Cardinal; 'Barddas' Spring Demo Now Available!

Cover of the Spring Demo, Barddas

      Feast your eyes on Freeport's own Indie band, Cardinal! Their 2011 3 track spring demo, Barddas, was recently released by very independent label, Still Here Records, based in the Midwest.


      Cardinal formed in February of 2010 and consists of Alexa Janicke on vocals, Brian Nissen on piccolo bass, Mars Bars Van Raalte on the drumkit and Chris Ranney on e. bass. The band played for about 60 people at City Coffee Company in Freeport, IL on March 30th.

Cardinal Performing

      The band started as an acoustic project between Alexa and Brian, a few months later, they added drums and another bass, and the songs started being written differently. The band uses two bassists which makes them unique from other bands in the area.


      Although there are several metal and bar bands and some indie-like acoustic coffee house bands in Freeport, Cardinal says they sound nothing like the other bands and aren't influenced by them as far as sound goes. Some bands that do influence the band include Circa Survive, So Long Forgotten, As Cities Burn, and some Felix Culpa. The band also has literature influences in the literature work by authors Joseph Conrad, Robinson Jeffers, Charles Dickens, and Robert Broewning.

A portrait drawn by a member of the band. 

      Now that the demo is out, the band hopes to get more shows and perform. Like the band on Facebook!

~joeEFFINgmayo

Joemayo91@gmail.com