I wondered how the country-gospel-soul sound on the album would translate live
for the band, The Lone Bellow.
Their harmonies are so lush, rich, deep, clear and full, I did not see how they
could do it live. One of the great advantages of working the merchandise tables
for bands coming through Baltimore, is I am there early and usually get to hear
the sound check. I had fretted for days before the show worried about the live
sound. All my worries went away the second they started to play. Their harmonies
are the “send chills up your spine” variety. They mesh together like they have
been singing with one another their whole lives. Some bands just have “it” and
The Lone Bellow is one of them.
The song lyrics came from Zach Williams journal entries after his
wife had a catastrophic injury after being thrown from a horse. The doctors
said she would never walk again. Zach poured his heart and thoughts into this
journal and a friend of his encouraged him to turn them into songs. His wife
miraculously recovered and his songs went from pain and despair to redemption,
rescue and recovery. Zach and his wife moved to Brooklyn and Zach began to
perform as a solo artist. Zach was looking to form a band and he was eating at a diner when he ran into an old musician college friend, Brian Elmquist, who worked there. He asked Brian if he could
rehearse some songs with him at the diner after it closes. Brian said sure and also
invited Kanene Pipkin along. Late that night The Lone Bellow was formed. They
knew the magic of the music and harmonies would tie them together as they go
forward in the music business. Very quickly good things have happened to them.
They were signed to Descendant Records, which is an off shoot of Sony Records, and released their self-titled album in January of this year. It has created a
lot of buzz in the indie rock world and deservedly so. It is full of beautiful
songs about all the ups and downs of life that they have gone through. Please
be prepared to be amazed and enjoy the single "You Never Need Nobody":
The rest of the album is just as strong as that song. I highly recommend it to anybody. I loved listening to them live and wasn't disappointed at all in the translation from album to live show. As a matter of fact I think their live show only strengthens the studio songs. If it makes any difference, they are also really nice and genuine people. They were a pleasure to work the merch table for. Many bloggers are catching on to this band quickly, so I expect that they will have quite a year in 2013. I was talking to one of them and they told me they are just hoping to make enough money to be able to really afford their Brooklyn brownstones. I believe that they will easily accomplish that task this year and more!!
Update: From time to time Larry and I will post some updates of bands we have previously written about. I wanted to inform you of two amazing albums that are out and one that is out next week. The first is Vampire Weekends Modern Vampire of the City. A real step forward in this bands already amazing career. The second album out is Dawes newest Stories Don't End. It is full of reflective songs of a band on the road. Portugal the Man newest is Evil Friends. I have heard most of it and it is fantastic. By the time you read this it will be released.
