American rock band
Band of Horses
is an American
rock
band formed in 2004 in
Seattle, Washington
. Led by singer-songwriter
Ben Bridwell
, who has been the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes, the band's current line-up also includes longtime members Creighton Barrett (drums) and Ryan Monroe (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), alongside Matt Gentling (bass, backing vocals) and Brett Nash (guitar, backing vocals).
For ten years, the band's most stable line-up featured guitarist
Tyler Ramsey
and bassist Bill Reynolds, who recorded and performed with the band between 2007 and 2017, before acrimoniously departing.
To date, the band has released six studio albums:
Everything All the Time
(2006),
Cease to Begin
(2007),
Infinite Arms
(2010),
Mirage Rock
(2012),
Why Are You OK
(2016) and
Things Are Great
(2022), with
Infinite Arms
being nominated for a
Grammy Award
in 2011.
History
[
edit
]
Formation and
Everything All the Time
(2004?2006)
[
edit
]
Ben Bridwell (vocals, guitar) formed Band of Horses, who were originally briefly known as Horses in 2004 after the break-up of his previous band,
Carissa's Wierd
, along with bassist Chris Early and drummer Tim Meinig. They were soon joined by former Carissa's Wierd bandleader Mat Brooke (guitar, vocals).
[4]
The band initially received attention from
Sub Pop
after opening for
Iron & Wine
during
Seattle
area shows. In 2005, the band released the
Tour EP
, which was sold at shows and on Sub Pop's website.
Their first full-length album,
Everything All the Time
, was recorded in 2005 with producer
Phil Ek
and released by Sub Pop on March 21, 2006. It features the band's original four-piece lineup, although both Tim Meinig and
Sera Cahoone
receive drumming credits.
[5]
The album included new versions of five of the six songs from the
Tour EP
along with five brand new songs. It was a minor hit in Scandinavia, entering the lower reaches of the Sweden and Norway album charts.
[6]
Ben Bridwell explained the sound of the album, "I thought before recording that I really wanted an
ELO
-sounding record, with strings and keyboards and synths, but then, as we got closer to it, we wanted to take a more raw approach."
[7]
Bridwell found that there was a personality clash between himself and Meinig and Early and the two left soon after the recording of the album. Ben explained his side of the story, "All of a sudden I was...with two guys I didn't really even know...they were nice guys, there just wasn't a personality match."
[8]
For the subsequent tour, Joe Arnone (guitar and keyboards), Rob Hampton (bass and guitar) and Creighton Barrett (drums) were brought in to play with Bridwell and Brooke.
Everything All the Time
'
s first single was "
The Funeral
", which has been used in numerous television series, films, video games, and advertisements. On July 13, 2006, the band performed the song on the
Late Show with David Letterman
without Brooke, who had left the band.
[9]
Subsequently, he formed
Grand Archives
, who have since signed to
Sub Pop
and released two albums. Brooke explained how he joined Band of Horses, "So they ended up getting a show opening up for Iron and Wine in Seattle and Ben asked if I would just come up and do a couple songs, just 'cause we're friends. So...I did that. It was fun and then a couple of Iron and Wine tours came up...and then next thing I knew, we were in the studio making a record for Sub Pop." On why he left, he said, "I'd never really given the commitment to be a formal member. It was just a spur of the moment...and
Everything All the Time
took off really fast...I still didn't feel quite committed. It was still 100 percent Ben's project and I kinda wanted to see what else I could do."
[10]
Cease to Begin
(2007?2009)
[
edit
]
Ramsey and Bridwell in vocal and sartorial harmony at
Amoeba Records
, October 10, 2007
Before recording their second album, Bridwell decided to relocate the band from Seattle to his native South Carolina.
[11]
He said, "We were touring so much that nowhere was really home, so I figured...if I'm gonna come home after these long stretches of traveling, it would nice to be around my family."
[12]
Band of Horses toured Europe and North America in 2007, prior to the release of their second album. Joe Arnone was no longer part of the band, which now toured as a six-piece band following the addition of Matt Gentling (
Archers of Loaf
? bass), Robin Peringer (
Modest Mouse
, Carissa's Wierd ? guitar) and Ryan Monroe (keyboards) to the line up. The album,
Cease to Begin
, was recorded in
Asheville, North Carolina
and produced by Phil Ek. It was released by Sub Pop Records on October 9, 2007. The album features the core trio of Ben Bridwell, Creighton Barrett and Rob Hampton, with keyboards played by Ryan Monroe.
[13]
Cease to Begin
gave Band of Horses their first hit in the U.S. by reaching number 35 on the
Billboard
200
and was also a hit in Norway, Denmark, France and Sweden.
[14]
It was voted ninth best album of 2007 by
Paste
magazine
[15]
and 47th best by
Rolling Stone
.
[16]
The single "
No One's Gonna Love You
" gave Band of Horses their first European hit single, reaching number 22 in Denmark.
[17]
Following the release of
Cease to Begin
, Monroe became a permanent member of the band, along with new recruits Tyler Ramsey (guitar and vocals) and Bill Reynolds (bass). This once again made Band of Horses a six-piece band. In addition to his role in the band, Ramsey often performed solo as the opening act before the band play live.
[
citation needed
]
In 2008, Band of Horses played at the
Glastonbury Festival
,
T in the Park
, the
Bridge School Benefit
concert, and the
Roskilde Festival
.
Infinite Arms
(2010?2011)
[
edit
]
Ben Bridwell playing with Band of Horses at the
Outside Lands Festival
2009
In May 2009, producer Phil Ek stated that he was recording the third Band of Horses album in North Carolina.
[18]
Ben Bridwell mentioned that the new album was titled
Night Rainbows
several times while introducing new songs during the band's summer 2009 tour,
[19]
but in a March 2, 2010 interview, the band revealed that the album was to be called
Infinite Arms
.
[20]
Prior to the recording of the album, Rob Hampton left the band. He was later replaced by Swedish guitarist Ludwig Boss, although Boss does not appear on the album and on March 19, 2010, it was revealed that he too had left.
[21]
The album was recorded by the five-piece lineup of Bridwell, Ramsey, Reynolds, Barrett, and Monroe.
Infinite Arms
was released worldwide between May 14 and 19, 2010 on the
Columbia
,
Brown
, and
Fat Possum
labels. Aside from the North Carolina sessions at Echo Mountain Studios, parts of the album were recorded in Los Angeles at
Perfect Sound Studios
. The album was self-produced by the band, with additional production from Phil Ek. On April 14, the band performed a full set for the
WDR
TV show "
Rockpalast
". On April 20, the band appeared on the
BBC
television series
Later... with Jools Holland
, promoting
Infinite Arms
by playing new songs "Compliments", "Factory", and "NW Apt". Following this appearance, the band's two earlier albums entered the
UK Albums Chart
for the first time.
[22]
Infinite Arms
entered the UK chart at number 21, giving Band of Horses their first top 100 UK chart hit and debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200,
[23]
far exceeding the performance of
Cease to Begin
. An outtake from the album, "Life on Earth" has been used on the soundtrack of the
Twilight Saga
film
Eclipse
, which was released on June 7, 2010.
[24]
Band of Horses toured Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan in 2010. They opened for
Pearl Jam
on their tour of the Midwest and East Coast and for
Snow Patrol
at their concerts in
Bangor
and
Glasgow
in June. They played the
SXSW
,
Sasquatch
,
Splendour in the Grass
,
Summer Sonic
,
Pukkelpop
, Highfields, Malmo,
Rock en Seine
,
Reading, Leeds
,
ACL
and
Farm Aid
festivals in 2010.
On October 7, 2010, Band of Horses released a cover of
Cee Lo Green
's "
Georgia
" via their official website. Ben Bridwell said, "This began as a very random idea I had on my dad's patio after we watched our beloved
Georgia Bulldogs football
team get robbed of a win at the hands of the referees and
LSU
last year. This song is so nostalgic to me as my parents grew up in Atlanta and have so many family members in the great state of
Georgia
. It's always been a second home of sorts. We've played some great shows there as well, including our run of annual New Year's Eve shows in Atlanta from 2007?2009."
[25]
The cover version Bridwell referred to is Cee Lo's version of "
No One's Gonna Love You
". The two tracks were released together as a
7-inch
vinyl
split single
.
[25]
Band of Horses released a video for their song "
Dilly
" on November 16, 2010. Previous videos for songs from
Infinite Arms
had been collections of still photographs by the band's longtime collaborator Christoper Wilson, merged to make movies. "Dilly" was shot in the Mojave Desert by director Phil Andelman and was exclusively premiered on the movie website
IMDb
. The video features the exploits of a trouble-making motorcycle gang, and includes surreal sequences of the gang dancing in formation, as well as them killing people by shooting them with nothing more than a pointed finger. The collaboration with IMDb represents the first occasion that the website has premiered a music video.
[26]
"Dilly" was released as a single on February 14, 2011, and includes the band's cover version of Cee-Lo Green's "Georgia".
[27]
The single was a minor hit on the Belgian (Flanders) singles chart.
[28]
Infinite Arms
was nominated for a
Grammy Award
in the
Best Alternative Album
category
[29]
and featured in several end of year "Best Albums of 2010" lists, including
Q Magazine
(#21),
[30]
NPR
Listeners (#15),
[31]
Filter Magazine
(#10)
[32]
and
Paste Magazine
(#14).
[33]
The song "Laredo" was placed at number 28 in
Rolling Stone
Magazine's top 50 songs of 2010.
[34]
In 2011, Band of Horses returned to Europe for a tour in January and February, which included a show with
Foo Fighters
at
Wembley Arena
on February 25. They undertook a brief US tour in early April before returning to Europe for several festivals in June. The band were scheduled to support
Kings Of Leon
on their US tour from July to September 2011
[35]
and their eight Australian concerts in November 2011,
[36]
but Kings of Leon cancelled their US tour after just 3 shows.
[37]
In 2012 the band toured for the first time in South America.
Mirage Rock
(2012?2013)
[
edit
]
In April 2012, Ben Bridwell said that Band Of Horses' fourth studio album was scheduled for release in late 2012 and would be produced by
Glyn Johns
.
[38]
In June the band shared a video preview, via Facebook and YouTube, of a new song, "Dumpster World", and announced a September release for the album.
[39]
On July 10 the album's title was confirmed as
Mirage Rock
and the track listing and artwork were revealed. A debut single from the fourth album, "Knock Knock", was released on July 9, 2012
[40]
and the album was released on September 18.
[41]
"Knock Knock" and the subsequent single from
Mirage Rock
, "Slow Cruel Hands of Time", were both minor hits in Belgium.
[
citation needed
]
In late August 2012, a music video for "Knock Knock" was released on the internet. Directed by Jared Eberhardt, the video simulates old fashioned nature documentaries and features members of the band being captured, like animals, to be studied. Bridwell revealed that the footage was taken in the
Salt Lake City
area, "It seems fitting that we'd finally get to shoot a video around Salt Lake City, as we've got a song that pays tribute to the area called 'The Great Salt Lake' from our first album. Better late than never."
[42]
Acoustic at the Ryman
(2014)
[
edit
]
On February 24, 2014, Band of Horses released a ten track
live album
,
Acoustic at the Ryman
, featuring stripped-down versions of some of their best known songs. The album was recorded over two nights in April 2013 at the
Ryman Auditorium
in
Nashville
. The band played a 13-date run of acoustic performances across the U.S., which commenced on February 11 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and concluded on March 5 at The Ryman itself.
[43]
Why Are You OK
and the departure of Ramsey and Reynolds (2015?2020)
[
edit
]
On July 17, 2015, Ben Bridwell and
Sam Beam
of
Iron and Wine
released a covers album titled
Sing into My Mouth
. The fifth Band of Horses studio album,
Why Are You OK
is produced by
Jason Lytle
of the band
Grandaddy
and was released on June 10, 2016, through Rick Rubin's
American Recordings
and
Interscope Records
.
[44]
On May 1, 2017, Tyler Ramsey announced his departure from Band of Horses on his personal Instagram account.
[45]
A day later, Bill Reynolds made a similar announcement via his Facebook page.
[46]
When touring resumed on May 18 in Tallahassee, Band of Horses was joined by Richard Fitzpatrick on guitar and saw the return of bassist Matt Gentling, who had previously toured with the band prior to the recording of
Cease to Begin
.
[47]
Fitzpatrick was subsequently replaced by guitarist Ian MacDougall. In 2022, Bridwell disputed Ramsey's and Reynolds's claims that they quit Band of Horses, saying that they had instead both been fired from the group.
[48]
Things Are Great
(2021?present)
[
edit
]
On October 12, 2021, Band of Horses issued the single "Crutch" and announced the release of
Things Are Great
, their first album with Matt Gentling and Ian MacDougall, and sixth overall. Calling it "a return to their earlier work and the kind of raw ethos that lies at the heart of Band of Horses",
Things Are Great
was released on March 4, 2022.
[49]
Prior to the album's release, MacDougall exited the band
[50]
and in late January 2022 was replaced by Brett Nash as lead guitarist.
[51]
Members
[
edit
]
Current members
- Ben Bridwell
? lead vocals, guitar,
pedal steel
, keyboards (2004?present)
- Creighton Barrett ? drums, percussion (2006?present)
- Ryan Monroe ? keyboards, guitar, backing vocals (2007?present)
- Matt Gentling ? bass, backing vocals (2007, 2017?present)
- Brett Nash ? guitar, backing vocals (2022?present)
Former members
- Chris Early ? bass (2004?2005)
- Tim Meinig ? drums (2004?2005)
- Sera Cahoone
? drums (2005)
- Mat Brooke
? guitar, backing vocals (2004?2006)
- Joe Arnone ? guitar, keyboards (2006?2007)
- Rob Hampton ? bass (2006?2007), guitar (2007?2009)
- Robin Peringer ? guitar (2007)
- Tyler Ramsey
? guitar, backing vocals (2007?2017)
- Bill Reynolds ? bass (2007?2017)
- Ludwig Boss ? guitar (2009?2010)
- Richard Fitzpatrick ? guitar (2017)
- Ian MacDougall ? guitar, backing vocals (2017?2022)
|
Timeline
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
- Studio albums
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Ingham, Tim
"Band Of Horses to self-release new album through Kobalt Label Services"
Music Week
December 9, 2013
- ^
"
Why Are You OK
by Band of Horses on iTunes"
.
iTunes Store
. United States:
Apple Inc.
June 10, 2016.
- ^
"Band of Horses Announce New Album, Share New Song "Crutch"
"
.
Under the Radar
. October 12, 2021
. Retrieved
February 24,
2022
.
- ^
Tom Scanlon,
For Band of Horses, Block Party is just one stop in whirlwind year
Archived
June 22, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
Seattle Times
? July 28, 2006
- ^
Everything All The Time
, Credits
Allmusic
- ^
Everything All the Time
Ultratop entry
?
Ultratop
- ^
Matt Ryan,
Band Of Horses: Confidence Men
Magnet
? July 23, 2006
- ^
Jonny Cazzola,
Music: Band of Horses
Archived
July 19, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
Fused Magazine
? October 15, 2008
- ^
Justin Sheppard,
Band of Horses loses Mat Brooke
prefixmag.com
? July 26, 2006
- ^
Stephen Seigel,
Volume and Vigor
Tucson Weekly
? June 19, 2008
- ^
Band of Horses Interview
Mountain 7 Blog
? March 14, 2008 (Interview originally published in 2006)
- ^
Simon Harper,
Band of Horses interview
Clash
? May 19, 2010
- ^
KEXP (October 27, 2007).
"Live at CMJ: Band of Horses"
.
KEXP.ORG
. KEXP. Archived from
the original
on October 4, 2011
. Retrieved
September 5,
2012
.
- ^
Cease to Begin
Ultratop entry
?
Ultratop
- ^
Signs of Life 2007 : Best Music
Paste
, Issue 38 ? December 2007
- ^
Stereogum (December 17, 2007).
"Guide To The Misguided: Rolling Stone's Top Albums Of '07 List"
.
Stereogum
. BUZZMEDIA
. Retrieved
September 5,
2012
.
- ^
"Discography Band Of Horses"
.
danishcharts.dk
. Hung Medien
. Retrieved
April 4,
2013
.
- ^
Bob Noble,
Phil Ek Interview
Archived
July 19, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
HitQuarters
? May 25, 2009
- ^
Jessica Dean,
Band of Horses tramples Charlotte, NC (6/17)
[
permanent dead link
]
Consequence of Sound
? June 20, 2009
- ^
Amy Phillips,
Band of Horses Announce New Album
Pitchfork Media
? March 2, 2010
- ^
Ludwig Boss no longer in Band of Horses
It's a Trap! Scandinavian music journal
? March 19, 2010 (Links to Swedish language article:
Ludwig Boss tvingas lamna Band of Horses
Archived
April 6, 2010, at the
Wayback Machine
)
- ^
Peak chart positions for albums in the United Kingdom:
- ^
"Band of Horses ? Awards"
.
AllMusic
.
Rovi Corporation
. Retrieved
April 8,
2013
.
- ^
Tom Breihan,
Eclipse Soundtrack Gets Vampire Weekend, Beck/Bat for Lashes Duet
Archived
August 24, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
Pitchfork
? May 12, 2010
- ^
a
b
Max,
"Band of Horses Cover Cee Lo Green"
sunonthesand.com
? October 7, 2010
- ^
Glassman, Emily
"WORLD PREMIERE OF BAND OF HORSES MUSIC VIDEO EXCLUSIVELY ON IMDb"
Archived
March 15, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine
IMDb
(Press Room) ? November 16, 2010
- ^
Stickler, John
"Band Of Horses Reveal Details Of New Single Dilly"
Stereoboard
? January 10, 2011
- ^
"Band of Horses ? Dilly"
Ultratop
- ^
"53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list"
Los Angeles Times
- ^
"Q's Top 50 Albums of 2010"
Sputnikmusic
? November 25, 2010
- ^
Schlansky, Evan
"Arcade Fire Tops NPR Listeners' Best Albums Of 2010 List"
American Songwriter
? December 15, 2010
- ^
"FILTER's Top 10 of 2010: Staff Picks"
Archived
December 22, 2010, at the
Wayback Machine
Filter
? December 1, 2010
- ^
Jackson, Josh
"The 50 Best Albums of 2010"
Archived
February 19, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
Paste
? December 1, 2010
- ^
"Rolling Stone ? 50 Best Songs of 2010"
Archived
October 6, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
newmusicreviews.net
? December 18, 2010
- ^
Jones, Anthony
"Kings Of Leon Announce US Summer Tour Dates"
All Headline News
? April 25, 2011
- ^
Tracey,
"Band Of Horses to support Kings Of Leon in Oz"
Archived
March 24, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
Vox magazine
- May 23, 2011
- ^
Michaels, Sean
"Kings of Leon cancel US tour due to exhaustion"
guardian.co.uk
? August 2, 2011
- ^
Blanton, Kristen
"Watch Band of Horses Perform New Track Long Vows"
Paste
? April 18, 2012
- ^
Nelson, Michael
Preview Band Of Horses "Dumpster World"
Stereogum
? June 22, 2012
- ^
Evan Minsker; Amy Phillips (July 9, 2012).
"Band of Horses Announce New Album, Mirage Rock, Share New Track and Video"
.
Pitchfork
. Pitchfork Media Inc
. Retrieved
September 5,
2012
.
- ^
Kane, Tyler
"Band of Horses announce new album Mirage Rock"
Archived
July 13, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
Paste Magazine
? July 10, 2012
- ^
Thompson, Stephen
"First Watch: Band Of Horses, Knock Knock"
NPR Music
? August 24, 2012
- ^
"Band Of Horses Release Album 'Acoustic At The Ryman' Out 24th February 2014"
Contactmusic.com
- ^
"TMRW: Band of Horses talk new album, veganism and doing the carpool run with the kids"
.
Tmrmagazine.com
. May 17, 2016. Archived from
the original
on June 11, 2016
. Retrieved
June 10,
2016
.
- ^
Ramsey, Tyler (May 1, 2017).
"Saying farewell after 10 years to the band of horses"
. Instagram. Archived from
the original
on December 23, 2021
. Retrieved
May 2,
2017
.
- ^
Reynolds, Bill (May 2, 2017).
"I'd like to thank all the beautiful folks I have met out there on the road with Band of Horses"
. Facebook
. Retrieved
May 2,
2017
.
- ^
@bandofhorses_fans (May 18, 2017).
"bassist (Matt Gentling) and guitarist (Richard Kirkpatrick)"
. Instagram. Archived from
the original
on December 23, 2021
. Retrieved
May 19,
2017
.
- ^
Kaye, Ben (March 3, 2022).
"Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell Isn't Convinced Things Are Great, But He's Trying"
.
Consequence
. Retrieved
March 10,
2022
.
- ^
Arnone, Joey (December 14, 2021).
"Band of Horses Announce New Album Release Date, Share Video for "In Need of Repair"
"
.
Under the Radar
.
- ^
Kaye, Ben (March 3, 2022).
"Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell Isn't Convinced Things Are Great, But He's Trying"
.
Consequence
. Retrieved
March 8,
2022
.
- ^
Clarey, David (March 1, 2022).
"Charleston's Band of Horses playing on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon'
"
.
Post and Courier
. Retrieved
March 8,
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
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- Ben Bridwell
- Creighton Barrett
- Matt Gentling
- Ryan Monroe
- Brett Nash
- Joe Arnone
- Ludwig Boss
- Richard Fitzpatrick
- Blake Mills
- Robin Peringer
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Albums
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EPs
| |
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Singles
| |
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Related articles
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International
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