The Geraniums are a nonconforming New Orleans band known for rare and riveting shows. Shows where they perform original songs that are the cousins of Dylan, Cohen, Euripides and Jolson. Their sound begins with the connection of Brendan Gallagher’s lyrics to the music of Jeff Treffinger. Gallagher writes of forlorn landscapes, people on the outs; the troubled border between love and hate. His poems bob and weave their way through Treffinger’s chords and rhythmic terrains. Together for nearly twenty years, Gallagher and Treffinger have honed their trades with Rene Coman (bass), Daemon Shea (drums) and Tom Marron (violin and harmonica). The Geraniums are the kind of music you should like.

Gallagher and Treffinger were also co-founders of the legendary Mermaid Lounge: an important New Orleans venue for alternative music from 1994 to the big storm. The Geraniums were the Mermaid’s ersatz house band opening for the likes of Alex Chilton, Chris Whitley, Vic Chestnut and the Gourds.

While only two records have hit the streets, The Geraniums have a considerable library of recorded material that will now be made public. Their first album, Little Houses in Space, was produced by Malcolm Burn (Emmy Lou Harris, Iggy Pop, Shawn Colvin among others):. Recorded at Burn’s Clouet Street studio, the record received broad critical acclaim:

“We are not being hyperbolic when we say this is a modern New Orleans version of the Band’s hallowed Music from Big Pink”.
Bunny Matthews, Offbeat Magazine

Their second record – This is About This – was self produced and recorded by Burn and Ben Mumphrey (The Pixies). It is hard to keep the record in stock.

The Geraniums perform irregularly at big and small venues and festivals in and around New Orleans; the band looks to visit regions of the country (and world) that make sense for their sound. In the past, they have toured with the Iguanas, played at El Cosmico Festival in Marfa Texas and held the stage on three occasions at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s celebrated Ogden After Hours music series.