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Arts & Entertainment

With Dedham Musician, World Travelers to Release Debut Album

George Kamel of Dedham and Luke Dent of Walpole make up an indie "freak/psychedelic folk" band with their first album due out Sept. 7.

While this group of touring squires appears most merry on stage before a crowd of gazing glances and sonic hedonists, the World Travelers are presently staying put on their native grounds as they prep for the release of their forthcoming debut album due out in September.

It might be inaccurate to call the World Travelers a group, when in fact there are only two driving engines behind this euphonious entity, George Kamel and Luke Dent. 

The tale of this songwriting duo has humble – if not extremely modern – origins. Kamel grew up in Dedham, and attended Dedham High, before finding his way to the University of Mobile in Alabama, and Dent is originally from Los Angeles. Dent briefly attended Walpole High School before deciding to pursue music full-time while he still resides in Walpole.

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The two met while working at an Apple Store, a breeding facility for countless indie music enthusiasts. An exchange of demos resulted in a bond that would last through several projects, which led to their ideal collaboration where they both feel creatively represented.

Prior to the Travelers, Kamel and Dent teamed previously to produce three albums with a band called the Meadowlarks.

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Each has had their own score of various musical outlets, some lasting, others less fruitful. Dent said the greatest problem that seemed to arise was a lack of an equal voice that put him in a place as just one more set of lights on a fully-embellished Christmas tree.

The concept of a new band fueled him, Dent said, and he fervently churned out music while George was away at college. What Dent revels in is the actual amount of autonomy he has for once.

"It's all on him. His efforts (as a core component of World Traveler) are the fruits of his labor, but he's not a control freak or anything," Kamel said.

The two's ego-less dynamism is very ostensible in the way that their conversations overlap and intersect, but never with any feelings of being interrupted. From that, it's easy to gather how quickly they could pick up a hollow-body guitar and an old school keyboard and quickly delve into a freestyle jazz jam session – which they did. As they played and harmonized with each other on the spot, you can see they are deeply aware of how well they are able to communicate with one another.

The two, who cite their primary influences as "definitely Grizzly Bear" and Fleet Foxes, strive for originality. As far as their own genre identity goes, they settle upon freak/psychedelic folk.

Dent estimates the pair generated about a song every nine days during their most active year, and the first album only uses 12 tracks of 22 compiled. The fact that they don't have rock-star nicknames like Slash or Sting – other than a few non-stickers like the online-specific "George the Arab" – indicates that their showiness is limited only to the very substance they produce.

Kamel and Dent, alone and in the studio, each take on a full palate of instruments. Their multi-instrumental abilities include the likes of acoustic and bass guitar, organ, mandolin, banjo, assorted percussion, glockenspiel and melodica.    

While World Travelers isn't technically a band per convention, it is a stable one, they assure. Their orchestral scores utilize teams of organs, cellos, clarinets and violins to create a sort of grandiose sonic atmosphere a la Arcade Fire

"They're true compositions. It's cool to see them unfold as they do," Dent said.

Despite being the band's essential songwriting force, Kamel and Dent take help with them on the road, borrowing three or four assorted friends from their other bands to take on the duties that two pairs of hands can't do. This involves playing a bit of musical chairs to most accurately recreate the material they generate in their studio. 

"It's a bit of give and take. Whatever sounds better live," Dent said. 

What they place a lot of focus on isn't necessarily the songs, but the segues.

"We try to keep it as precise as possible, going from A to B without stopping and tuning. Transitions are the most important thing (in a live show)," Dent said.

To this, George added, "Otherwise (fans) get snapped out of it and say, 'wow, this band is kind of blowing it.'" 

Their typical show is essentially a short, but eclectic set that aims for "one single vibe, but no repeats of the other songs." As all-in-one musicians and entrepreneurs, their marketing strategy is rather trenchant, displaying what a wide range of sounds they are capable of at any given show, while never allowing anyone to pigeonhole them.

World Travelers is by no means a party band, jamming along to a buzz or living for the daily blackouts, and they aren't out to cash in on a fleeting shtick; their basic, very unofficial, credo is this, as concisely verbalized by George the Arab.

"We just like to make music, have fun, and share it with everybody." 

World Travelers first album entitled 'From All of Us' is slated to come out Sept. 7, and will be available for digital download through iTunes. 

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