The Low Anthem
Location: Providence, RI
Website: http://www.lowanthem.com/home.html
Bio:
The Low Anthem began in 2006 as a collaboration between Ben Knox Miller, a folk musician, poet, and visual ... (more)
artist from New York's Hudson River Valley and Jeff Prystowsky, jazz bassist and baseball scholar from Jersey. The place was Providence, RI, a post industrial town reborn as a college town and artistic hotbed. Teammates in the wood bat summer leagues in rural Connecticut, their mutual interests in Americana, baseball, and morally agnostic narrative necessitated the formation of The Low Anthem. They began collaborating with classical composer Jocie Adams in November 2008.
In June of 2006 The Low Anthem released its first full-length recording, a twelve song, self-titled LP. It was recorded by Grammy-nominated producer John Paul Gauthier. Gauthier, most famous for his work with Dispatch, had also worked with John Hammond, Jr., Tom Waits, and Duke Robillard. His ears were a perfect fit for the band's sound. He turned Miller and Prystowsky onto Waits and Neil Young, two introductions that would seriously alter the direction of the sound. The LP is a dozen stories, subtle and artful in their telling, but ultimately naïve according to it’s authors. However, it’s eclectic instrumentation (saxophones, tabla drums, cellos, and organs combined with more traditional folk instruments) forshadowed the developments to come.
The band's sound has undergone significant evolution since the self-titled record. A year-long collaboration with Virginia bluesman Dan Lefkowitz and a new batch of songs revealed The Low Anthem's closeted love of raw minimalist rock. The seeds of this edgy rock sound can be heard on their award winning 2007 release "What the Crow Brings." This direction would be fleshed out further on "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin," to be released in September 2008.
With the release of “What The Crow Brings” the band embraced a full-fledged DIY ideology, writing, recording, mixing, and even painting and silkscreening the record jackets from their Providence, RI apartment. The long awaited release brought on a wave of enthusiastic press coverage with rave reviews from NPR and many local papers. The band achieved a new level of visibility, and with over 100 shows in 2007 a legitimate fanbase was emmerging in a dozen Northeast Cities.
After two years and another 100 shows, the band has built a substantial following. Big breaks included a support tour with The Slip side-project “Surprise Me Mr. Davis,” dates with Richard Thompson, Elvis Perkins, Bon Iver, Chris Thile, CMJ showcases, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Soundsession, NEKMF, and consistently excellent opening slots at the best clubs in the Northeast - The Narrows, Higher Ground, The Iron Horse, Helsinkis, Passim, Paradise Rock Club. They now tour as a quartet and are know for their song-writing and revolving multi-instrumentalism.
In September The Low Anthem completed a 30 city tour pushing "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin," their third and newest LP. It’s a thematic thematic 12 song work, co-produced with and engineered by Jesse Lauter. Recording was done in the cold, bare stillness of a Block Island winter. The abandoned tourist destination was a haven of peace and quiet. The only sounds were the rush of sea wind against the panes of the cabin and the crackling hum of the woodstove. 10 sleepless days and nights. Hundreds of live takes. Many bottles of bourbon. These were the record’s principle ingredients.
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