Band Of Horses - Biography
After eight years of toiling and self-releasing albums in the Seattle underground slowcore band Carissa’s Wierd, multi-instrumentalists Ben Bridwell and Mat Brooke formed the more mainstream indie rock group Band of Horses in 2004. Bridwell assumed vocal duties with Brooke on guitar and the duo settled on a revolving line up of musicians as their back up band. Their innovative mix of melancholic rock pop and alt country caught the attention of Sub Pop Records after the band opened for friends Iron & Wine, and the label released their debut EP, Tour, in 2005 via their website. Band of Horses entered the studio with famed Northwest producer Phil Ek the same year to record their debut full length, Everything All The Time (2006 Sub Pop). The album garnered positive critical reviews and gained popularity due to the epic radio friendly single, “The Funeral”.
Unfortunately, Brooke left the band to pursue his own group, Grand Archives, before Band of Horses' first national US tour, leaving vocalist Bridwell the principal songwriter. Undaunted, Bridwell moved forward with several tours and eventually performed on the Late Show with David Letterman. While on tour, Bridwell solidified a core line up of the group featuring bassist Rob Hampton (who has since been replaced by Bill Reynolds) and drummer Creighton Barrett.
After a European tour the band decided to leave Seattle for Bridwell’s home town of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina to be nearer to family. The southern roots influence of South Carolina seeped its way into their sophomore full length, Cease to Begin (2007 Sub Pop), a more traditional melancholic country album than its predecessor. Reviews for Cease to Begin were unanimously positive and the band hit the road once more to support the record, even making an in-store performance at Amoeba Music Hollywood on October 10th of 2007.
After terminating their relationship with Sub Pop, Band of Horses released their third album, Infinite Arms (Fat Possum/Columbia) in May 2010. Mirage Rock followed in 2012. June 10, 2016 sees the release of their latest LP, Why Are You Ok.