Yes, Dears

And in reality, Lightburn and Yanchak's marriage only formalized what had been a ten-year relationship. If anything, being married adds to the sense of genuineness that Lightburn projects, both in his lyrics and his speech. While some people prefer to think of him as a latter-day Rimbaud pining away by candlelight in a stone chamber somewhere, he's really just someone who seeks the truth in the words he speaks and those he sings.

That honesty carries over to his relationship with fans. Lightburn and his bandmates regularly contribute to online blogs and journals on both TheDears.org as well as the act's MySpace page. Yanchak's entries, ruminating on the architecture, people, and gut-level feel of various cities to which the band travels, are especially engaging and personal. But that sense of approachability can also get the musicians more than they bargained for.

Appearances to the contrary, the Dears are happy. Really.

Details

Wednesday, January 24. Tickets cost $15. Doors open at 8 p.m. Call 305-358-ROCK, or visit www.studioamiami.com.

Studio A, 60 NE 11th St., Miami

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More About

• Murray Lightburn
• Natalia Yanchak
• The Dears (Musical Group)
• Michael Richards
• Weddings

"I'm finding it a bit of a tightrope, because people misconstrue the blogs and the journal entries sometimes," Lightburn notes. "You've just got to be careful what you say sometimes, because people use that shit against you. In the past, we've done journal entries and people are able to comment after them, and we'll get a bunch of people saying, 'Oh, quit whining. You have a great life, blah blah blah.' And it's just like, 'You don't know my life, you fucking twat.' That's the thing that's really irritating about the blogs sometimes: People just say really nasty things sometimes, unfounded things."

In spite of the occasional crank spewing virtual venom, Lightburn is grateful to be doing something he loves while staying close to the ones he holds dear. "I feel very fortunate and lucky to do what I do," he concludes, "and to be able to do it the way I'm doing it."