americana

The Low Anthem are a folk quartet (up until recently, a trio) from Providence, Rhode Island, United States. They formed in 2003 and consist of multi-instrumentalists Ben Miller, Jeff Prystowsky, Jocie Adams and Mat Davidson. From its hand silkscreened cover art to its meticulously crafted songs, The Low Anthem offers work meant to be held, savored, contemplated, and occasionally stomped along to.

A.A. Bondy is an abbreviation of Auguste Arthur Bondy (aka Scott Bondy), the former lead singer of Birmingham, AL's Southern grunge darlings Verbena. After Verbena broke up in 2003, Bondy retreated to a Catskills home in Palenville in upstate New York and in time began writing songs again, emerging with a stripped-down indie folk sound. He recorded and mixed his debut album, "American Hearts", at a barn near his home, releasing the project in 2007 on the Superphonic imprint. The album was picked up by Fat Possum and re-released early in 2008.

Michelle Shocked is a traveller, a troubadour, a 'picker-poet', as they say in Texas. As a young feminist, she left Texas to travel, Kerouac-style, and was caught up in Reagan-era grassroots politics. Her musical career was ignited by a bootleg recording made around a Kerrville Folk Festival campfire on a Sony walkman. Released in England as ‘The Texas Campfire Tapes’ without Shocked’s authority, its success abroad enticed Mercury Records to offer the newcomer a recording contract.

Charlie Parr plays original and traditional folk and Piedmont-style blues, accompanying himself on National resonator guitars, 12-string guitar and sometimes a banjo. He was raised in Austin, Minnesota, in a household that prized traditional American folk music and his style bears the influence of hours spent listening to country blues records and Smithsonian/Folkways field recordings; often in the garage. He currently lives in Duluth, Minnesota.