By Spencer Schneier, Staff Writer

Published in print Nov. 2, 2014

On Wednesday, October 29 Geeksboro Coffeehouse Cinema hosted a showing of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” and Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands provided music.

The group, described on Geeksboro’s website as “Triad-based vaudevillian accordion rockers,” provided a perfect compliment to the old-time horror film on display.

The film is described by the late notorious film critic Roger Ebert as the first true horror film, and it is told in flashback form.

Crystal Bright is described best as the lead musician due to her amorphous role as the leader of the group. Shifting from piano to accordion and back with ease, she clearly is the glue that holds the group together.

Bright described her entrance to the genre as a combination of dozens of influences and that she “had a lot of time on her hands” after being let go from a local Montessori school in Greensboro when the recession hit in 2007.

The music, some of which comes from their upcoming album “The Absolute Elsewhere,” was synced perfectly with the film and created an excellent mood in Geeksboro’s movie theatre. At one point they went from a quiet backdrop to a loud, surprising sound, and it was so well in tune with the film that one spectator let out a shrill shriek. 

Bright’s guitarist provided eerie music before the show with a theremin and a beer bottle.

Bright’s influences come from a varied group of sources, ranging from Canadian musicians to mythology. She specifically referenced this and how it related to her studies.

“My inspirations are all over the place because I studied ethnomusicology in grad school,” said Bright.

The group plays a dark-sounding style of music, featuring Bright, as well as a double bass, trumpet, drum set and guitar. The group featured the bass, drums and Bright on Wednesday night.

Perhaps influenced by how she was thrust onto the Greensboro music scene, she continued, “there’s not a style or type of music I strive for – it’s just whatever feels right.”

She also explained that for her, music is fluid, and it represented whatever it was she was trying to say. For someone who has gone from teaching to playing horror movie-style music, it is clear that she is diverse in her forms of expression.

“There’s not a formula to me,” she exclaimed.

The group will be playing next at Boulevard Tavern in Charleston, West Virginia. Their next local event will be November 22 at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

Their new album is available for pre-order now on the band’s website.