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''s Alexander Gelfand noting that "were it not for the Jewish themes and religious imagery that pervade the group’s English and Hebrew lyrics, you could imagine the band popping up on the soundtrack to a teen drama on

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, or making the rounds of the

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scene." Rosenblatt similarly stated, "The lyrics are Jewish, but the music could be stuff you hear on the

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

." This aspect became less prominent over time; Liel Leibovitz of '' The Jewish Week'' said that ''70 Faces'' contained less of the previous album's "spirited pop sensibilities" and was instead "heavy with

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

y jams and roaming compositions", while former

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contributor Mike Mineo called ''The Whole World Lit Up'' "the band's most mature effort yet."

Lyrics

Blue Fringe's songs often reflected the band members'

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

faith, even directly quoting traditional Jewish liturgy amongst the primarily English lyrics. Themes tend to vary from song to song, ranging from humorous satires of modern Jewish culture ("Flippin' Out", "The Shidduch Song") to darker and more serious songs ("Lo Irah", "Hineni"). With regard to the religious aspect of their lyrics, guitarist Avi Hoffman stated, "We were never a kiruv project. We’re thinking personally and trying to write on a universal level. The music is going to convey a mood, color the way you hear the lyrics. Even if you don’t understand Hebrew, the lyrics will color your mood."

Members

* Dov Rosenblatt –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Avi Hoffman –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Danny Zwillenberg –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Hayyim Danzig –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

Producers & Management

Jonathan Perl And Michael Edelstein

Discography

;Studio albums * '' My Awakening'' (September 7, 2003; Sameach) * '' 70 Faces'' (June 5, 2005; Sameach) * '' The Whole World Lit Up'' (February 1, 2007; Rendezvous/Craig 'N' Co.) ;Compilation appearances *'' Babaganewz Presents Babapalooza!'' (2005) ("Generations") *''Voices for Israel: Chazak Amenu'' (2006) ("City of Gold")

References

External links

*
Blue Fringe
on

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{{Authority control American Modern Orthodox Jews Jewish American musicians Jewish rock groups Modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States American pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 2001 Yeshiva University alumni