The Family Band, The Dorons, Share Their Debut Album
The Rosenfield family is unlike anything you’ve heard before. Professionally known as The Dorons, the Rosenfield’s are lead guitar and father Norman, drummer, songwriter, and mother Janice, bassist and eldest son Aryeh, and lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and youngest son Yusef.
The band actually came together unofficially in 2017, when Aryeh, who was then a music major, recruited his family for his senior recital. Norman and Janice had retired as performing musicians, previously vets of the '80s and '90s Boston alt-rock scene, and Yosef had only been playing guitar for three years at that point. Nonetheless, the band played a daunting multi-album-themed set covering iconic releases by the Clash, the Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix.
Music has been staturted in the household for a long time. Though mom and dad had retired from making music — burnt out from the grind of gigging, coupled with the demands of making a living and raising three children —there was still music playing all the time, from Bach to the Beatles. In fact, Thursday night car rides featured top 20 countdowns from the '60s and '70s.
In 2020, Yosef followed in Aryeh’s footsteps and got his degree as a music major. For his senior recital, he opted to perform music from his parents’ vast catalog as professional musicians. This concert prompted the Rosenfields to record songs for their debut album, The Doronic Verses. “It seemed like a waste after all that preparation to not do more as a band,” Norman says.
The 11 song album is a compilation of well written songs based around human life and morality. Their songs contain nuanced rhythm section interplay, adding depth and layers of meaning. Their music evokes 21st-century folk-rock, singer-songwriter, and alt-rock styles with searing lead guitar playing, impassioned vocals, sage and sensitive lyrics, earworm hooks, and a stirring acoustic-rock foundation. It’s very much like Eric Clapton meets Bob Dylan (lyrically) meets The Mountain Goats.
My personal favorite song is the alt rocker “Honey From the Hive.” It’s a story of a girl who has allowed herself to loosen the protective moorings that had been keeping her actions and her value system intact and anchored to one another, until she is horrified to find herself well into 'enemy territory.' It’s a story that most of us find too familiar, and easy to find oneself in. It’s not only catchy, but extremely poignant.
The band’s evocative name is fascinatingly layered. It references the Doors and the bittersweet minor scale, the Dorian mode, plus it hilariously rhymes with “morons.” Additionally, the word “dor” in Hebrew means “generation,” which speaks to the multigenerational nature of the band.
Up next, the Dorons will be recording and performing more, if Norman has any say in the matter. “I know I won’t have to twist arms too hard to do some summer performances and go back in the studio,” he says with a good-natured laugh. Yosef, for one, won’t need too much convincing. “The studio for me was the most meaningful part of the experience. We were all in sync, and that element of communal flow just felt euphoric,” Yosef marvels. “I’m excited to do more!”
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