Bristol Herald Courier

Come inside the infancy of a band.

Walk through the dark with sunglasses on, and you’ll find it hard to find your way. New bands are oftentimes like that, too. They play music without really knowing what to call their music except to say it’s music. They are finding their way.

That’s Bombadil in a nutshell.

See the four-man band during next month’s Rhythm and Roots Reunion on Sept. 14-15 in downtown Bristol. But don’t come expecting to hear a rock or country or rhythm and blues band. Let the head-scratching begin. Categories were not made for Bombadil. Singer Daniel Michalak said they are incredibly hard to describe.

“That’s something we are unable to do,” Michalak said by phone last week from his home in Asheville. “We describe our feelings through our songs. We’re not going for a specific sound. We go for individual entities with each song.”

Formed in April 2005 by Michalak and Bryan Rahija (bass and guitar) on, of all things, an anthropological trip to Bolivia, the band includes Stuart Robinson on piano and John Michalak on drums. Upon first impression, they may seem like a rudderless ship lost at sea and without a clue as to which way to go.

“We’re a really young band. We got together because we wanted to make something for ourselves,” Michalak said. “We don’t have a political agenda. We’re just looking for some­thing that we can pop into the CD player that makes us smile.”

Lend an ear to what’s playing in their CD player, and some insight into the sound of Bom­badil takes shape.

“I listen to a lot of Spanish rap music,” Michalak said. “Stuart grew up with classical music. John came up on punk rock and rap. Bryan loves Piedmont blues, old-time guitar picking. It can be anything.”

That sure can describe Bom­badil. Those among their grow­ing fan base will soon learn more of the band’s direction as their first full-length CD will hit stores next year. Given that Bombadil has but one release to date, a Lilliputian five-song EP, they have reason to look ahead.

“We have about 75 percent of a new album done,” Michalak said. We’re going to work on it this fall and have it out, we hope, in March of 2008.”

Bombadil’s smiles may soon widen considerably. Michalak said they plan to quit their day jobs in the coming months and to pursue music full-time by January.

“We’re super serious about the music,” he said. “I can see myself doing this indefinitely. I love recording. I love being on stage, seeing the audience. If somebody gave me a million dollars, I’d still be doing this.”