Band of Horses

Band of Horses
@ Blue Cats, Knoxville, March 15
by Andrew Clayman
Published in The Knoxville Voice, March 2007



Breaking out of the gates as one of Sub Pop’s top stables in 2006, Band of Horses has faced its share of hurdles since hitting it big.

Originally known simply as Horses, the Seattle group was founded in 2004 by singer/guitarist Ben Bridwell and guitarist Mat Brooke after their previous band, the underrated Carissa’s Wierd (stylistically misspelled), was put out to pasture. A contract with Sub Pop and a slight name change did nothing to quell the critical onslaught of awful equestrian puns (see this entire article) and My Morning Jacket comparisons, but it did result in the release of one of 2006’s better albums, Everything All the Time.

Epic, reverb heavy singles like “The Funeral” and “The Great Salt Lake” became college radio hits, and Band of Horses’ subsequent American tour proved highly successful. By July, however, Brooke decided he was a horse of a different color, exiting the band and forcing Bridwell to change guitarists in midstream.

In 2007, Bridwell reined in a new version of BoH and relocated the band to his home state of South Carolina. They’ll eventually be getting to work on a new record there, but first it’s back in the saddle for a Southeastern US tour, followed by a trot around the track in Europe. Get it? They’re horses.